Caramel Corn

This sweet and crunchy Caramel Corn is delicious treat and makes a fun homemade Christmas gift!

Christmas is only 3 days away--is anyone else in shock?  It's finally starting to feel like Christmas since we had our first family Christmas party in Canada on Saturday.  We had a great time with our family and Summer loved seeing everyone!

Now we are back home and it's crunch time!  I have about half my gifts left to wrap and I still have some baking to do so I can bring some treats over to our neighbors.  Since I'm a little short on time I'll be making something quick and easy.  The recipe topping that list is my dad's Caramel Corn recipe.  I made a batch last week for my co-workers.  I filled little ramkins with the treat and packaged it up in a clear cellophane bag with a pretty bow.  My co-workers loved it!

This caramel corn is a recipe I grew up making.  My dad always made it in the microwave and my brother and I loved helping him pour it into a brown paper bag and then stir it up.  As kids we couldn't believe the magic that happened in the microwave ;)  You can make this recipe in the oven too if that's more your thing, I just choose to use the microwave because it's faster!  Either way, the caramel corn tastes amazing!

Caramel Corn

Makes 24 1 cup servings

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 quarts popped popcorn

1.  Melt the butter in a large saucepan.

2.  Add the brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

3.  Allow the mixture to boil for 5 minutes without stirring.

4.  Remove the caramel from the heat and stir in the vanilla and baking soda.  It will expand when you add the baking soda, so be sure to use a large pan!

5.  Microwave directions:  Coat the inside of a brown grocery bag with cooking spray.  Pour the popcorn into the bag and pour the caramel over the popcorn.  Stir to coat.  Fold the bag over and microwave for 2 minutes, then remove the bag from the microwave and stir.  Microwave another 2 minutes and stir, then an additional 2 minutes and stir.  Spread caramel corn on a baking sheet to cool.

6.  Oven directions:  Place the popcorn in a large bowl and pour the caramel over it.  Stir to coat.  Spread on two cookie sheets and bake at 250 for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and cool.

When the caramel corn is cool, break it apart and store in an airtight container.