Sunday, October 25, 2009

Caramel Apple-Caramel Corn


Did you guys see Peabody's supremely amazing creation a couple of weeks ago - caramel apple-caramel corn?? Of course I had to make it as soon as possible. And oh it was good. Really really good. I don't know what size bag of popcorn she used because I halved the recipe and got more popcorn than she did for the whole recipe! Unfortunately the popcorn was only nice and crisp on the first day. The next day it started to get soft and it quickly after that got really soft. I'm not sure if it's because I should have heated the caramel more or if that's just what happens (maybe because the dried apples are in there).


If this sounds good, you might also like:
Peanut Butter Fudge
Caramel Walnut Chocolate Chunk Granola
Monster Cookies
Chocolate Scotcheroos

Caramel Apple-Caramel Corn
Adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

Makes about 25 cups.

The caramels I found were in an 8 or 9 oz bag so I didn't use them all, and I just used whatever dried apples I had. The exact amount of the caramels and apples you use are not a big deal. Unfortunately my halved version uses 1 1/2 bags of popcorn - but next time I'd probably just use 1 bag to keep it simpler.

1 1/2 80 g bags plain (not buttered) microwavable popcorn, popped

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, tightly packed
1/4 cup white corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp baking soda

7 oz of caramels (unwrapped), chopped into fourths
6 oz dried apples, chopped into bite size pieces (this is probably about 1 1/2 cups)

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 200F.

Put the popcorn in a large bowl or stock pot. Add the apple and caramel pieces and toss with popcorn. Set aside.

In a large saucepan bring sugars, syrup, salt, and butter to a boil, over high heat. Boil until all the ingredients has dissolved and it is boiling away at you.

Add vanilla extract and baking soda and stir quickly. Be warned, it’s going to bubble up and get mad at you.

Dump the caramel into the bowl with the popcorn, apples and caramels. Mix thoroughly.

Spread out evenly onto prepared baking sheet and place in oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Your caramels will melt, but will firm back up as they cool, don’t panic. Enjoy.

14 comments:

Snooky doodle said...

what a yummy treat :) apple and caramel are surely to please

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kickpleat said...

I love salty popcorn but this looks amazing! Perfect for fall.

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

**drool**

Dana said...

There is no way I can have that in my house. NO WAY. Looks awesome!

Anonymous said...

How creative! I never would have thought of combining caramel apples ans caramel corn together.

grace said...

the only problem here is that i would intentionally pick out all the caramel bits. wait, who am i kidding—that’s not a problem. :)

kimberleyblue said...

I love the photos...nice Halloween bowl!

I love caramel popcorn more than anything. I'm sure I could devour all the popcorn in less than an hour. The dried apple is nice addition!

Maria said...

Great snack for fall!

Ricki said...

Well, it's got double "caramel" in the title. What more do you need to know? ;)

Lu said...

Note to self: Buy popcorn. Yummy!

CookiePie said...

Oh MAN does that look good. I can't believe you had any left over the next day!!

Steph said...

This totally reminds me of our cookie softening conversations..haha. Btw, have you tried the NYT recipe, it's definitely the best one I've tried and stays crisp the longest, although it does soften up by the next day.

Your popcorn looks really yummy and addicting.

Pam Walter said...

This looks super-yummy! I guess you have to eat it all in one day though.
http://blog.sweetservices.com/sweetscandyblog/

Ingrid_3Bs said...

I saw that on Peabody's and it did look good! Yours does as well!

I think all homemade caramel corn starts to soften the next day. Mine did.
~ingrid