So it’s Thursday, but I thought it was only fair to post this recipe today since people in Utah get to see me cook it on TV! If you want to catch it, my (very short-really, don’t blink or you’ll miss it) segment will air Thursday Sept. 17th some time between 11am-12. I’ll do my best to avoid being a gigantic disappointment. If any of you imagine me in your head to look like Heidi Klum with spatula in hand, then do me a favor and don’t watch. I’d like to preserve at least some of those mental images. However, if you’d like a good laugh, there’s an extremely high chance that I’ll do something ridiculously klutzy on live television (like spill boiling sugar on my already burnt hand or drop a cuss word in Zion or something).
For everyone else–here’s what we’re cookin’ up today.
Oh yeah, it’s really good. It’s a variation of this regular caramel corn, but with all of the warm cinnamon-y goodness of fall. (Hmm…warm cinnamon-y goodness appears to be our theme this week). When it bakes, the pecans get toasted and the creamy white chocolate just makes it food-gasmic. Whip this up for all of the fall TV premiers this week (by the way, it’s not even funny how excited I am for those). (Hey, do you think I could use any more parenthesis in this post??)
*note: there are a few minor changes to this recipe as compared to the recipe on KSL. They’re both fine, I just removed the salt and added a bit more white chocolate in this version. The full recipe is typed in a printer-friendly version below!
Cinnamon Caramel Corn with Pecans & White Chocolate
Recipe by Our Best Bites
12 C popped popcorn (about 1/2 C kernels)*
1 C roughly chopped pecans
1 C brown sugar
3/4 t cinnamon
1/4 C Karo syrup (or honey makes a good substitution)
1 stick real butter (1/2 C)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
3 squares almond bark
*You can use air popped or microwave popcorn. If using microwave, anything works, but I prefer a “natural” flavor that’s low in butter and salt.
Preheat oven to 250 degrees
Place popcorn and chopped pecans in a large bowl and set aside. And by large bowl, I mean like, twice as big as you think you really need. If you don’t believe me, then maybe you will believe the scorching hot caramel goo that’s splattered all over your hands while you’re stirring in your not-so-big bowl. Just a thought.
Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a big, microwave-safe bowl. Like a 2-quart bowl or Pyrex measuring bowl. Again, use a bowl larger than you think you need to avoid scorching hot caramel goo accidents. It’s really important to incorporate the cinnamon into the brown sugar at this point. For some reason, if you don’t it does crazy things. I don’t know why. Try it and then email Alton Brown and ask him if you really want to know.
Chop butter into chunks and place on top of sugar mixture. Pour corn syrup (or honey) over the top of everything.
Microwave on high for 30 seconds (just to soften the butter a bit) and then stir to combine.
Return to microwave and heat for 2 minutes. Remove and stir and then microwave for 2 minutes more.
By this point it should be nice and bubbly like this.
If it doesn’t quite look like that you can microwave it a little longer, but just beware that if you over cook it, it will reach the hard candy stage and you’ll end up with a giant clump of tasty concrete-like substance with little popcorn pieces stuck to it. Don’t ask me how I know this.
Remove from the microwave and add in vanilla and baking soda.
This is where you can justify making this every day. Adding vanilla and baking soda to boiling sugar totally counts as a science project so you can check it off as a teaching moment with your children. Really. It’s about the children. Here at Our Best Bites we’re all about educating America’s youth. So you should also know that if you count how many pizza rolls or toffee chip cookies you eat it qualifies as math class. Count in Spanish and you get extra credit. And heck, if you’re doing Spanish, you should just go ahead and make taquitos to go with it. And you can’t have taquitos without guacamole. And something to wash it down with. Like I said; it’s all about the kids. If you give a mouse a cookie…
Okay, back to caramel goodness. See what happens? The vanilla makes it bubble and pop and the baking soda makes it foam up, like this:
Now take that foamy science project and pour it right over the popcorn and pecans. Stir right away, and stir lots. Take too long and the caramel will harden on you. Keep stirring until everything is well coated.
Spread popcorn mixture onto a foil-lined jelly roll pan.
And yeah, go ahead and pop some in your mouth, you know you want to. It will be kinda chewy and stick-to-your-teeth-like. But we’re gonna change that. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
After 30 minutes, take a piece out and let it cool. “Sample.” If it’s not crunchy enough, bake for another 5 minutes. “Sample” again. This will not be the end of “sampling.”
When it’s done, give it a final stir and let it cool off for a bit while you melt your almond bark (just nuke it in the microwave according to the package directions) If you want, you can spread out your caramel corn on a clean piece of parchment, waxed paper, or foil. I always do this because sometimes it sticks to the hot foil if I leave it on the original pan. I’m kind of a clean control freak and I like to have it on a nice, fresh surface.
Now, just use a fork and drizzle the melted almond bark over the popcorn mixture.
When it’s hardened (pop it in the fridge to speed that process along) break into chunks and enjoy!
This stuff is so awesome for packaging. Put it in cute bags like shown in this Halloween popcorn post, or in little tin pails, or cellophane bags with a ribbon. It’s great for bake sales and party favors too. Or just to EAT! It’s so stinkin’ addictive.
People always tell me I should sell it. I did once, at the only garage sale I’ve ever had. People apparently thought the well-packaged bags next to the “Gourmet Popcorn for $1” sign were samples. But they DID disappear real fast.
Cinnamon Caramel Corn with Pecans & White Chocolate AKA Cinnamon Bun Popcorn
Ingredients
- 12 cups popped popcorn about 1/2 C kernels *see notes below
- 1 cup roughly chopped pecans
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 cup Karo syrup or honey makes a good substitution
- 1/2 cup real butter 1 stick
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 squares almond bark
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
- Place popcorn and chopped pecans in a very large bowl and set aside.
- Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a big, microwave-safe bowl. Like a 2-quart bowl or Pyrex measuring bowl. Use a bowl larger than you think you need.
- Chop butter into chunks and place on top of sugar mixture. Pour corn syrup (or honey) over the top of everything. Microwave on high for 30 seconds (just to soften the butter a bit) and then stir to combine. Return to microwave and heat for 2 minutes. Remove and stir and then microwave for 2 minutes more.
- Remove from the microwave and add in vanilla and baking soda. When combined, pour over popcorn and stir until it's coated. Spread popcorn mixture onto a foil-lined jelly roll pan. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.**(See baking note at end of post.)
- After 30 minutes, take a piece out and let it cool. Sample. If it's not crunchy enough, bake for another 5 minutes. When it's done, give it a final stir and let it cool off for a bit while you melt your almond bark (just nuke it in the microwave according to the package directions). If you want, you can spread out your caramel corn on a clean piece of parchment, waxed paper, or foil. I always do this because sometimes it sticks to the hot foil if I leave it on the original pan. Use a fork and drizzle the melted almond bark over the popcorn mixture.
- When it's hardened (pop it in the fridge to speed that process along) break into chunks and enjoy!
Questions & Reviews
Dear Ladies,
OH MY HECK! You have outdone yourselves again. This is so dang good, we were sampling all along the way and had to make a second batch for the ladies at honey's work. I always make them a treat every week and they were supposed to get the first batch…OOPS! It tastes amazing at every sampling stage! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Holy cow! This recipe is fabulous! I followed it to a "T" and it turned out perfectly! And I even managed not to burn myself in the process…Can't wait to share this goody with everyone! Thanks!
This is delicious! We will be serving it at a fun art gallery reception. I think I'm going to leave off the almond bark next time and add in some pretzel pieces drizzled in dark chocolate.
My family loved this recipe. I made a batch to take to a girls night out and ended up making a second batch as I knew my husband and girls wouldn't let me leave with the first one. I can't wait to use this recipe for my family's annual Christmas baking day and give it as gifts. Love it!
We love popcorn in our house, this looks fantastic!
Kim, use salted. ( fyi- Unless we specifically call for unsalted butter in our recipes, we're always referring to salted)
Should this be salted or unsalted butter?
I have a quicker method for "baking" the covered popcorn. You can do it in the microwave.
First get a large paper grocery bag and spray it with cooking spray all over the inside. Then pour your popped corn in there. Once your mixture of caramel is finished, pour it over the popcorn right into the bag. Then commence shaking the bag and stirring inside the bag tossing the popcorn all around. I've never burned myself this way. 🙂 I have several times when I try the bowl way. After corn is well coated, roll the top of the bag down and microwave on high for 1 minute. Take out and shake. Put in again for 1 minute. Remove and shake. Then in again for 30 seconds and remove and shake. Then a final 30 seconds in microwave and remove and shake. Cut the side of the bag to lay the popcorn out flat and cool.
It's super quick and turns out the same. 🙂
Oh so good! We were all fighting over it.
This was so delicious! I made this for a party, and everyone was hesitant at first to try it. The, "this is just your typical kind of carmel popcorn". Oh no! It turned out to be a "one bite is far from enough!" Thank you for the treat!