Do you know of anyone that has a time machine? I ask because what I wouldn’t give to go back in time and chat with my granny about life and her recipes. Today’s recipe is one of her masterpieces, baked caramel popcorn. I have such fond memories of her going into her kitchen and making this one night for me when I spent the night. It seems like a lifetime ago, so this recipe is so nostalgic to me.
This is a perfect gift-giving recipe – make it, wrap it up with a cute ribbon, and give it away to loved ones this holiday season. The original recipe makes a pretty large batch, perfect for gift-giving! If you want some just for you and your family, I would cut this recipe in half, we do that all the time.
Crunchy, sweet, and a little addicting, you’re going to love Granny’s baked caramel popcorn!
Granny’s Baked Caramel Popcorn
Course: Appetizers, Desserts, Recipes12
servings5
minutes1
hour10
minutes1
hour15
minutesIngredients
1 cup butter
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup light or dark corn syrup
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla extract
6 qts. popped popcorn (follow directions on the kernel container)
Directions
- Melt butter, stir in brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt.
- Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Then boil for 5 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat.
- Stir in soda & vanilla, gradually pour over popped corn, mixing well.
- Put popcorn on 2 large sheet pans or roasting pans, make sure to cover pans in parchment paper.
- Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes (set a timer).
- Remove from oven and cool completely.
- Break apart and store in airtight containers.
Notes
- I make 1/2 of this recipe, it makes A LOT! 1/2 cup of unpopped popcorn kernels is roughly 8 cups of popped popcorn, so I use 1/2 cup of kernels plus 1/4 cup. That gets me to 12 cups. 6 qts of popped popcorn is 24 cups.
- When making 1/2 the recipe lessen the time that you stir the caramel mixture to about 2.5 minutes not 5, if you do it for the full time it’ll give the caramel a bitter taste.
