- 1
Ingredients
- Mixture:
- 16-20 cups of popped popcorn
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup corn syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon green food coloring
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- (Depending on how coated you would like the popcorn, I recommend making a double batch of the mixture to achieve the same look of the popcorn as in the photo.)
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (95 degrees C).
Place your popcorn in two large shallow baking dishes.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt buter. Stir in sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to boil while stirring consistently. Boil without stirring for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and green food coloring until the mixture is evenly colored and combined. Stir in baking soda. Mixture will double. Pour the mixture over the popcorn and stir to combine and evenly coat.
Place the popcorn in the oven. Stir the popcorn every 15 minutes for 1 hour. Remove from the oven. Let cool for about 5 minutes and then break into pieces. Be careful popcorn will still be hot.
Do you mean 3 cups of popped corn? My mixture did not double?
@Anonymous Hmmmm... Nope, I didn't mean 3 cups of popped corn -- that wouldn't be enough for 8-10 serving. When you add in the baking soda, it will cause a reaction and the syrup mixture will double almost immediately. Try keeping the mixture over the heat and see if that helps.
For anyone who is having a tough time with the candy mixture, this is a standard caramel corn recipe with white sugar instead of brown and food coloring added. If you're having trouble with the high altitude recipe, just google "caramel corn recipe" and replace the brown sugar with white and add food coloring as suggested above.
For the anon using honey, substituting honey will not work to make proper caramel.
@Ninny 123 - This recipe does yield a lot of popcorn, but you do make a make a good point about the amount of popcorn kernels. I switched the recipe from kernels to popped corn so that you can make enough according to my serving size.
I also had a bit of issue having enough caramel to cover the amount of popcorn to make it look like the photo. I am at 2800 feet. how long after you add the baking soda do you wait to pour it over the popcorn?
@ Anonymous - After adding the baking soda, it should double within a matter of seconds. I then immediately poured it over the popcorn.
Hi there! Great recipe! I also had to tweak the recipe a bit to get it just right. I actually added in a 1/4 cup of water so that that consistency was not too thick. This made it easier to mix it in with the popcorn and I also did not put the popcorn in the oven for the full hour, 20 minutes seemed to work for me. Thanks for wonderful, creepy recipe. The perfect touch to my Halloween party and tastes delicious!
can you make popcorn balls with this?
@ Anonymous Yes, you can easily make popcorn balls out of the recipe. Although, I recommend letting the mixture cool for a minute or two (as it's very hot in the oven), and then cover your hands with a little butter to prevent sticking when you form the balls. You will need to work fast. Once the mixture cools it's difficult to shape.
If I wanted to flavor the popcorn, could I add flavored extracts? If so, do you have an idea for about how much extract to add to the recipe? Thanks! :)
Great idea, I'm in the middle of making a pink version for a My Little Pony party, but have also repined this as a possible superhero party idea - as I think if you make it as per above and add some gold edible glitter (just as it comes out of the oven) this would make great Kryptonite :)
@ nikki mccauley: If it turned a greenish brownish color, I think you might have left the mixture cooking too long. If the sugar or the butter burns, you will have a brownish color coating.
I'm doing this right now... My son is having a Walking Dead birthday party and thought it was a great idea!! My mixture didn't double when i put the baking soda in though...and i halfed the popcorn amount. So i'm going to make a second saucepan of sugar and see if i can cover the rest! I used Neon Green food color and it is super bright!
@ Jamie If your mixture is not doubling usually the baking soda is too old. Try using fresh baking soda and seeing if that works. As I mentioned in the recipe, you may want to double the mixture to really, really coat the popcorn.