Holiday Popcorn

Every year we make a batch of this holiday popcorn to give as gifts and it never fails to put a smile on friends and family’s faces. See how easy it is to make in the short video below:

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Holiday Popcorn

To Make the Popcorn:

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup popcorn kernels
  • 1/3 cup veg oil (or 6 Tbsp)

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in a large pot with a lid over med heat. Add 3 or 4 of the kernels to the pot and put the lid on.
  2. When they pop, add the rest of the popcorn kernels and put the lid on again. Immediately remove the pot from the heat for 30 seconds. (This is to ensure the kernels are all about the same temperature so that they will pop almost at the same time).
  3. Put the popcorn back on the burner, shaking the pot back and forth. It should take about two minutes for the popcorn to pop without burning or leaving too many spare kernels. When it takes several seconds between pops, it’s ready.
  4. Immediately pour into a large bowl and cool to room temperature. This should make about 12 cups of popped popcorn.

To make the caramel corn:

Ingredients

  • 12 cups popped popcorn
  • 2 cups almonds (also good: peanuts, hazelnuts, cashews)
  • 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • ¾ cup (6 oz) salted butter
  • ½ cup light corn syrup
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup 60% chocolate chips
  • 2 tsp veg oil

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven to 250F.
  2. Once the popcorn is made, combine the following ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat: brown sugar, butter and corn syrup. Stir while the butter and sugar melt together and let the mixture come to a boil, about 8 minutes, then let it boil for 2 min.
  3. Stir in the baking soda and remove the pan from the burner.
  4. Put the popcorn and the nuts in a large bowl and pour the sauce over and mix well. Line two half-sheet pans with foil and spray with non-stick spray. Divide the popcorn mixture between the two trays.
  5. Bake 60 minutes, stirring each pan every 15 minutes. Remove from the oven.
  6. Put the choc chips and veg oil in a bowl or microwave-safe measuring cup and microwave 50% power 2-3 min, stirring every 45 sec or so, until completely melted.
  7. Drizzle the chocolate evenly over the caramel corn on both pans. Let the pans sit at room temperature for 3-4 hours while the caramel corn cools down and the chocolate sets, then break apart into clusters.