maple caramel popcorn

Popcorn is one of my favourite snacks. One of my friends makes amazing popcorn. She has made variations with peanut butter, peanuts and chocolate (omg), and she even made a version for Valentine's Day with crushed cinnamon hearts and a chocolate drizzle. So good!!

This recipe calls for making caramel from scratch using a candy thermometer. I'm always a bit nervous when I use my candy thermometer because you have to be so precise. But if you are patient and pay attention to what you're doing, it's not that hard. Also, it gets easier with practice, so you should probably go ahead and make this recipe often. You won't be sorry.

This recipe is adapted from one given to me by a friend, who has a great foodie website here.

Maple Caramel Popcorn

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup butter
8 cups popped popcorn
sea salt (optional)

2 bowls - make sure one of the bowls is large enough to hold the popcorn, with enough room for tossing with the caramel
2 wooden spoons
1 or 2 cookie sheets
candy thermometer

*Important* Pop the popcorn using your preferred method - air popped, microwave, or stove top. Put it into one of the bowls. Then, use your hands to transfer it to a large, lightly buttered bowl. DON'T dump it into the buttered bowl. This should ensure that all the unpopped kernels are removed from the popcorn.

Lightly butter the largest bowl and the two wooden spoons. Set aside. Have 1 or 2 large cookie sheets ready to spread out the finished popcorn.

Put the sugar, water and maple syrup into a medium pot over medium high heat. Gently stir to help dissolve the sugar a little. Bring to a boil. Add the butter in chunks. Don't stir. You may want to reduce the heat slightly if it looks like it might boil over, but make sure it continues to bubble rapidly.

Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pot. Cook until the candy thermometer reaches 275 degrees, or hard crack stage. If you don't have a candy thermometer, you can test to see if it's at the right stage by dropping a teaspoonful into a cup of very cold water; if it hardens into brittle threads, it's ready. Take a bite to test it. It should be crunchy and shouldn't stick to your teeth.

Watch the thermometer carefully! Caramel can quickly go from beautiful to burnt in just a few seconds. Another tip: sugar will continue to cook for a few minutes even after you take it off the heat, so I usually take the pot off the heat a few degrees before it reaches 275 and do the cold water test. You can always put it back on the heat for a few minutes if it's not ready.

Now the tricky part is done! Pour the caramel over the popcorn and quickly toss to coat. Add a pinch of salt if you like; toss some more.

Spread the popcorn on the cookie sheets to cool. Keeps well in an airtight container for about a week. Or you can eat it all right away, like we do.