
The truth is, I hate the smell of popcorn. I remember when I was a teacher, I was pregnant with William, and my classroom was next to the teacher’s lounge. Almost daily, someone would burn popcorn in the microwave and I would have to smell that awful smell all day. It took me years to even be able to look at popcorn. I don’t even order it at the movies. So that should be a testament to how delicious this caramel popcorn is.
My friend Kristan makes the best caramel corn in the world (next to Johnson’s of course) and she was kind enough to give me her recipe. I have a new appreciation for how much time she spends every holiday season making caramel corn. She gives big tubs of popcorn to a lucky handful of people, and I have been lucky enough to be a recipient. It is sweet, salty, crunchy, everything that caramel corn should be. It is not hard to make, but if you are going to make a lot, you need to make quite a few batches. This is a perfect holiday gift. Maybe for your little ones’ Halloween party?
The most challenging part of making this recipe for me was figuring out how to make popcorn. I do not own a microwave. When we moved to Kansas it took me about a week to notice that I did not have one. The last few houses that we lived in all had built-in microwaves. We live in bare-bones base housing, with no built-ins here. The time that I really miss it is when I need to melt butter or chocolate. And as it turns out, when I need to make copious amounts of popcorn. Instead, I made it the old-fashioned way, on the stove, with only one casualty. And yes, the smell of burnt popcorn almost made me stop right there. But thankfully for you, I carried on.
The Best Homemade Caramel Corn Ingredients //
- 8 cups popped popcorn (well-salted)
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 6 Tablespoons butter
- 3 Tablespoons corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking soda

How to Make // The Steps
Step 1: Add brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup to a saucepan.

Step 2: Bring the mixture to a boil and let boil for 5 minutes. Do not stir.

Step 3: Take the mixture off of the heat and add the vanilla and baking soda.

Step 4: Pour the caramel over the popped popcorn.

Step 5: Toss until all of the popcorn is coated.

Step 6: Spread the popcorn out on a parchment or foil-lined baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 200-degree oven for 10 minutes.

Step 7: As the popcorn cools, it will harden. Scoop into bags (or tins like Kristan does) and get ready to gift to friends.


Thanks, Kristan for the recipe and for reminding me of the good times that we had together in Nova Scotia.


Homemade Caramel Corn
Ingredients
- 8 cups popped popcorn well salted
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 6 Tablespoons butter
- 3 Tablespoons corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Add brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup to a saucepan.
- Bring the mixture to a boil and let boil for 5 minutes. Do not stir.
- Take the mixture off of the heat and add the vanilla and baking soda.
- Pour the caramel over the popped popcorn.
- Toss until all of the popcorn is coated.
- Spread the popcorn out on a parchment or foil lined baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 200 degree oven for 10 minutes.
- Scoop into bags (or tins like Kristan does) and get ready to gift to friends.
Karen Cendro
Monday 31st of October 2011
Thank you so much for this recipe! We served it in cute Halloween Bags to our awesome franchisees at Jan-Pro Sacramento on check day! They were a hit! Thanks!
bakedbree
Monday 7th of November 2011
Yeah Karen!
Tori
Monday 24th of October 2011
I made this for me and my friends here in college and it was so good! I was surprised by how easy it was. Thank you for your recipes! We love your blog. :)
bakedbree
Monday 24th of October 2011
I love that college kids are reading it! Where do you go to school?
Jackie
Sunday 16th of October 2011
My kids love carmel corn but we usually get it from the farmers market! I'm definitely going to try this recipe!
bakedbree
Wednesday 19th of October 2011
My kids were amazed that you could actually make caramel corn and not buy it.
Dawn Melanson
Friday 14th of October 2011
I definetly have to try this Bree, I have two carmel popcorn lovers in the house!! I miss that you don't live in NS anymore! Thanks so much for sharing the recipie!!
bakedbree
Saturday 15th of October 2011
I miss NS in the fall, and Dempeseys. Hope that you and Trin love it.
Jamie
Thursday 13th of October 2011
I love making homemade caramel corn. It is so addicting. The recipe I usually makes calls for baking the popcorn for 1 hour and turning every 15 minutes. I'll have to try this one since it only takes 10 minutes in the oven. It looks awesome!