Description
Delight in the festive flavors of this Christmas Popcorn Candy, featuring crunchy popcorn coated with a spiced caramel glaze and toasted slivered almonds. This recipe combines warm holiday spices with a buttery caramel sauce, baked to a perfect crisp for a sweet and mildly spiced treat ideal for holiday gatherings or gifting.
Ingredients
Scale
Popcorn
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil (not required if air popping with a popcorn maker)
- 1/3 cup popping corn (yields 10 cups popped popcorn for lighter caramel coverage)
- 2/3 cup slivered almonds
Caramel
- 100g (7 tbsp) unsalted butter
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (170g) light corn syrup (or glucose syrup as substitute)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
Christmas Spices
- 3 tsp cinnamon powder
- 2 tsp ginger powder
- 1/2 tsp allspice powder (or more cinnamon)
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves (or more cinnamon)
Instructions
- Pop Popcorn: Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat and add a few pieces of popcorn, waiting until they pop. Remove these and add the remaining popcorn kernels. Elevate the pot off the stove briefly to shake and spread kernels evenly, then cover with lid. Once popcorn starts popping vigorously, shake pot gently once. Remove from heat when popping slows to an interval of about 3 seconds between pops, then transfer to a very large bowl to yield 10 cups of popcorn.
- Preheat Oven & Melt Butter: Preheat your oven to 110°C (230°F). In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter gently to prepare for caramel sauce.
- Combine Caramel Ingredients: Add brown sugar, corn syrup (or glucose), and salt to the melted butter. Stir just until combined, then allow the mixture to bubble and simmer for 4 minutes without stirring to develop the caramel.
- Add Spices and Whisk: Remove saucepan from heat. Quickly whisk in the cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, vanilla extract, and baking soda. Whisk vigorously for 10 seconds, noting that the caramel will foam and increase in volume as you stop whisking.
- Coat Popcorn with Caramel: Immediately pour the foamy caramel over the popcorn and toss thoroughly to coat evenly. Sprinkle the slivered almonds over the popcorn and toss again until the caramel begins to cool and start hardening.
- Bake to Crisp: Spread the coated popcorn evenly over two baking trays. Bake at 110°C (230°F) for 45 minutes, tossing the popcorn every 10 minutes to ensure even baking and caramel coating. If using glucose syrup instead of corn syrup, extend baking time by an additional 15 minutes. The caramel will remelt during the initial tosses, helping achieve an even coating.
- Cool and Store: Remove the trays from the oven and allow popcorn to cool completely. Gently break it into pieces and transfer to an airtight container. Store for up to 2–3 weeks to maintain crispness.
Notes
- Caramel Coverage: Using 1/3 cup of popcorn kernels yields a generous caramel coating, making the popcorn very candy-like and sweet. Using 3/4 cup kernels produces a lighter, more moderate coating that is less intensely sweet.
- Corn Syrup Role: Corn syrup stabilizes the caramel preventing crystallization, making it essential for smooth caramel. It is commonly available in the US and Canada; glucose syrup is an excellent substitute available in Australian supermarkets.
- Substitutions: Golden syrup, honey, or maple syrup can replace corn syrup or glucose, but require an additional 15 minutes of baking time to achieve crispiness.
- Storage: This popcorn candy remains crisp and fresh for 2 to 3 weeks when stored in an airtight container.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 210
- Sugar: 18g
- Sodium: 90mg
- Fat: 9g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 29g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 15mg
