Nutty Caramel Popcorn Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (95 degrees C). Place popcorn in a very large bowl.
• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil without stirring 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in soda and vanilla. Pour in a thin stream over popcorn, stirring to coat.
• Place in two large shallow baking dishes and bake in preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool completely before breaking into pieces.

Steps:

• Pour the sugar into the center of a deep saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer. Carefully pour the water around the walls of the pan, trying not to splash any sugar onto the walls. Do not stir; gently draw your finger twice through the center of the sugar, making a cross, to moisten it. Over high heat, bring to a full boil and cook without stirring until golden caramel, about 10 to 15 minutes, swirling the mixture occasionally to even out the color.
• Turn off the heat and stir in the butter. Add the popcorn, pecans, and cashews. Pour onto a silicone baking mat on the counter, or a marble surface. Let the mixture cool a few minutes; then start breaking it up into clusters, working quickly so it doesn't harden and you don't burn yourself. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
• Note: I use Black Diamond Popcorn with its petit size "hulless" kernel. To popcorn properly, place the kernels in a heavy-bottomed large pot and cover then with oil. Put the lid on and cook on high until you hear the first pop. Immediately take it off the heat and let it sit 1 minute. Then return it to the heat and finish popping, shaking the pan the whole time. I don't know why this is better but this is what my dad does and his popcorn was always the best.

Steps:

• Tightly cover a large roasting pan that is at least 3 in. deep with two layers of heavy-duty foil. Poke 12 holes, about 2 in. apart, in the foil to hold ice cream cones; set aside., In a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate chips and cream; stir until smooth. Spoon about 2 teaspoons inside each cone, turning to coat. Dip rims of cones into chocolate, allowing excess chocolate to drip into bowl. Place cones in prepared pan. Let stand until chocolate is set., Meanwhile, place the popcorn, chocolate chips and pecans in a large bowl; set aside., In a microwave, melt the caramels, cream and salt on high for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally until smooth. Pour over popcorn mixture and toss to coat., Using lightly greased hands, fill cones with popcorn mixture. Shape popcorn into a 2-in.-diameter ball on top of cones, pressing down until popcorn mixture is firmly attached to cones., For topping, place caramels and 1 teaspoon cream in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high at 20-second intervals until caramels are melted; stir until smooth. Drizzle over cones., Microwave chocolate chips and remaining cream until smooth. Drizzle over cones. Immediately sprinkle with pecans. Let stand until set. Place in bags and fasten with twist ties or ribbon if desired.

Steps:

• Pop popcorn and remove any unpopped kernals. Set aside. You should have approx 20 cups of popped popcorn.
• Place two or three baking trays or cookie trays on your bench top. You'll spread the hot caramel coated popcorn onto these later.
• Use the largest saucepan/stockpot or boiler that you can find. Add the butter, brown sugar and syrup.
• Over heat, bring to the boil and boil for approx 4-5 minutes. Stir fairly constantly with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat. Add the bicarb soda and the vanilla essence. Stir well.
• Add half of the popcorn and quickly stir to coat in the hot caramel mix. Add remaining popcorn and nuts(if you have chosen to add them as an optional extra). Stir thoroughly to cover the popcorn evenly. Work quickly.
• Spread the popcorn over your baking dishes or cookie trays. Break up clumps of popcorn with your wooden spoon.
• After about a minute the popcorn should be cool enough to handle carefully. Break up the popcorn to smaller sized pieces.
• As a variation you can roll popcorn into balls the size of a scoop of ice-cream and push them into ice-cream cones. Great for childrens parties. (The flat based cones work best for this- much easier to place on your bench to cool).
• Cool and store in an airtight container. Will keep for about a week (if it lasts that long without being gobbled up!).
• UPDATE: I made these on a wet and very humid day and the popcorn was 'sticky'. I haven't had this problem before and have made this popcorn recipe a dozen times. Placed in a baking dish and heated at 120°C for about 20 minutes. Stirring every 5 minutes or so. Really took away the stickiness and made the popcorn crunchy.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
• Cook the popcorn according to manufacturer's directions, pour into a very large bowl, and set aside. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar, salt, and corn syrup. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Take the saucepan off of the heat, and carefully stir in the vanilla extract and baking soda.
• Pour the caramel over the popcorn and stir well. Add the chocolate chips and almonds, then stir until thoroughly mixed. Pour this mixture into two large, deep baking pans and sprinkle with the shredded coconut.
• Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

Steps:

• Pop popcorn, and set aside to cool.
• Mix popcorn and nuts together on a lg. cookie sheet (no smaller than 11x17x2-inch).
• Preheat oven to 300°F.
• In heavy saucepan add sugars, butter, and syrup. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes to 245-250°F using a candy thermometer.
• Remove from heat, and add soda and vanilla. Stir well, until creamy.
• Pour over popped corn and nuts, and mix well to coat all the corn with the mixture.
• Bake at 300°F, for 10 minutes, then stir.
• Bake 10 more minutes
• Transfer to a large sheet of aluminum foil.
• Spread mixture thin. Let cool completely.
• Break up, and store in an airtight container.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Butter a large roasting pan.
• Combine popped corn and nuts in the prepared pan, mixing well. Place in the oven while preparing the glaze.
• In a large heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, orange zest and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves. Boil for 4 minutes without stirring.
• Remove from the heat and mix in the vanilla and baking soda. BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THE SODA AS IT MAY MAKE THE SYRUP FOAM UP AND SPATTER A BIT!Gradually pour the glaze over the popped corn mixture, stirring to coat well.
• Bake until dry; stirring occasionally, approximately 1 hour.
• Remove from the oven. Using a metal spatula, free the popcorn from the bottom of the pan. Let cool completely in the pan.
• Break into clumps. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.