Feeling like you want to give a little gift or bring a treat to the office/to the meeting/to the millions of places you’ve got to go? Feeling a little short on time and money? Try making homemade caramel corn.
Chances are you have the majority of ingredients in your pantry already:
12 cups of popped popcorn (about two bags of microwave popcorn or just less than a cup of popcorn kernels)
1½ cups nuts (I used peanuts and pecans, but you could easily substitute something less expensive like mini-marshmallows or leave the nuts out)
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup margarine
¼ cup light corn syrup
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
Making this recipe is very simple.
Heat oven to 200ºF. Divide popcorn and pecans between 2 ungreased rectangular pans, 13x9x2 inches (I used rimmed baking sheets and foil for easy clean up).
Heat brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt in 3-quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until bubbly around edges. Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally; remove from heat. Stir in baking soda.
Pour mixture over popcorn and nuts; stir until well coated. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
This is thoroughly delicious and it makes tons of popcorn. I love to package food gifts in canning jars, since they can be sterilized, airtight and look casually homemade (plus, they are re-usable when the giftee eats all the popcorn). It's all ready to be festively adorned!
A big batch of this in a plastic tub (with a scoop and maybe some small holiday bags) would make you the break room hero. Don't you love that kind of adulation?