I finally broke down and bought myself a hot-air popcorn popper. I’ve wanted one for a while: I’ve heard many dieticians recommend popcorn as a whole grain, and while I don’t really like it myself, I thought it would be a good snack for the kids. I don’t like to offer microwave popcorn because of all the additives involved, so when I replaced my Crock-Pot (I broke the pot!), I bought a popcorn popper as well. The kids have enjoyed popcorn with butter and salt, butter and Parmesan, and butter and cinnamon-sugar.
In an upcoming post, I’ll let you in on a few things I’ve found out about snacking and home schoolers. But for right now, I just want to share my sister-in-law’s wonderful recipe for homemade Caramel Popcorn.
Start with a big bowl of hot popcorn. (My popper uses 1/2 cup kernels to make a big bowl, just right for this recipe.)
In a large saucepan, boil together:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
3 Tablespoons corn syrup or pancake syrup (I haven’t tried this variation)
When the butter is completely melted and boiling, add:
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
This is what it will look like:
Immediately pour over hot popcorn and stir with a big spoon. I thought I could use my hands for this, but it was just too hot!
Here’s the finished product:
And this is what you will look like eating it:
Start to finish: 15 minutes. Enjoy those happy faces!
What is your favorite addition to popcorn? Please leave a comment below.
sandboxdiamonds
/ January 19, 2013You don’t have to bake it after you pour the carmel on? And it stays good? Seems too easy to be true…thanks for sharing!
jenthegranolamom
/ January 19, 2013We have talked about experimenting with baking it, but we like the slightly sticky product as is. If you wait to eat it –we have a hard time doing that– it hardens up more like Cracker jacks.
mummyshymz
/ January 19, 2013Looks yummy!