Simply Made Sunday-Caramel Corn

This week we made a recipe that says "autumn is here"

Homemade Caramel Corn

Ingredients needed:

8 cups popped popcorn

3/4 c. packed brown sugar

1/4 c. butter (real butter is a must)

3 TBLS. corn syrup

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. vanilla

We use an air popper for this recipe--it makes the best popcorn for a great caramel corn result.

Luke thinks the air popper is a little too loud for his sensitive ears.

Popping the popcorn is the only step that little ones can help with while making this recipe. Once you start cooking the sugar it is much to hot---I shoo the kids away at this point until it is ready to "shake up" and eat.

I always quadruple this recipe because we have a quadruple sized family-so what you see is the increased sizes. I do always make a double batch at once. I have tried to do more at one time, but it is just to hard, and heavy, to stir and manage that much popcorn at a time.

On the stove over meduim low heat melt butter, brown sugar,corn syrup and salt. Stir this until it melts and begins to boil.

A full boil looks like this. After it begins to boil, cook without stirring for 3 minutes.

Remove from heat and add baking soda and vanilla. This makes it foam up and look like the above photo.

Mix into popcorn. Stir well to coat evenly over the popcorn. This is a very sticky and hot time in the process of making the caramel corn.

Place evenly on a cookie sheet--(or a big pan if making a double recipe)

Bake at 300 degrees for 13-15 minutes. It always seems to take my popcorn 13 minutes to look golden brown and not burned. You can start to smell it if it gets too"done", remove quickly from oven if this happens, it is still good unless it is in for several extra minutes. If it burns it tastes "yucky" according to small children and big children alike.

Use a large spatula to put this very hot popcorn in a big plastic bowl. We stir and shake it as it cools so that is doesn't become one giant popcorn ball. Continue shaking for several minutes until it is cool. We often do this step outside in the cold autumn air of central NY. (and it has been in the 30's in the morning lately)

My teenage helper, Amy, prefers to use a knife to stir as she cools the corn.

All that is left to do is to call the littles. First we always have to smell the caramel corn,

and then we eat.

This is very addicting. Our family of 12 can finished off 32 cupfuls of this in a day---boy, that's a lot of caramel corn.

Make sure to check out all the great Simply Made Sunday recipes at Raising Itty-Bitty Bookworms.