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Old Fashioned Caramel Corn
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5 from 6 votes

Old Fashioned Caramel Corn

Old Fashioned Caramel Corn is sweet, crispy, and addictive. When stored in an airtight container, the caramel corn will keep for several weeks, if it lasts that long!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 5 minutes
Total Time1 hour 15 minutes
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 199kcal

Ingredients

  • 8 cups Fresh popped popcorn (about ½ cup unpopped corn) (See Tip 1)
  • 1 cup (6-ounces) unsalted dry roasted peanuts (See Tip 2)
  • 5 Tablespoons (2.5-ounces) unsalted butter
  • ½ cup (3.75-ounces) light brown sugar
  • ¼ cup (2.75-ounces) light corn syrup
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher salt (See Tip 3)
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 250°F.
  • Place popcorn in a large bowl; add peanuts to the top. Do not stir. Set aside.
  • Heat the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring until butter is melted. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, undisturbed and uncovered for 5 minutes.
  • Remove the saucepan from heat and stir in vanilla extract and baking soda. (See Tip 4)
  • Pour the caramel over the peanuts and popcorn; stir to coat.
  • Spread the mixture in a large disposable aluminum pan. Bake for one hour, removing every 15 minutes to stir.
  • Spread the mixture onto parchment paper to cool. It may seem sticky at first but will dry as it cools.
  • Store in airtight container. (See Tip 5)
  • Yield: About 9 cups.

Notes

  1. You can use Unflavored Skinny Pop rather than popping your own. Because the Skinny Pop is lightly salted, omit the salt from the caramel mixture. I recommend against using store-bought microwave popcorn because of the additives. 
  2. Feel free to use different nuts to suit your taste. Also, you can omit the nuts altogether.
  3. If using regular table salt, reduce the amount to ½ teaspoon.
  4. Be careful when stirring the caramel after adding the vanilla extract and baking soda. It will boil up significantly.
  5. If kept in an airtight container, the caramel corn should keep for about a week.

Nutrition

Calories: 199kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 13mg | Sodium: 236mg | Potassium: 120mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 160IU | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 1mg