Ultimate Caramel Popcorn Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250°. Place popcorn and nuts in a greased roasting pan; set aside. In a large heavy saucepan, combine brown sugar, corn syrup, butter and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir 5 minutes. , Remove from heat; stir in baking soda (mixture will foam). Quickly pour over popcorn and mix well., Transfer to two greased 15x10X1-in. baking pans. , Bake 1 hour or until dry, stirring every 15 minutes., In a microwave, melt each chocolate separately, adding 1 teaspoon shortening to each 1/2 cup chips; stir until smooth. Drizzle over popcorn mixture; let stand until set., Break into clusters. Store in an airtight container.,

Steps:

• Pop the popcorn. I like to use a hot-air popper but you can pop it any way you like.
• To make the caramel: Place the sugar, corn syrup, and water in a 2-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat and cook until light golden brown. We use a large pan so that there will be room to add the popcorn. Use a wooden spoon to stir the popcorn into the caramel until it is evenly coated. Pour the caramelized popcorn onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and allow it to cool. When cool, use your hands to break up any clumps.
• Place the cool popcorn in a large bowl. Use a ladle to drizzle the chocolate over the popcorn, stirring with a wooden spoon as you go. Keep adding chocolate until the popcorn is evenly coated. Pour the chocolate-coated popcorn onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and allow it to cool. When it is cool, place it in decorative bags to give as gifts.
• Tip: You can also use milk chocolate and/or white chocolate to coat the popcorn. The process is always the same.
• Be careful when you work with the caramel. It is very hot and can burn! As always, when working with caramel, have a bowl of ice-cold water next to you in case you get caramel on your hands.

Steps:

• Place the popped popcorn into two shallow greased baking pans. You may use roasting pans, jelly roll pans, or disposable roasting pans. Add the peanuts to the popped corn if using. Set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, margarine and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring enough to blend. Once the mixture begins to boil, boil for 5 minutes while stirring constantly.
• Remove from the heat, and stir in the baking soda and vanilla. The mixture will be light and foamy. Immediately pour over the popcorn in the pans, and stir to coat. Don't worry too much at this point about getting all of the corn coated.
• Bake for 1 hour, removing the pans, and giving them each a good stir every 15 minutes. Line the counter top with waxed paper. Dump the corn out onto the waxed paper and separate the pieces. Allow to cool completely, then store in airtight containers or resealable bags.

Steps:

• Set your oven to 200 degrees. Spray a large cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray, and set aside. Also spray a large (very large works best) metal or ceramic mixing bowl with non-stick cooking spray.
• Pour the popcorn into the mixing bowl you just sprayed, and put it in the oven to warm. Warming the bowl and the popcorn up beforehand helps with getting an even coating with the caramel when stirring it into the popcorn later.
• Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the molasses, corn syrup, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Once the mixture starts bubbling, set a timer and let it cook for 4 minutes, stirring occassionally.
• Once the 4 minutes is up, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and baking soda. The mixture will foam and lighten up. Stir until blended.
• Pull the mixing bowl with the popcorn out of the oven. Slowly stir the caramel into the popcorn. I find a rubber spatula works best for this. Carefully keep stirring until the popcorn is evenly coated. Do be careful, the caramel is really hot! At this point, you can stir in any add-ins you might like, sprinkles, nuts, etc.
• Pour onto the greased cookie sheet and spread out evenly. Bake for 1 hour at 200 degrees, carefully stirring every 15 minutes.
• Once done, pour back into a large mixing bowl. The caramel popcorn will still be stightly tacky. Stir the caramel corn for about 5 minutes or so while it cools, to break up large clumps.