So it’s Thursday, but I thought it was only fair to post this recipe today since people in Utah get to see me cook it on TV! If you want to catch it, my (very short-really, don’t blink or you’ll miss it) segment will air Thursday Sept. 17th some time between 11am-12. I’ll do my best to avoid being a gigantic disappointment. If any of you imagine me in your head to look like Heidi Klum with spatula in hand, then do me a favor and don’t watch. I’d like to preserve at least some of those mental images. However, if you’d like a good laugh, there’s an extremely high chance that I’ll do something ridiculously klutzy on live television (like spill boiling sugar on my already burnt hand or drop a cuss word in Zion or something).
For everyone else–here’s what we’re cookin’ up today.
Oh yeah, it’s really good. It’s a variation of this regular caramel corn, but with all of the warm cinnamon-y goodness of fall. (Hmm…warm cinnamon-y goodness appears to be our theme this week). When it bakes, the pecans get toasted and the creamy white chocolate just makes it food-gasmic. Whip this up for all of the fall TV premiers this week (by the way, it’s not even funny how excited I am for those). (Hey, do you think I could use any more parenthesis in this post??)
*note: there are a few minor changes to this recipe as compared to the recipe on KSL. They’re both fine, I just removed the salt and added a bit more white chocolate in this version. The full recipe is typed in a printer-friendly version below!
Cinnamon Caramel Corn with Pecans & White Chocolate
Recipe by Our Best Bites
12 C popped popcorn (about 1/2 C kernels)*
1 C roughly chopped pecans
1 C brown sugar
3/4 t cinnamon
1/4 C Karo syrup (or honey makes a good substitution)
1 stick real butter (1/2 C)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
3 squares almond bark
*You can use air popped or microwave popcorn. If using microwave, anything works, but I prefer a “natural” flavor that’s low in butter and salt.
Preheat oven to 250 degrees
Place popcorn and chopped pecans in a large bowl and set aside. And by large bowl, I mean like, twice as big as you think you really need. If you don’t believe me, then maybe you will believe the scorching hot caramel goo that’s splattered all over your hands while you’re stirring in your not-so-big bowl. Just a thought.
Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a big, microwave-safe bowl. Like a 2-quart bowl or Pyrex measuring bowl. Again, use a bowl larger than you think you need to avoid scorching hot caramel goo accidents. It’s really important to incorporate the cinnamon into the brown sugar at this point. For some reason, if you don’t it does crazy things. I don’t know why. Try it and then email Alton Brown and ask him if you really want to know.
Chop butter into chunks and place on top of sugar mixture. Pour corn syrup (or honey) over the top of everything.
Microwave on high for 30 seconds (just to soften the butter a bit) and then stir to combine.
Return to microwave and heat for 2 minutes. Remove and stir and then microwave for 2 minutes more.
By this point it should be nice and bubbly like this.
If it doesn’t quite look like that you can microwave it a little longer, but just beware that if you over cook it, it will reach the hard candy stage and you’ll end up with a giant clump of tasty concrete-like substance with little popcorn pieces stuck to it. Don’t ask me how I know this.
Remove from the microwave and add in vanilla and baking soda.
This is where you can justify making this every day. Adding vanilla and baking soda to boiling sugar totally counts as a science project so you can check it off as a teaching moment with your children. Really. It’s about the children. Here at Our Best Bites we’re all about educating America’s youth. So you should also know that if you count how many pizza rolls or toffee chip cookies you eat it qualifies as math class. Count in Spanish and you get extra credit. And heck, if you’re doing Spanish, you should just go ahead and make taquitos to go with it. And you can’t have taquitos without guacamole. And something to wash it down with. Like I said; it’s all about the kids. If you give a mouse a cookie…
Okay, back to caramel goodness. See what happens? The vanilla makes it bubble and pop and the baking soda makes it foam up, like this:
Now take that foamy science project and pour it right over the popcorn and pecans. Stir right away, and stir lots. Take too long and the caramel will harden on you. Keep stirring until everything is well coated.
Spread popcorn mixture onto a foil-lined jelly roll pan.
And yeah, go ahead and pop some in your mouth, you know you want to. It will be kinda chewy and stick-to-your-teeth-like. But we’re gonna change that. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
After 30 minutes, take a piece out and let it cool. “Sample.” If it’s not crunchy enough, bake for another 5 minutes. “Sample” again. This will not be the end of “sampling.”
When it’s done, give it a final stir and let it cool off for a bit while you melt your almond bark (just nuke it in the microwave according to the package directions) If you want, you can spread out your caramel corn on a clean piece of parchment, waxed paper, or foil. I always do this because sometimes it sticks to the hot foil if I leave it on the original pan. I’m kind of a clean control freak and I like to have it on a nice, fresh surface.
Now, just use a fork and drizzle the melted almond bark over the popcorn mixture.
When it’s hardened (pop it in the fridge to speed that process along) break into chunks and enjoy!
This stuff is so awesome for packaging. Put it in cute bags like shown in this Halloween popcorn post, or in little tin pails, or cellophane bags with a ribbon. It’s great for bake sales and party favors too. Or just to EAT! It’s so stinkin’ addictive.
People always tell me I should sell it. I did once, at the only garage sale I’ve ever had. People apparently thought the well-packaged bags next to the “Gourmet Popcorn for $1” sign were samples. But they DID disappear real fast.
Cinnamon Caramel Corn with Pecans & White Chocolate AKA Cinnamon Bun Popcorn
- Total Time: 40 minutes
Description
A delicious twist on our regular caramel corn, this Cinnamon Bun popcorn embodies all that is heavenly about fall! When it bakes, the pecans get toasted and the creamy white chocolate puts it out of this world.
Ingredients
12 cups popped popcorn (about 1/2 C kernels) *see notes below
1 cup roughly chopped pecans
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup Karo syrup (or honey makes a good substitution)
1/2 cup real butter (1 stick)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 squares almond bark
Instructions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Place popcorn and chopped pecans in a very large bowl and set aside.
Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a big, microwave-safe bowl. Like a 2-quart bowl or Pyrex measuring bowl. Use a bowl larger than you think you need.
Chop butter into chunks and place on top of sugar mixture. Pour corn syrup (or honey) over the top of everything. Microwave on high for 30 seconds (just to soften the butter a bit) and then stir to combine. Return to microwave and heat for 2 minutes. Remove and stir and then microwave for 2 minutes more.
Remove from the microwave and add in vanilla and baking soda. When combined, pour over popcorn and stir until it’s coated. Spread popcorn mixture onto a foil-lined jelly roll pan. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.**(See baking note at end of post.)
After 30 minutes, take a piece out and let it cool. Sample. If it’s not crunchy enough, bake for another 5 minutes. When it’s done, give it a final stir and let it cool off for a bit while you melt your almond bark (just nuke it in the microwave according to the package directions). If you want, you can spread out your caramel corn on a clean piece of parchment, waxed paper, or foil. I always do this because sometimes it sticks to the hot foil if I leave it on the original pan. Use a fork and drizzle the melted almond bark over the popcorn mixture.
When it’s hardened (pop it in the fridge to speed that process along) break into chunks and enjoy!
Notes
*You can use air popped or microwave popcorn. If using microwave, anything works, but I prefer a “natural” flavor that’s low in butter and salt.
**I’ve experimented a lot with baking, and found that baking at 300 degrees for about 13-15 minutes works just great as well. Much faster!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
Questions & Reviews
Never heard of this or anything similar til now. Am definitely going to make this for the gang on our craft night on Saturday! thanks again
FINALLY had the op to make this and I was NOT disappointed. We have munched this to pieces. We LUV it and will be making it often, even for Christmas presents.
just letting you know…i linked you to my blog. i love this recipe…i've made it twice this week and it's only Tuesday. Ha!
Southern Belle- Is your baking soda fresh? That's usually the problem, especially if the box has been sitting open for a while. I can tell you though that it won't foam nearly as much as it does with the normal caramel corn recipe. For some reason the cinnamon has some reaction that prevents that. Sometimes when I make it the mixture foams quite a bit and other times hardly at all. It's strange! I'm sure it has a lot to do with temps too- since we're not doing this with a thermometer on the stove top it's hard to know exactly what point is perfect. But the easiest thing would be to try a fresh box of baking soda!
I have made this recipe twice and it is delicious (and addictive)! I have a question though. When I add my vanilla it does the bubbly thing, but adding the baking soda has no effect…no frothy reaction as shown. It isn't really a problem, it just looks like the consistency of your mixture would be easier to mix with the popcorn. Any suggestions?
perfect! i went to super saturday after i made this, came home, and my family had saved me three bites! i was ticked! but i guess that just proves how delicious this is! a keeper!!!
AmAzInG!!!!
OMG! This looks absolutely mouthwatering and delicious!!! I will have to make this for my family this year… maybe for thanksgiving – the sooner the better, lol! I might add marshmellows to it though… and maybe even some (real) coconut! I'll definately make extra so I can use it to occupy the kids I babysit =P they can help me make it and then give them some to eat. I usually get hulless popcorn kernals from http://www.justpoppin.com and make popcorn with the kids, then they can each put their own flavors on it and they wont eat a bunch of salt and oils from the microwave stuff!
Rebecca–Yep, you can totally use microwave popcorn! 🙂 I've used Orville R.'s Simply Salted popcorn and it works beautifully!
Could you use microwave popcorn for this?
This looks so good! I'm making it for a charity bake sale next tuesday. Any idea how long in advance I can make it?
Hey there – my friend Ivy sent me to this site. I just want to say what a talented writer you are! Very captivating. I actually enjoyed reading the recipe directions, even though the calorie count of this dish is way too high for me to ever consider!
Cuff- I know what you mean. The only way to really control that is to do everything on the stove top with a candy thermometer. I think the sugar needs to peak at a certain temperature. The only problem is that I couldn't tell ya what that temp is, lol. Sometimes my batches turn out shiny and glossy and other times they don't at all. For me personally it doesn't matter because it tastes so good either way! So for that reason I've been too lazy to experiment with temperatures. When I do I'll be sure to add it here!
Hi! I've made this three times in the past 10 days or so, and man, it's great. The first time I made it, it came out all shiny and crunchy and beautiful. But the last two times, it's come out looking dry-ish. It tastes fine and when it cools it gets crunchy, but it doesn't have that "caramel corn" shiny-crackly skin to it. Any idea why?
The 2nd time I didn't microwave for long enough, but this last time I did…maybe I just need to go over the 2+2 mins in the microwave?
Yay, another Washingtonian! Thanks Mindy, I feel normal now that other people talk like I do!
I love your blog and all your recipes! You two are awesome. I enjoyed watching your tv bit–and I have to say, I grew up in puyallup, washington, and I also call soda POP, and a CUBE of butter sounds fine to me. Funny how some things are like that…
Wow, this was amazing! It reminds me of the cinnamon roasted almonds that I love to get at the baseball games. I am totally making this for Christmas.
Thanks so much for this yummy recipe. I have made it a few variations this past week. I posted a link on our blog. Thanks again!!
http://simplyhomeandfamily.blogspot.com/
1) You looked FAB on TV! So neat to actually SEE you.
2) This stuff looks dangerous.
3) I might have to make it tonight
4) There is NO such thing as too many parenthesis (no matter what). I should count how many I used in my last post (it's got to be around 100).
5) HUGS.
I got to enjoy this from the cook herself and it is to die for! We just couldn't stop eating it-even after it made us sick 🙂 So watch out, it's addicting! Mmmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about it again 🙂
Sara! I watched your segment. I was so nervous for you (I'm a "Next Food Network Star junkie) but you did awesome! You would have made it to the next round in my book! Just remember me when you're famous! 😉 Love ya, Jenn
Love the post and the site! Can't wait to visit again!
Um, cooking right now. I don't know if I can wait for it to cool. I totally licked the carmel spoon … YUM!
This looks delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe!!!!
This stuff is great – after seeing your spot on KSL I decided to make it as our treat contribution to our friends' BYU game pot-luck. The popcorn was a crowd pleaser – too bad the game didn't turn-out better…
I've always wanted to know what the secret of making tasty gourmet popcorn is. I never knew it was to bake it in the oven!
Thanks, this looks divine. And, you are soooo pretty! You did great on studio 5.
You sneaky girl, so that's why you were going to Utah. Definitly adding this to my popcorn recipes (they have their own section in my recipe box but this one's definitely the fanciest). You're aweseome!
Yum! I love popcorn recipes… they are so fun to make, and they make wonderful gifts! Reminds me of Moose Munch from Harry & David's!
Sorry about the salt confusion! I actually took it out of this recipe (but forgot to delete it in the directions). I forgot to add it in one of my batches and that's when I decided it wasn't really a necessary ingredient! If you do add salt, do 1/4 tea. But I'm just going to remove it from the ingredient list now.
Fun video! I love the idea of Cinnabun Popcorn!
I posted about your delicious Southwest Chipotle Burgers today. Thanks for sharing the recipe!