Holiday Caramel Corn is the name I gave this recipe because it's a tad more buttery than my usual recipe. It's also a little heavier on the nuts. It calls for cashews, which I remember as being more expensive back in the day (the day, being the 1980s). Now the butter is the luxury item. Either way, this caramel corn is worth it.
Candy Thermometer for Caramel Corn
The recipe is based on one from a friend who cooks the sugar coating to soft crack stage. This makes the caramel corn a little crunchier and less sticky. It also means you need a candy thermometer or a deep fry thermometer, so be sure to have one handy. My favorite is the Taylor. At one point I bought a second thermometer just in case the first one breaks. Well, the first still has not broken, but I opened up the second one anyway and now have two almost indestructible and accurate deep fry candy thermometers.
My friend's version of the recipe uses a bit less popcorn so that there's a higher ratio of sauce to popcorn. I have a problem around caramel corn which is that I can't stop eating it, so I keep my version lighter by using more popcorn. If you want a richer snack use only 6 cups of popcorn and maybe increase those nuts. Or that's what the squirrel says to do. I guess it's not professional to have a picture of a squirrel on a caramel corn recipe, but I'm keeping it here anyway. This is a 78704 squirrel.
Here's a link to my "usual" less buttery caramel corn recipe.
Recipe
Holiday Caramel Corn
Ingredients
- 8 cups regular or butter flavored popped microwave popcorn
- 1 stick 4 oz unsalted butter
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 ½ tablespoons corn syrup and ½ tablespoon molasses
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup cashews unsalted or lightly salted
- ½ cup walnuts or any other nut you like
- ⅓ cup peanuts optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Put the 8 cups of popcorn in a buttered roasting pan.
- Melt the stick of butter in a saucepan over low heat. Stir in the sugar, salt, corn syrup and molasses. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Insert a candy thermometer into pan (I use a deep fry thermometer that can be rested on its metal base) and boil mixture slowly on low heat, without stirring, until the temperature reaches the soft crack stage, about 285 degrees. Kristina mentioned this could take up to 45 minutes, but with a smaller batch I found it took much less time.
- When the thermometer hits 285, immediately remove from heat and stir in the soda and vanilla. Stir the mixture, then immediately pour evenly over the popped corn in the pan. Quickly mix to coat all the popcorn and spread evenly on pan. Bake for 15 minutes and stir well. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through. Remove pan from oven and stir in nuts, coating well. Return to oven and bake for 30 minutes more, stirring every 10 minutes. Turn caramel corn out onto nonstick foil or parchment-lined baking sheets in a single layer. Cool completely, then break apart into desired sized pieces. Keep stored in airtight bags or tins.
Louise says
Squirrels and chipmunks will quickly clean out your bird feeders if you let them. Chipmunks are cute when they sit on my patio and eat cherry tomatoes they've picked from my garden, but they are still tree rats and can do a lot of damage in the garden. You never see them all at once, so you think you have three when in reality you have fifty. They are quite prolific and have 1 or 2 litters of 2 to 7 babies each year. http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/uh119.pdf You really don't want groundhogs near your yard and would soon be calling Critter Control. Punxsutawney Phil is a lucky guy. This summer we had one dig a hole by our foundation. Luckily he left after I dumped mole peanut bait down the hole. http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/uh092.pdf
Mackenzie@The Caramel Cookie says
Haha, nice squirrel photo!
I agree, caramel corn is hard to stop eating! I just end up snacking on it allll day!
Anna says
Louise, could you please send me a chipmunk instead? We don't have any of those. Better still, if you send me a groundhog, I'll reimburse you the extra postage.
Also, I left out the important detail that caramel corn is extremely hard to stop eating. Much like Chex Mix, it's one of those things you have to much whenever you walk by.
Katrina says
Caramel corn is dangerous for me, I just keep munching and munching.
Ha, love the squirrel photo!
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!
Louise says
How many squirrels would you like? I recently live trapped and relocated six squirrels. Three in one day. Over the summer I live trapped and relocated 37 chipmunks. I have a little dance I do when I catch one. 🙂 I take them a couple miles to a farmer's field. Voles and mice don't get relocated. I recently trapped seven. Squirrels and chipmunks are tree rats that eat my flower bulbs. 🙁 Last summer I trapped 16 chipmunks, so they are gaining on me.
Lisa @ Snappy Gourmet says
Just saw this! Hope you enjoy the drinks! I think I'm going to make one now... 🙂
Adam says
Topical -- Caramel corn is on my list of things to do, but never think about it until it's too late.
Random -- I was walking into the mall the other day and a squirrel was glued to a brick wall waiting for people to leave the area. Hilarious :). Squirrels are nuts :).
Semi Random -- Great squirrel scene at the end of the movie Over the Hedge, couldn't breathe from laughing so hard in the theatre.
Timely -- Have a great Thanksgiving and a lot of fun :).
Sue says
Gosh those orange creamsicle cocktails sound fantastic!
I went through a caramel corn making spree this fall. Never got it on the blog because I felt the need to get it out of the house before I got photos taken. Caramel corn is GOOD stuff!!
karen says
I wish I was spending the holiday with, those cocktails sound great! Happy Thanksgiving!