Divas on a Dime: One delicious recipe, two treats, but no tricks
Well, maybe there’s a little trick to this caramel corn. We’re going to sneak in the perfect amount of pumpkin pie spice and salt to make an autumn snack that’s crunchy, sweet, salty and ridiculously addictive.
Can you believe we’re into the holiday season already? As we prepare to climb up a few notches on the crazy scale we need an easy, inexpensive recipe that works as party food all season long.
If you’re having a harvest-themed gathering everyone will love the pumpkin spice caramel corn. Homemade is so much better than anything you can find at the store. When Halloween rolls around, you can add food coloring to take the virtuous caramel corn and reincarnate it as the delightfully disgusting “Ogre Oogies”.
PUMPKIN SPICE CARAMEL CORN
Prep Time: 15 minutes - Bake Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 20 cups
What You’ll Need:
2/3 cup unpopped popcorn kernels (about 20 cups popped corn)
1 cup salted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons vanilla
Here’s How:
Preheat the oven to 300°. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside. Pop the popcorn kernels using an air popper into a very large bowl.
If you don’t have an air popper, (you should get one!) you can use a plain brown paper lunch bag in the microwave. Place 1/3 cup unpopped kernels in a brown paper bag. Fold the top over a few times; microwave on high for about two and a half minutes, or until the popping slows (the exact time will depend on your microwave). You’ll need to do this twice, possibly three times to get your 20 cups of popped corn. As a last resort, use four or five bags of prepared microwave popcorn and eliminate the salt in the caramel. It’s all good.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, corn syrup and salt together. Stir to incorporate and bring to boil. Boil for 4 minutes without stirring. Remove from the heat and stir in the pumpkin pie spice and vanilla. If you’re making green Ogre Oogies add about 20 drops of green food coloring to the caramel and stir to evenly distribute the coloring. Pour the caramel mixture over the popcorn and working quickly, toss with two large spoons to coat evenly.
Spread the popcorn evenly onto the lined pan and place in oven. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Watch for scorching the last time you stir and adjust time accordingly if necessary. Don’t let it burn. When baked, spread the popcorn out into bite sized clusters to cool on a parchment lined counter. This will make it very crunchy. Store in airtight container. Divine!
While this recipe is delicious as written you could choose to add other goodies like pecans, peanuts, or pepitas. You can add your favorite breakfast cereal to the popcorn when you add the caramel and bake it all together. You can also form the caramel coated popcorn into popcorn balls, if you wish.
Fabulous Food by Patti Diamond from “Divas On A Dime – Where Frugal, Meets Fabulous!” - www.divasonadime.com Join the conversation on Facebook at DivasOnADimeDotCom.
