Caramel Popcorn (Recipe Monday)

Caramel covered popcorn has always been a holiday favorite of mine.  Last year I decided to look up a recipe (derived from Allrecipes.com) to make and it turned out to be super easy!  Such was born my go-to holiday treat to gift or bring to  friends' holiday parties.

Ingredients:
6 Quarts Plain (no butter) popped popcorn
1/2 Cup Butter
1/4 Cup Corn Syrup
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Kosher Salt

Directions:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees
2.  Melt butter over medium heat
3.  Add brown sugar and corn syrup mixing util the mixture boils
4.  Continue to boil 4 minutes without any stirring
5.  Remove from heat and add baking soda and vanilla - the mixture will start to puff up like the picture below.

Mixture after adding baking soda

6.  Toss mixture with popcorn and place in baking pan. Top with Kosher Salt for the "salted caramel effect."

Popcorn in pan

7.  Bake for 1 hour, tossing every 20 minutes.

This weekend, I decided to try something new - I melted white and dark chocolate and drizzled it lightly over the popcorn when it was out of the oven for a chocolate covered caramel covered popcorn.  The original recipe calls for twice the ratio of caramel to popcorn, but the general consensus is that the caramel covering is just the right amount! 

The final product!

Shariously delicious Caramel Popcorn!