Homemade Caramel Popcorn with Peanuts

I should warn you, the recipe is not hard and highly addictive, which, let’s be honest, is the worst combination imaginable.  I can’t stop eating it.  That said, I still think you should give it a go, but just remember I warned you. 

Oh you know you want it!

Spring has finally returned, and you know how I am certain?  Flowers? Nope. April showers? We’ve had plenty of those, but that’s not it either. Birds chirping?  There is a particularly annoying set living outside my bedroom, but that’s not it either.  It’s baseball season! 

Get in my belly.

Ok, even if you are not a fan of America’s favorite pastime that doesn’t mean you can enjoy the snacks that come along with it!  Caramel popcorn with peanuts is easy and another great recipe to share with the mini sous chef in your life.  You can also adapt it to add in any number of things you might find fun (nuts, candy, etc).  I went with peanuts because Kettle is not allergic to them and they are quintessentially baseball to me. 

Potential. I see great potential for you.

I started with plain, stove top prepped popcorn, not microwave.  Now if you have never tried stove top prepped before, it’s really easy and allows you 100% control on the salting and flavoring of your popcorn.  Since I planned on dousing mine in caramel, I wanted to start with a clean slate, er kernel.  The caramel sauce was easy and much faster to prep than I expected.  It was also kind of exciting!  After you the brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, and salt to a boil, you add in vanilla and baking soda causing the mixture to foam up/double in size.  Visually, it’s pretty cool.  Yet another reason a mini sous chef will enjoy it. After that it’s just drizzle, mix, and bake to set the caramel.

Caramel Popcorn with Peanuts

Based on this recipe.

Ingredients:

3 quarts popcorn, popped

1 cup brown sugar

1 stick butter

1/4 cup corn syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/3 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

peanuts (or candy) to taste

Combine brown sugar, butter, salt, and corn syrup in a sauce pan.  Bring to a boil and continue to boil for 2 minutes with continuous stirring.  Remove from heat and add vanilla and baking soda.  Mixture will begin to foam up, so continue stirring.  Slowly fold caramel into popcorn.  Once well combined, add in peanuts (or other item of choice).  Lay mixture flat (or as flat as you can) on greased cookie sheet and bake at 250°F for 10-15 (turn mixture once).

Enjoy!