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Make a batch of this sweet and buttery caramel popcorn to share with friends. It only takes 5 ingredients and is made in the microwave!
Caramel popcorn is a great treat for parties and movie nights! It’s crunchier than our Caramel Marshmallow Popcorn, but the buttery caramel coating is undeniably delicious!
We Love homemade caramel corn
You can find packaged caramel popcorn at lots of retail stores, but the real deal is HOMEMADE popcorn made in your kitchen. It tastes 100x better and fresher – and makes the perfect treat!
I love making caramel popcorn and packaging it up to give as gifts for friends, family, or neighbors especially for birthdays and holidays, like Christmas.
Why we love it:
- Simple. Caramel popcorn is the perfect easy dessert with it’s simple ingredients and easy instructions.
- Great all year long. This treat is perfect anytime and comes together quick, which is great for parties and gatherings.
- Yum! Homemade caramel popcorn is better than store bought and is the perfect addition to any get together or movie night.
Simple Ingredients
- plain popcorn – you can use microwave bags of popcorn or a popcorn maker.
- unsalted butter
- white Karo Syrup (corn syrup)
- light brown sugar
- salt – If you used salted popcorn, then reduce or omit the added salt.
- baking soda
Popping the Popcorn
You’ll need about 8-9 cups of popped plain popcorn. Remove the un-popped popcorn kernels.
A good trick is to pour your popcorn over a cooling rack. The un-popped kernels will fall through the cracks and the popcorn will stay on top.
How to Make Caramel Popcorn
- PREP. Make popcorn and place it in a large bowl. Be sure to get rid of all the unpopped kernels.
- CARAMEL. Using a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl add the butter, brown sugar, syrup, and salt. Heat in the microwave for 2 minutes.
- Add the baking soda to the melted ingredients. The mixture will foam up. Stir well.
- COAT. Pour over popcorn and toss together evenly coating all of the pieces.
- Place the coated popcorn in the microwave for 1 minute and then stir. Place it back into the microwave and heat for another minute. If you want crunchier popcorn, heat it for another minute.
- ENJOY! Allow the popcorn to cool and enjoy!
Stove top directions
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add in the brown sugar and mix everything well. Continue stirring while you bring the mixture to a boil.
- Boil the mixture for 5 minutes without stirring it. Once the 5 minutes are over, add in the vanilla and baking soda. Mix to combine everything and remove from the heat.
- To avoid crystallization, be cautious about scraping the sides of the pot and accidentally stirring in the crystalized caramel.
- If you do need to scrape the sides of the pot, use a wet pastry brush. This moisture will help dissolve the crystals so the sugar can be incorporated back into the caramel.
- Drizzle the caramel sauce over the prepared popcorn in a large bowl. Toss it all together lightly to evenly coat the popcorn. Pour out the popcorn onto the wax paper-lined cookie sheet. Spread it out and let the popcorn cool completely.
Recipe Tips
- Soggy popcorn occurs if there aren’t enough pieces of popcorn, or the caramel mixture was not cooked long enough.
- Crispy caramel. The longer the caramel cooks, the crunchier it will be. This caramel corn recipe is meant to have more of a crunch. For a more sticky and chewy texture, microwave the caramel popcorn for less time.
- Flavor variations. Use the crunchy caramel popcorn as a base for a variety of snack mixes. Combine the caramel flavor with ingredients like pretzels, nuts, chocolate candies, candy corn, or marshmallows.
- Drizzling chocolate or white chocolate over the caramel popcorn while it’s cooling on the cookie sheet is another great idea!
Storing Info
- STORE. Break apart and store easy caramel popcorn in airtight plastic bags or containers. Keep it at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- The caramel may soften after a few days of being stored. To crisp it up again, place it in the oven set to 250°F for 5-10 minutes.
For More Popcorn treats:
Caramel Popcorn Recipe
Make a batch of this sweet and buttery caramel popcorn to share with friends. It only takes 5 ingredients and is made in the microwave!
Ingredients
- 2 (3.29-ounce) bags plain popcorn
- ¾ cup butter
- ⅓ cup white Karo Syrup
- 1½ cup brown sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Make popcorn and place it in a large bowl. Be sure to get rid of all the unpopped kernels.
- Using a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl add the butter, brown sugar, syrup, and salt. Heat in the microwave for 2 minutes.
- Add the baking soda to the melted ingredients. The mixture will foam up. Stir well.
- Pour over popcorn and toss together evenly coating all of the pieces.
- Place the coated popcorn in the microwave for 1 minute and then stir. Place it back into the microwave and heat for another minute. If you want crunchier popcorn, heat it for another minute.
- Allow the popcorn to cool and enjoy!
- Note: If you used salted popcorn, then reduce or omit the added salt.
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 499kcal, Carbohydrates: 66g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 28g, Saturated Fat: 17g, Cholesterol: 73mg, Sodium: 799mg, Potassium: 96mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 64g, Vitamin A: 851IU, Calcium: 63mg, Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hmmm, I clicked on your recipe because it promised no corn syrup. And then you use Karo syrup. According to my Google at least, Karo is the brand name of a corn syrup. Are you suggesting we can make it while omitting the corn syrup because the instructions didn’t
You can make corn syrup
Dear Kristyn,
Can you please provide the old recipe as well. Thank you
Yes, please, this used to be my favorite recipe!!
I think this is it
16 cups popped corn
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
CARAMEL. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Then add in the brown sugar and mix everything together really well. Continue stirring while you bring the mixture to a boil.
Boil the mixture for 5 minutes without stirring it. Once the 5 minutes are over, add in the vanilla and baking soda. Mix to combine everything.
TOSS. Take the caramel off the heat. Drizzle the caramel sauce over the prepared popcorn in the large bowl. Toss it all together lightly to evenly coat the popcorn.
List has karo syrup. I thought no syrup.
you use honey instead it helps the sugar to not crystalize. if you don’t it may just be a little harder to make the syrup but totally possible
So good
The instructions are for a stove top, no corn syrup, caramel sauce, but the recipe is for the microwave with corn syrup.
It’s Karo syrup 🙂
That is just a brand name of white/light corn syrup
Have you ever tried using this recipe to make Popcorn balls? I’m wondering if it will be too hot to handle.
I have not, for this recipe. One way to find out 🙂
Why is my Dr caramel popcorn sagging… how can I make it crispy
You can boil your caramel for a little longer. Boiling the caramel for less time, makes it more chewy 🙂
It as easy and DELICIOUS.
Happy you think so! It’s our favorite! Thank you so much!
My caramel initially separated, but I added a but of hot water & mixed it well, then it snapped back into creamy caramel!
I am so glad it did!! Thank you for trying it!
I made this today for A family get together. It was a huge hIt. It was thE talk of the day. I followed directIons exactly. I used a gas stove And Kept thE heat on low. Turned out great.
That makes my day!! Thank you so much for saying that!