Homemade Baked Caramel Corn

User Reviews

4.5

216 reviews
Excellent
  • Prep Time

    10 mins

  • Cook Time

    10 mins

  • Total Time

    1 hr

  • Servings

    6 quarts caramel corn

  • Calories

    442 kcal

  • Course

    Dessert

  • Cuisine

    American

Homemade Baked Caramel Corn

This homemade baked caramel popcorn is SO much better than store-bought. It's crispy, sweet, buttery perfection! And it makes a great holiday gift!

I Made This!

162 people made this

Save this

129 people saved this

Ingredients

Servings
  • 6 quarts popped corn (I like to use these white popcorn kernels. I think the white popped corn is prettier and I like the texture better)
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 2 cups packed light brown sugar
  • ½ cup light corn syrup
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
Add to Shopping List

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 250°F.
  2. Spread freshly popped corn (we use this stovetop popper) onto two large rimmed pans. Place in the oven to keep popcorn warm and crisp.
  3. In a heavy 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Stir every now and then, dissolving the sugar. Bring mixture to a boil and cook until it reaches the firm ball stage of 248° F, using a candy thermometer. This should take about 5 minutes or so.
  4. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda. Caramel mixture will foam.
  5. Remove popped corn from oven and pour hot caramel mixture over it, in a fine stream. Fold to mix well. Return pans to oven for 45 minutes, stirring and scraping up caramel from bottom of pans every 15 minutes. Remove pans from oven to a cooling rack. Once caramel corn is cool enough to handle, and not yet hardened, break up any large clumps using your fingers. Then let caramel corn cool completely. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Notes

  • from the recipe box of friend Ann Hauer, who got the recipe from a high school Home Ec cookbook
  • A great twist on this recipes is to drizzle melted chocolate over the cooled caramel corn while it is still in the pans. I melt 4 ounces of chocolate bark and 6 ounces of dark or semisweet chocolate chips together and drizzle over the caramel corn. This can be altered to your own chocolate preference - I’ve just found this ratio pleases both the milk chocolate and dark chocolate lovers in our family. Let the chocolate set completely (can refrigerate briefly to speed up the process) and then break the caramel corn into chunks.

Nutrition Information

Show Details
Serving 1 Calories 442kcal (22%) Carbohydrates 79g (26%) Protein 8g (16%) Fat 15g (23%) Saturated Fat 8g (40%) Polyunsaturated Fat 6g Cholesterol 31mg (10%) Sodium 139mg (6%) Fiber 6g (24%) Sugar 41g (82%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 6quarts caramel corn

Amount Per Serving

Calories 442 kcal

% Daily Value*

Serving 1
Calories 442kcal 22%
Carbohydrates 79g 26%
Protein 8g 16%
Fat 15g 23%
Saturated Fat 8g 40%
Polyunsaturated Fat 6g 35%
Cholesterol 31mg 10%
Sodium 139mg 6%
Fiber 6g 24%
Sugar 41g 82%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Genuine Reviews

User Reviews

Overall Rating

4.5

216 reviews
Excellent

Write a Review

Drag & drop files here or click to upload
Other Recipes

You'll Also Love

Homemade Caramel Corn

American
4.9 (39 reviews)

Caramel Apple Pie Filling (Caramel Apple Compote)

North American, American, Canadian
5.0 (9 reviews)

Caramel Cake with Caramel Icing

American
4.6 (144 reviews)

sriracha caramel corn

American
5.0 (6 reviews)

Nutty Caramel Corn

American
0.0 (0 reviews)

Caramel Corn Pops Treats

American
4.9 (30 reviews)

Peppermint Bark Caramel Corn

American
5.0 (6 reviews)

Caramel Corn with Almonds

American
5.0 (3 reviews)

Halloween Caramel Corn

American
5.0 (3 reviews)