The best ever caramel corn recipe with PERFECT crispy outside, chewy center, and sweet 'n salty flavor.
Prep Time: 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time: 45 minutesminutes
Cooling Time: 15 minutesminutes
Total Time: 1 hourhour5 minutesminutes
Servings:12cups
Ingredients
4bags popcorn, popped (un-popped kernels discarded), butter, plain, or kettle corn all work
1cupunsalted butter
2cupsbrown sugar
½cuplight corn syrup
1teaspoonvanilla
1teaspoonbaking soda
1teaspoonsea salt, or to taste, (you can also leave out the sea salt and use salted butter instead)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Fill two large bowls with the popcorn and set out two large baking sheets.
In a large sauce pan on the stove, combine butter, sugar, and corn syrup over medium heat. Stir constantly and bring to a rapid boil. Continue to stir for 3-4 minutes, remove from heat and stir in vanilla then immediately stir in baking soda (be careful, mixture will bubble up!). Pour caramel over popcorn and stir with a rubber spatula until well-coated.
Place baking sheets in the preheated oven and cook for 15-60 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. ***For chewier popcorn, cook only 15-30 minutes. For crispier popcorn, cool closer to 45-60 minutes. My favorite is about 35-40 minutes for a crispy start and a chewy finish!
Allow to cool, then serve or store in airtight container up to 3 days.
Notes
Flavor tip: Add a sprinkle of sea salt after removing from the oven!