Caramel Apple Popcorn with Cinnamon

Caramel Apple Popcorn with Cinnamon

This Caramel Apple Popcorn with Cinnamon is sweet and crunchy with pieces of dried apples mixed in with a touch of cinnamon. It's like gourmet caramel corn you can make at home.

Course Snack

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Total Time 55

Servings servings

Calories 256kcal

Author Jere' Cassidy

Equipment

Ingredients

Popcorn

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
⅔ cup popping corn
salt to taste
4 ounces dried apple chips

Caramel

½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup light corn syrup
½ cup butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

Pop Corn

In a large pan with a lid, heat the oil over medium heat. A large saucepan with a handle works well for this.
Add the popcorn to the hot oil and place the lid on the pan. Shake the pan gently back and forth over the heat so the popcorn kernels don't burn.
Keep shaking the pan back and forth once the corn starts popping. Once the corn is done popping turn off the heat, remove the lid and add salt to taste.
Pour the popcorn in a bowl big enough that you can stir it around when you add the caramel
Mix in the dried apples.

Caramel

In a small saucepan add the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and cinnamon. Heat to a boil over medium heat, stirring the mixture. This takes about 5 minutes.
Once the mixture comes to a boil, turn off the heat and add the ½ tsp. of baking soda. This will cause the caramel to foam up slightly.
Immediately pour the caramel over the popcorn and apples. Stir completely to distribute the caramel.

Baking the caramel corn

Heat the oven to 250° F. Pour the caramel-covered popcorn into a large baking pan or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Or you can just grease the pan. Bake for 45 minutes turning the caramel corn over every 15 minutes.
When done pour the popcorn into a large bowl and serve.
Keep leftovers in an airtight container or place in ziplock bags for several days.

Notes

A few tips for this recipe

It is best to use dried apple chips, these are the ones that are crispy, the regular dried apples tend to be too chewy.

You will need a large enough bowl to stir the popcorn and caramel together, and a large roasting pan, or cookie sheet to bake the caramel corn.

Bake the caramel corn

Once you pour the caramel sauce over the popcorn and get it all mixed together, you can start eating it, but there is another important step that will make the caramel corn extra crunchy. Make sure to take the time to bake the caramel-coated popcorn in a low-temperature oven. Also, by doing this the popcorn will not go stale so quickly.

Make sure to try this No-Bake Kettle Corn Bars, this easy recipe is always a favorite snack.

Why add baking soda

Why add baking soda to a popcorn recipe?. This is actually a really important step in making the caramel sauce, it is kind of scientific and what happens is the baking soda will make the caramel foam up and creates tiny bubbles in the sauce so when the caramel cools those air bubbles with keeping the caramel soft. What happens if you leave it out, there is a good chance you will crack a tooth because the caramel coating will be hard.

What can I do with the leftover caramel corn?

Put the leftover caramel corn in a sealed container or a plastic bag and it should keep well for a couple of days. This is another reason to bake the popcorn since it keeps it from going stale faster.

Want to change things up in this recipe, try these suggestions

Instead of the cinnamon, add apple pie spice - this spice adds delicious flavors
If you like apples, just add more dried apples to the recipe
For the nut lover, pecans are a great addition to this recipe
If you like sweet and salty add a teaspoon of salt to the recipe

Nutrition