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Caramel Corn Recipe with Peanuts
This caramel corn recipe coats every piece of popcorn and peanuts in a thin, crunchy brown sugar caramel. No candy thermometer needed. It keeps for 2 weeks, so it's easy to make ahead for holiday gifts and movie nights.
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Servings: 11 Servings
Equipment
- Medium saucepan with high sides
- Rimmed Sheet Pan
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
- 8 cups popped popcorn, about 1/3 cup unpopped kernels. See notes for stovetop popping.
- 8 ounces (2 cups) dry roasted peanuts
- 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 250°F. Line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper and spray it with cooking spray. Add the popcorn and peanuts to a large bowl.
- Add the brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, and salt to a medium saucepan with high sides. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil.
- Once it's boiling, set a timer for 2 minutes and keep stirring.
- Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the baking soda and vanilla. The caramel will bubble up a lot, so be careful.
- Pour the caramel over the popcorn and peanuts right away. Be careful, this is VERY HOT. Stir quickly until the popcorn is coated. A few uncoated pieces are fine.
- Spread the caramel corn onto the prepared sheet pan in a single layer. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Stir, spread it back into a single layer, and bake 15 minutes more. It should look a little glossy but dry, with caramel coating each piece of popcorn.
- Let the caramel corn cool at room temperature. It will be soft while it's hot but will crisp up when it's cooled. Break it into chunks and store in an airtight container.
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Notes
- How To Make Stovetop Popcorn: 1/3 cup kernels pops into 8 cups. To pop on the stove, heat 1/4 cup oil and 1/3 cup kernels in a covered, heavy bottomed saucepan over high heat. When 1 or 2 kernels pop, lower to medium high and crack the lid to let steam out. Shake every 10 seconds until popping slows to 1 or 2 pops at a time, then pour into a bowl and pick out unpopped kernels and brown bits.
- Peanuts: I use regular salted dry roasted peanuts. Use lightly salted or unsalted if you're sensitive to sodium.
- Salt: If using table salt, use 1/4 teaspoon.
- Work quickly when stirring. The caramel sets quickly after it's poured on the popcorn. Don't worry, any spots you miss get coated in the oven.
- Storage: keep in an airtight container or zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition
Serving: 1Cup | Calories: 325kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 252mg | Potassium: 187mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 274IU | Calcium: 33mg | Iron: 1mg