The Best Caramel Corn Recipe
You haven’t had a good “comfort food snack” until you’ve had caramel corn and today I’m sharing the best Caramel Corn recipe with you!
This recipe is great all year long but I tend to crave it and make it more in the fall. It has a very festive fall-ish feel to it. My kids love it and I usually double the batch to make sure that we have enough caramel corn to go around! Great recipe for bringing to tailgate and harvest parties too!
The Best Caramel Corn Recipe
I’m not kidding when I say that this is the best recipe, we really love it – and I’ve had a hard time making caramel corn in the past.
Ingredients for making Caramel Corn
- 13-15 cups of popped popcorn OR 2 bags of microwave popcorn (the kettle corn kind works great)
- 1/2 Cup butter
- 1 Cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
How to make Caramel Corn
This recipe looks more complicated than it is, so don’t let that scare you. I’m always hesitant to work with corn syrup because I’ve had my share of disasters with it, but you won’t have to worry about it with this recipe. It’s really simple.
1. Preheat your oven to 250° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
2. Spread your popcorn out of your baking sheet
3. In a large heavy bottomed pot, combine your brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup
4. Stir until your butter is melted, and bring to an uninterrupted boil for 5 minutes on medium-high
5. Take your pot off the heat and mix in vanilla, keep mixing until you have a thick caramel sauce
6. Carefully (this will be hot) pour your caramel over your popcorn
7. Bake for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. It’s important to know that you don’t need to have it all stirred in right away. That will all come together as you take in out every 15 minutes, and it actually really starts to mix very easily. The last time you take your caramel corn out of the oven, it should look like this:
8. Let cool and break apart
9. Serve in a large bowl and enjoy!
If you are really quick, you can even roll the caramel corn into popcorn balls. Sometimes my kids request it that way, but usually we start snacking on it too quickly to care. I hope you enjoy what we think is the Best Caramel Corn Recipe around!
Here are a few more favorite snack recipes that I think you’ll enjoy:
The Best Caramel Corn Recipe
The very best caramel corn recipe, and so perfect for your festive fall baking and celebrations! This homemade carmel corn recipe is a favorite that we make every year!
Ingredients
- 13-15 cups of popped popcorn OR 2 bags of microwave popcorn (the kettle corn kind works great)
- 1/2 Cup butter
- 1 Cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 250° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Spread your popcorn out of your baking sheet
- In a large heavy bottomed pot, combine your brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup
- Stir until your butter is melted, and bring to an uninterrupted boil for 5 minutes on medium-high
- Take your pot off the heat and mix in vanilla, keep mixing until you have a thick caramel sauce.
- Carefully (this will be hot) pour your caramel over your popcorn.
- Bake for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Bake for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. It's important to know that you don't need to have it all stirred in right away. That will all come together as you take in out every 15 minutes, and it actually really starts to mix very easily. The last time you take your caramel corn out of the oven, it should be coated throughout
- Let cool and break apart.
- Serve in a big bowl and enjoy!
Meet the author – Keri Lyn
The creative and frugal mind behind She Saved for over 12 years now, Keri Lyn shares her adventures in parenting along with her love for family travel, country living and brand marketing. A self-proclaimed “brand loyalist”, Keri Lyn is known for her strong and enthusiastic voice when it comes to the products and brands that she loves. She Saved has become a community for like-minded consumers who appreciate saving money, time and sanity by getting the best deals on quality products and experiences.
It has been so long since I have made caramel corn! Pinning so I can save for later!
-Jaclyn
Easy and delicious–my favorite kind of recipe. Thank you for sharing at Merry Monday!
Caramel corn is so delicious. I make one pan of it every year. This recipe looks better than the one I have. Thanks for posting it.
Yum! I made Caramel Corn once, and thought it was good, but my popcorn wasn’t all covered with the syrup mixture. Yours looks better!
Your recipe states one half bite corn syrup. Is this the teaspoon, tablespoon, or a half a cup. The recipe looks good, but it’s incomplete.
Making some soon for the grandkids soon. I use butter flavoring instead of vanilla. Try it, you won’t be disappointed.
Is this 250 Fahrenheit or celcius ?
It’s 1.2 cup corn syrup. I’ve had this recipe for years. It was from my ex’s grandmother who got it from her grandmother. Minus the microwave part and they used a roasting pan to make turning the popcorn every 15 mins easier.
How much corn syrup? The recipe doesn’t say. One person answered, but said 1.2 cups??? What in the world is that?? This is why I typically use grams or ounces. Recipes are exact that way, and no confusion.