Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Microwave Caramel Popcorn


One of my first jobs was at KarmelKorn when I was 16 years old. It was the perfect mall-job for a teenager; allowing us to eat and drink as much as we wanted while working. Often times we traded food with other food shops in the mall. Treats from my store was the most sought after.

Working there allowed me to learn the secret ingredient in caramel popcorn. Okay, okay... there is no secret ingredient... but it sounded good, didn't it? Maybe no secret ingredient is the secret! The recipe that follows use the same ingredients that we used at KarmelKorn, just in a different ratio. Oh, and we didn't use a microwave and a brown paper bag; we used a huge copper kettle!

The rich buttery flavor of this easy-to-make caramel popcorn is outstanding and will leave you reaching for more.

Ingredients:



4 quarts popped popcorn
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
paper grocery bag

Directions:

Place the popped popcorn into a large brown paper bag. Set aside.



In a 2 quart casserole dish, or other heat-proof glass dish, combine the brown sugar, margarine, corn syrup, salt and vanilla. Heat for 3 minutes in the microwave, then take out and stir until well blended.



Return to the microwave, and cook for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from microwave, and stir in the baking soda. It will get lighter in color and sort of foamy and fluffy.



Pour syrup over the popcorn in the bag. Roll down the top once or twice to close the bag, and shake to coat the corn. Place bag into the microwave, and cook for 1 minute and 10 seconds. Remove, shake, flip the bag over, and return it to the microwave.



Cook for another 1 minute and 10 seconds. Dump the popcorn out onto waxed paper, and let cool until coating is set. Store in an airtight container. *You could also add a few cups of peanuts in with the popped popcorn to have Caramel Nut Popcorn*

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