Caramel Corn

1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels (about 16 cups popped corn)
   1 cup salted butter
   1 cup light brown sugar
   1/3 cup light corn syrup
   1 1/2 - 2 tsp kosher or sea salt, divided

How to Make

   Preheat oven to 300°
   Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper . Set aside.
   Pop popcorn kernels using air popper into a large bowl.
   In a small saucepan melt butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and 1 tsp salt together over medium heat. Bring to boil. Boil for 4 minutes without stirring.
   Pour caramel mixture over popcorn and stir to coat evenly.
   Pour popcorn into lined pan, sprinkle remaining salt on top (1/2 tsp - 1 tsp depending on your personal taste preference) and place in oven. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
   Allow popcorn to cool on a parchment lined counter.










I also add 1 or 2 cups of toasted peanuts.

Barb, my recipe is striking similar to yours....just a slight difference. This is the one my mom made on cold winter days while my brothers and I were out playing in the snow. When we came in she would give us this treat with Nestlé's Quik hot chocolate with mini marshmallows.

Caramel Corn
(Popcorn Balls)

1 c. Karo Syrup
3 c. Brown Sugar
2 Tbs. Butter
1 tsp. Cider Vinegar

½ tsp. Baking Soda (dissolved in 1 Tbs. hot water)
6 Qt. Popped Corn or 2 – 7 oz. Bags Hull-less Popcorn

Spray a large roasting pan (high sided) and a large mixing spoon with cooking spray. Add one bag of the Hull-less Popcorn.

Cover a large area with waxed paper to have someplace to spread the caramel corn in a thin layer and allow it to cool.

Boil syrup, brown sugar, butter and vinegar in a deep sided pan and stir until it reaches hard crack stage (300° - 310°). Test by drizzling hot mixture into ice water. When it is hard and breaks when tested, it’s done. It takes only about 7 – 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and mix the hot water with the baking soda and pour into the hot candy mixture. It will bubble up (thus the deep sided pan to cook it in…).

Pour ½ of candy mixture over popcorn and mix well. Turn out on to waxed paper and spread thin. Repeat with other bag of corn.

Barb.. absolutely delicious.. oh with toasted nuts too.. oh heaven  

Back in the "old days," before the Tylenol poisoning, razor blades and straight pins put in candy, my mom would make popcorn balls to pass out at Halloween. They were super good, though I have to admit as a kid, I wished we would hand out "real candy" (read: store-bought candy).

When we finally did switch to the "real" stuff, I used to think my parents were a bit stingy -- giving out one piece of candy to each trick-or-treater. So I decided when I was "grown," I would be super generous at Halloween. And we are. We always buy bags of the smaller candy bars and usually tell kids that they can have as much as they can grab with ONE hand. It was always fun to watch them try to get as much as they can -- sometimes releasing the candy to start over again. It's funny, though, as we now have no trick or treaters -- none! We used to have anywhere from one to four groups of kids, but no more. One year, Brian dumped the entire huge bowl of candy bars in one little girl's bag as she (and her mom) were the only ones who came. If you could have only seen the look of sheer glee on that little girl's face when he did it -- Brian, her mom and I just howled with laughter! As they walked away from our front door, we heard the little girl say to her mother, "Mama, who WAS that man?!"