Cinnamon Bun Popcorn

Next on my list to do before I left for Boston was to make a treat to take with me.  I love to make caramel corn it's easy and always a hit.  I of course can't make the same type each time, so I found a recipe on Food.com for Cinnamon Bun Popcorn.

Ingredients:

12 cups popped popcorn (about 1/2 cup kernels or 2 bags of microwave popcorn)
1 cup pecan halves, roughly chopped
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup real butter (= 1 stick)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 pieces white almond bark or 2 pieces white chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Pop your popcorn according to directions. Be sure and check for any UN-popped kernels, those are the WORST to bite into unexpectedly.

Place popcorn and chopped pecans in a large bowl and set aside.

Combine brown sugar and cinnamon, butter and karo in a medium sized pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to rolling boil. Remove from heat and add your vanilla and baking soda. The baking soda will make your caramel mixture foam up and rise, don't be alarmed, it's suppose to (this is why you need to use a tall sided pot if you have one).

Pour your caramel mixture over your popcorn and pecans and stir well.

Spread popcorn mixture onto a foil-lined cookie sheet. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes. Stir every 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool down. Break into bite size pieces. Store in an air tight container.

Alexis notes:  I made blow your mind microwave popcorn, that way you're popping your own popcorn.  I had some of my homemade butter left over and used that. I also used Wilton Melts in bright white to drizzle over the done popcorn.

Any treats planned to make?

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Boo to you from our crew - Gooey Caramel Apple Monster Corn

Have I mentioned how much I love Blog Hops?  No really I do, OK I don't love that people don't stop by and say hi like they should or leave a comment when they do stop by (OK off my soap box). What I do love about them is finding amazing new things to make!  This Halloween I had a plan but then I came across some new things and of course had to try them out.  The only bad thing is this year being at public school vs private I have more kids to make for!

I found this really cool idea for Gooey Caramel Apple Monster Corn on I Dig Pinterest.  I had most of the items already on hand. I made a quick trip to the Dollar Tree for the Caramel Apple Taffy.  I should have picked up the gum drops like she had in her recipe but let's just say shopping at the Dollar Tree with the boys needs to be a get in and get out or I end up with a cart full of crap (I mean real crap some of those toys are just that!)

What you Need:

4 c. unpopped corn kernels or about 12 c. popped corn

2 1/4 c. brown sugar

1 c. karo syrup

1/2 c. butter

dash of salt

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

1 t. vanilla

1 pkg. (7.5 oz.) Caramel Apple Taffy (Dollar Tree - I used 2 bags)

Peanuts (I skipped)

sprinkles (I used on half of the batch)

gum drops (I forgot to pick up so skipped it)

Wilton Candy Eyes (I bought mine at Walmart, seen at Target & Micheals)

MM (I threw in a few orange and green)

Wilton Bags (Found on Clearance at Micheals 99cents for 15 bags)

Caramel Part:

Pop the corn.  Stir brown sugar, karo syrup, butter and salt in a sauce pan.  Bring to a boil and let boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Stir in sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Bring to a boil.  

Add caption

Popcorn / Caramel Part:

Pour over popcorn and carefully incorporate so all popcorn is covered. Unwrap taffy and melt in a buttered saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently. Immediately drizzle over popcorn mixture.  Store in an air-tight container.

Hope you enjoy and give these a try!

Are you ready for Halloween Tonight?

I think I can say I'm ready!!

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Easy Caramel Corn

Here we are on another easy gift idea!  The PTA President and myself had the brilliant idea to make caramel popcorn for all the kids for the upcoming Christmas program this Thursday.  Sure I can do that ... hehe she said to herself not thinking how long it would take to make 120 of these bags!  Now if you are just doing a normal batch this really is easy heck even at the quantity we did it was pretty easy just a little time consuming.  To make it go easier before she was off work I went and popped all the popcorn.  I made 3 brown paper grocery bags full!  I found this amazing recipe for Easy Caramel Corn on Our Best Bites website.

Easy Caramel Corn

12 C popped popcorn (about 1/2 C kernels)
1 C brown sugar 
1/4 C white Karo syrup 
1/2 t salt (if you are using salted microwave popcorn then omit salt here) 
1 stick real butter 
1/2 t baking soda 
1 t vanilla

Pop popcorn and set aside. Place brown sugar, Karo syrup, salt, and butter in a microwave safe dish. I cut up the butter into chunks so it melts better.
Are you ready for the directions? I’m warning you, it’s complicated. You might want to take notes. Here we go. Microwave for 30 seconds. That should be enough to melt the butter at least half way. Stir it all to combine. Now microwave on high for 2 minutes. Take it out and stir. Microwave for 2 more minutes.

While the caramel is cooking, put the popcorn in a big bowl. Use one that is way bigger than you think you’ll need. Try to get any un-popped kernels out so you don’t break a tooth. When the caramel is done cooking, take out of microwave and add baking soda and vanilla. Sit back and watch it do cool things like bubble and foam.  Stir it well and then pour it over the popcorn. Mix it up well with a big spoon. I usually spread it all out on a piece of foil and let it cool for a minute so it doesn’t get stuck in one big clump. The longer it sits out, the firmer it will get, but it won’t ever get crunchy-hard unless you bake it.

What I did was pop the popcorn doing my microwave trick (click here to find directions).  I used my Pyrex 4qt glass bowl with 1/2 cup popcorn kernels.  This made the exact amount for the recipe. 

I promise it was super easy to make and put it together.  For the kids we put it in nice little treat bags.  The extra I had left over I put in these cute plastic containers I found at the dollar store a while back.  I can't wait to pass them out!  I hope you make it for someone special.

Kids Treat bags (bags from Dollar Tree)

 Treat for the adults (from Dollar Tree)

Have a wonderful day!!