Fair warning: This is not a resolution-friendly post.
There are certain foods that are dangerously addicting. You know the type. It’s the food — usually snack food — that you shouldn’t even go near because once you start, you’ve unleashed that uncontrollable Pringles-type action (once you pop, the fun don’t stop, y’all). Typically, I think of myself as someone with pretty good self-control when it comes to food, but some things are just too good for my sweet tooth to ignore. Enter caramel corn — hello, sugar rush. Oi!
Although I can’t guarantee that this recipe will move mountains or change the world, it will make you stop and reflect on the pure, unrivaled joy that comes from indulging in something that makes diet gurus shudder and sugar fiends rejoice. Remember how fun it was to snack on a box of Cracker Jacks at a baseball game back in the day? Take that happy factor and multiply it by 12. Looking for the prize? It’s a mouthful of deliciousness. Sooooo much better than a plastic ring.
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Caramel Corn
Adapted from Paula Deen’s Grandma Paul’s Caramel Corn
• 8 quarts of popped popcorn
• 1 cup salted butter
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• ½ cup white corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a large saucepan, bring all ingredients except popcorn and baking soda to a boil. Let boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep caramel from sticking to the bottom of the pan or boiling over. Add baking soda, and stir until combined.
Transfer popped popcorn to large bowls (I find it easiest to split the batch between two or three big bowls), and pour caramel mixture over top, keeping the amount as even as possible between the bowls. Mix until the popcorn is coated (make sure you scrape the bottoms of the bowls; lots of caramel likes to hang out down there), and spread the mixture in two large, shallow baking dishes.
Bake for 1 hour. Allow caramel corn to cool, then break it up into pieces before serving.
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One of our neighbors makes a similar, so-so-good caramel corn recipe every year at Christmastime, and now we have the know-how to make it and enjoy it all year round. How often we should partake, however, is an entirely different matter. Oh, self-control, you have your work cut out for you.
What snack food makes you weak in the knees? Any favorite sweet treats that you only make on rare occasions for fear of going bananas? Do tell!
XO,
Katrina
Here’s a tip, dump the popcorn and caramel into a paper bag, and shake it around and beat it. Best caramel coverage!! 🙂
Such a great idea! Thanks for the tip!
Carmel Corn is one of my comfort sweets that I crave every once in a while. Thanks for sharing!
If only I only craved it every once in a while. 🙂
Resolutions seem to be made to be broken anyway! They are forgotten about by February. This looks great. So much better than the popcorn you get from the supermarket which is absolutely drenched in sugar!
Unfortunately, this is rather drenched in sugar, too. Part of the indulgence I suppose!
I am with you on the sweet and savory obsession. There’s just something about the combination of caramel and salty popcorn that is addicting! My family always makes Almond Bark Mix during the holidays. I am going to keep it that way, though, because if it was around the house all year I would certainly never stop munching on it!
I totally understand! Sometimes it’s better to keep the good stuff for holiday time!
Decadent. love that you were brave enough to make this at this time of year!! I have never tasted caramel corn and best i don’t start now!! c
Hee hee, you might be right! It’s dangerous!
This looks too good NOT to try! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks! Enjoy! 🙂
Yum! I love caramel corn!
🙂
Complete decadence/indulgence and I love it! By the way, when I read “Fair warning: This is not a resolution-friendly post” I thought, hey, her photos look good…not thinking about a New Year’s resolution. 🙂
Cheers!
Ha ha! Oh, photo funnies. My brain works that way, too, sometimes. 🙂
Mmmmmm m m m. 🙂 I’ve tried to make caramel corn before and it was an epic fail. This looks delish!
Oh no! I definitely was super close to having a caramel-boiling-over-on-the-stove kind of mess on my first go, but it gets way easier with practice. But man oh man, that sticky stuff is hard to clean up!
Thank you for what seems like a super-simple recipe, Katrina! As for me, if a box of Girl Scout Thin Mints is put in front of me…oh, no! No self-control! 😉 But the Girt Scouts that sell them to me are so cute…how can I say “no”, right?
I’m a sucker for Thin Mints, too! I just bought a few boxes the other day, and my family and I put a mighty nice dent in them right away. And you’re right. You just can’t say no to those cute little faces. 🙂
Beautiful! Caramel popcorns always hold a special place in my foodie heart. My mom makes caramel corn. It was always a special treat growing up. Reminds me of autumn too.
How great! Food with memories attached is always the best kind. 🙂
Something this good probably ought to require licensing before consumption. Just looking at it here puts me very near a happiness coma. Browwwwn sugarrrrrrrr . . . (ever notice how that sounds a little like a growl that turns to purring?) 🙂
Hee hee. So true. Brown sugar is the best. 🙂
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