The Amish make the best, melt-in-your-mouth caramel corn. With just a few simple ingredients, you can whip up this simple holiday treat in about 1 hour.
This is my go-to recipe for every Thanksgiving and Christmas get-together. Homemade Caramel Corn is a classic. It’s also makes for an excellent gift. I like to fill up those big decorative popcorn cans and hand these out to family, friends, teachers, the bus driver, you name it.
Everyone loves caramel corn. In fact, I often have to hide it around the house. Otherwise, my family would devour it in just a few days.
You can also store it in Ziploc baggies and send it off with the kids in their lunchbox. Pretty sure this gets me some extra hugs around the holidays.
How long can caramel corn be stored?
Popcorn is one of those foods that seems to last forever! In fact, popcorn (including caramel corn) doesn’t spoil or go bad. It just loses its flavor and crispiness over time. But when you store it in an airtight container, it should last up to 3 months.
But if you’re like our family, it’s usually gone within a week. You can also fill up some Ziploc bags and pass them out as gifts.
Why is my caramel corn so sticky?
If you find that your caramel corn is excessively sticky, it hasn’t been cooked properly. Temperature and timing are very important when it comes to making the perfect batch of homemade caramel corn.
Be sure to bring it to the correct temperature. This ensures that when it cools, it dries as a shiny coating rather than a sticky sauce. Also, be sure to take your time when you bring the mixture to a boil. If you’re like me, I tend to get a little impatient. But it’s important that you keep the heat on medium and allow it to come to a boil naturally. You want a nice SLOW bubbling boil.
2cupsslivered almonds (Can also use dry roasted nuts, honey rosated peanuts, cashews, Macadamia nuts, or pecans)
2cupsbrown sugar
1/2cuplight corn syrup
1tspsalt
1cupbutter
1tspbaking soda
1tspvanilla extract
Dash of cayenne pepper
Instructions
Cook 2 bags of popcorn in the microwave. Two 3.5oz bags of microwave popcorn equals 7 quarts of popped corn.
Place the popped popcorn into (2) shallow greased baking pans. Sprinkle the slivered almonds or nuts of your choice on top. Set aside. You can also use roasting pans if you prefer, which makes it a bit easier to stir without any popcorn falling out.
Preheat the oven to 240 degrees F. While the oven is heating, combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, and salt in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring enough to blend. Note: It’s important not to get in a hurry and bring everything to a boil too quickly. You want a nice SLOW bubbling boil.
Once the mixture begins to boil, continue boiling for 5 minutes while stirring constantly.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the baking soda and vanilla. Immediately pour over the popcorn in the baking pans. Stir to coat.
Bake for 1 hour. But be sure to remove them from the oven and give them a good stir every 15 minutes.
After it’s done baking, line the countertop with waxed paper. Pour the popcorn out onto the waxed paper. Allow the popcorn to cool completely.
Store in airtight containers. It can be kept for up to 3 months.
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Baking the caramel-coated popcorn helps to set the caramel sauce. By skipping this step, the caramel corn will become soggy. Why is my caramel corn soggy? Caramel corn will taste soft and chewy right out of the oven.
Ah, this is an easy one to solve—your caramel corn is chewy because you didn't cook your caramel long enough! We're looking to get to the hard crack stage, which is 300°F on a candy thermometer. It takes roughly 4-5 minutes of hard boiling to get there. Also, don't skip the baking soda!
While both caramel corn and kettle corn are sweet, caramel corn is richer in flavor and texture. Historically sweetened with molasses, caramel corn is most-often candy-coated. The thin, crunchy, sweet coating is derived from melted sugar.
If caramels are too soft, that means the temperature didn't get high enough. Again place the caramel back into a sauce pan with a couple of tablespoons of water and heat to 244°F. If you don't have a candy thermometer, you can test with a cold water test. Details on how to use this method can be found here.
Caramel is a deliciously sweet sauce that can turn up the volume on any dessert it's added to. But if you're hoping to drizzle caramel over vanilla ice cream or getting ready to dip apples for a fall celebration, you need a sauce that's not too thick. To thin caramel, just add some cream or water over heat.
Baking soda is what makes caramel corn chewy with a bit of crunch and gives it the classic brittle texture. The baking soda also helps the mixture to increase in volume which ensures it covers all of the popcorn. It's an essential ingredient and without it you'll likely find the texture of the caramel corn to be off.
Keep a close eye on the color of the sugar and as it approaches a reddish-brown, remove it from the heat. When making a wet caramel, water is added to help dissolve the sugar before cooking.
Even if you want to add candy or sauces, it doesn't require an egg. Still, some say the egg keeps the kernels from sticking together, while others say it's to keep wannabe chefs from adding too many kernels to the pan.
It looks blackish-brown, smells burnt and has swirls of rising smoke that sting your eyes. The caramel is a loss at this point—it will taste bitter and burned no matter what else you add.
Once it gets a burnt or bitter flavor, it can't be saved. Luckily, sugar is inexpensive, so you can always start over! (Here's how to store leftover caramel!)
Caramel: You will need brown sugar, butter, light corn syrup, salt, vanilla, and baking soda to make the caramel mixture. Popcorn: I prefer white popcorn in this recipe.However, you could use white or yellow.
When it comes to snacking, caramel-coated popcorn may be a popular choice, but it's essential to know that it may lead to a low food score due to its high simple carb content in the form of corn. The sugar in the caramel can also cause spikes in blood glucose levels, leading to hyperglycemia.
Caramel corn or caramel popcorn (toffee popcorn in the UK) is a confection made of popcorn coated with a sugar or molasses based caramel candy shell that is normally less than 1mm thick.
The longer you cook the syrup (the mixture of sugar and water the forms the base of the caramel sauce), the crunchier your popcorn will be. For very crunchy popcorn (my favorite!), stop cooking when you see the first wisps of smoke coming from the sugar mixture.
Resist the urge to toss out that bag of stale popcorn. If you're looking to breathe new life into the snack, spread it on a baking sheet and heat in the oven at 250°F for about five minutes. It should be as good as new!
If you leave the cobs in boiling water for too long, the corn's starch content will absorb too much water and its pectin will dissolve, yielding kernels with a soggy texture.
What's the difference between wet caramel and dry caramel? Wet caramel is made by combining sugar and a liquid and cooking them together, while dry caramel is made from just sugar, heated in a dry pan until it liquefies and browns.
Introduction: My name is Stevie Stamm, I am a colorful, sparkling, splendid, vast, open, hilarious, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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