My homemade Caramel Popcorn recipe is the ultimate snack upgrade. The flavors are beyond addictive. With its super crispy texture and sweet, caramelized coating, this treat is made with super simple ingredients you already have in your pantry but tastes better than you can even imagine. This caramel popcorn stays fresh for weeks but trust me when I say, it won’t last that long boos.
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They’re Lovin’ It! Here’s what They’re Sayin’:
“Just made and it turned out absolutely delicious! I’ve tried another recipe before and it wasn’t enough caramel to coat the popcorn. This was a perfect recipe. Thank you.”
—ROBBIN C.
Y’all as a former Chicagoan, I love me some Garrett’s caramel popcorn. I adore those golden-brown, sticky pieces that make me weak in the knees. When I moved to Texas, I started making my own caramel corn. And let’s just say, this recipe is the best you will ever find.
Salty, sweet, and crunchy, my homemade caramel corn is what snack dreams are made of!
The Lowdown of This Caramel Corn Recipe
Cuisine Inspiration: Classic American
Primary Cooking Method: Stovetop and Baking
Dietary Info: Can be made Vegan with ingredient swaps
Key Flavor: Rich, Buttery Caramel in a Crispy Crunchy Package
Skill Level: Easy y’all (No Sweat Fam!)
The Ultimate Sweet Treat
This caramel popcorn brings the perfect balance of sweet and rich making it beyond addictive y’all. Trust me, you won’t be able to stop munching!
Party Crowd-Pleaser
Serve up bowls of this caramel corn for your next game days, movie nights, parties or book club meetings. It is a straight-up hit every time you serve it!
Easy Y’all
This recipe requires simple ingredients you have at the crib already! Plus the prep is beyond easy y’all. You won’t believe how easy it is to make popcorn this dang on good!
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Caramel Corn
- Light Brown Sugar: This gives that bomb caramelized sweetness to our popcorn with that deep flavorful additional of molasses.
- Unsalted Butter: Butter helps create a smooth caramel sauce.
- Light Corn Syrup: This adds sweetness, while also preventing the sugar from crystallizing before the caramel forms.
- Salt: We gotta add a bit to balances out the flavors boos.
- Vanilla Extract: This provides aromatic notes to our popcorn.
- Baking Soda: This is the secret to an even, thin coating of caramel on the popcorn. Adding to the caramel creates a reaction and increases the volume of the mixture, making it easier to coat the numerous kernels.
- Large Grain Popcorn: This works best for this recipe. Do not try to use pre-buttered or flavored popcorn here.
How To Make Caramel Popcorn
WARNING: Handle the caramel with extreme caution and care; it is very hot and quite dangerous! Do not attempt to eat/taste the caramel straight out of the saucepan. I’m warning you boos!
How to Serve Caramel Corn
- Homemade Holiday Gifts: Make a big batch and give out to your loved ones for the holidays. They are great along with praline candy, divinity candy and peppermint bark in cute little tins.
- Dessert Topping: Add some to vanilla ice cream for a switch up in texture or add to the tops of chewy brownies for a remix.
- Game Day Spread: Serve this easy caramel popcorn along with chips, guacamole and salsa verde and don’t forget the buffalo wings, buffalo cauliflower and lemon pepper wings for a fun spread.
Recipe Substitutions
- Light Brown Sugar: You can use dark brown sugar or you can even make your own brown sugar with granulated sugar and molasses.
- Unsalted Butter: Salted butter will also work, just omit the added salt.
- Vanilla Extract: Add vanilla bean paste for more of a vanilla explosion or switch out the extract for something different like almond extract.
- Corn Syrup: Honestly the best caramel popcorn is usually made with corn syrup but maple syrup is a great swap if you don’t like using it.
Recipe Variations and Additions
- Chocolate Drizzle: Y’all know caramel and chocolate go together perfectly right? Finish off your caramel corn popcorn batch and drizzle with some delish chocolate ganache.
- Spice it Up: Add a pinch of cayenne or crushed red pepper flakes to the homemade caramel popcorn sauce to give it a kick!
- Get Salty: Salted caramel is my love language so sprinkle some delish flaky sea salt over your caramel corn next time.
- Add Nuts: Mix in some roasted nuts like peanuts, pecans or almonds after the popcorn sets up.
Expert Tips and Tricks
- Go Fresh: Freshly popped popcorn is better for adhering and creating the best quality results for this recipe.
- Line your pan: Make sure you line your baking pan with parchment paper so your pan won’t become a complete mess super difficult to clean from sticky caramel.
- Do You Boos!: The ratio of caramel to popcorn will determine how saturated each kernel is. The fewer kernels used, the more caramel coverage you’ll get. The popcorn you see pictured in the photos has medium caramel coverage, meaning there are visible white splotches studded throughout. Medium to light coverage caramel popcorn is definitely still as sweet and indulgent as ever. Full coverage caramel corn is super sweet! So, depending on your personal preference, adjust the measurement of kernels.
How to Store Caramel Corn Popcorn
Leftovers are best stored at room temp in airtight containers or sealable freezer bags. Caramel corn popcorn will stay fresh this way for up to two weeks. If you let air get to it, the flavor can turn stale boos so try to avoid that so it stays fresh and crisp.
I don’t recommend adding leftover popcorn to the fridge or freezer since you don’t want to introduce moisture. It will result in it losing it’s super crispy texture. Fresh is best boos.
Frequently Asked Questions
Go with fresh high-quality air popped or stove top popped plain popcorn for the best results boo.
You must continue to stir the caramel consistently until it is ready. Don’t turn around for a second until it is done and ready to pour y’all.
Yep try replacing the corn syrup with maple syrup or honey instead. The flavor and a little of the texture might change slightly but it will still be bomb y’all.
You won’t believe how easy this caramel popcorn recipe is to pull off. It tastes legit better than anything you can grab at the grocery store or even at a speciality shop. It is absolutely perfect y’all. Get at it!
Other Popcorn Recipes
Caramel Popcorn (Caramel corn)
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups light brown sugar packed
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 6-8 cups popped plain popcorn
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Add brown sugar, butter, light corn syrup and salt and stir together in a medium sized pot over medium heat. Cook for about 5 minutes.
- Finally add vanilla and soda and stir until foamy.
- Pour over popped corn and continue stirring until well coated.
- Spread the popcorn on the baking sheets and bake for 1 hour until set and crisp.
- Cool and break any pieces that are stuck together then keep in an airtight container to keep fresh.
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Yeah, after coding the popcorn and putting it in the oven, the caramel seem to pool on the cookie sheet
I’m sorry you had trouble with it. Did you toss the popcorn in it to make sure it recoated?
Just made this morning. Getting ready to take it out of the oven so I can enjoy. Thanks for your recipe. I love me some Carmel Corn. Yum!!!
Thanks so much!!
Would you happen to know how to make the cheese popcorn so us Chicagoans can get our Garrett’s mix on?
Hi Anthony, here is the cheese popcorn: https://grandbaby-cakes.com/cheddar-popcorn/
How much popcorn kernels to get 6-8 cups of popped corn ?
Hi Becky, according to Google “1 tablespoon of kernels yields 1.5 cups of popped corn” hope that helps!
1/2 cup of unpopped kernals will give you almost 8 cups
Mine crystallized while baking did I not cook the caramel on the stove long enough??
So sorry to hear that you had trouble with the caramel. That’s a possibility, or you may have cooked it too long.
The best caramel corn recipe I ever used everyone loves it when I make it.
Can’t wait to try this! I think I am adding some peanuts too!!
Jocelyn, how many seeds are required to get 5 quarts? Can’t wait to try this. Every time my husband has a work trip to Chicago, I remind him to stop at the Garrett’s at O’Hare and bring back some Garrett’s. It’s so good but so expensive. You may have saved both me and my budget.
Hi Carol, what do you mean by seeds?
Can I add liquor to this recipe?
Absolutely!
Love this! How do you pop your corn? Is there a better method? Thanks!
I do mine over the oven but you can also use microwaved as well.