Caramel Corn Recipe

The King Arthur Flour company blog highly recommends this Caramel Corn recipe. One of my fondest memories of trick or treating was the homemade popcorn balls. This just might be a blast from the past!!!

Caramel Corn

15 cups popped corn (9 tablespoons kernels, popped)
2 tablespoons molasses
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup salted butter
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

 Preheat your oven to 200°F and line a half-sheet pan (18" x 13" pan) with parchment paper. Pour the popped corn into a large bowl, at least 6 quarts, and set aside.

 In a large saucepan over medium-high heat bring the molasses, brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup to a boil. Boil, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.

 Remove the pan from the heat and add the baking soda. Stir well as the mixture turns foamy.

 Immediately (and carefully) pour the hot syrup over the popped corn and stir until the corn is well coated.

 Spread the hot caramel corn into the parchment-lined pan. Bake at 200°F for one hour. Stir the corn every 15 minutes during this time.

 Remove from the oven. This caramel corn is a warm, sticky, sweet and crunchy treat straight from the oven. It can also be cooled and stored airtight for several days. This recipe doubles and triples very well.

◦Want to add a bit of saltiness to your sweet caramel corn? Add 1 cup of roasted, salted peanuts to the bowl of popped corn before pouring on the syrup.

 ◦To make popcorn balls on a stick, omit the baking soda from the recipe. As soon as you can handle the corn without burning yourself, form it into 1-cup balls, inserting a lollipop stick or skewer at one end of each.