Vanilla Popcorn

Hey everyone, I know it's a been a while but I have a great recipe to share with you today.

As the year winds down and the holidays kick in, I find myself in the kitchen more.  Holiday baking is something I love doing and I tend to start pretty early, around the beginning of November, even though this year, I seem to have got right into it a little earlier than usual.

I've made one Christmas Fruit Cake already and will be making more this weekend.

But, when it comes to holiday baking, one of the things we most enjoy is snack foods, and I'm talking anything from chocolate peanut clusters to cookies and of course, popcorn.

Vanilla Popcorn is this year's choice, and if you've never made it before, you're going to want to try it.  I think it may even become one of your family's favorite.

Word of advice, make lots of it, because it goes fast.

Word of caution, it is not exactly healthy and it's extremely addictive, I could easily go through a whole batch on my own, so I have to control myself.

Anyway, enough talking let's make popcorn :)

Vanilla Popcorn

12 cups popped popcorn (I used 1/2 cup of kernels)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup white corn syrup
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter or margarine
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla


In a pot add about 3 tablespoons of oil. Turn the heat on, and add 3 kernels of the popcorn to the pot. Once they pop, add the remaining kernels and cover. Shake gently over the heat as the rest of the popcorn pops, to prevent it from burning. Once the popping stops, remove from heat but keep the lid on for a few seconds more in case of any last minute kernels that may pop. Remove any unpopped kernels and pour into a big mixing bowl.

In a microwave safe bowl, add the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and butter, microwave for 30 seconds and give it a stir, then microwave for 2 minutes. Remove, stir again, and microwave for another 2 minutes. Once the time is up, carefully remove the bowl from the microwave (remember it's going to be super hot).

Add baking soda and vanilla and stir until it starts to foam. It will also thicken slightly. Pour over the popcorn and mix very well. Try to be quick because the caramel will start to harden.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees, spread the popcorn on a cookie sheet, lined with parchment or foil. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, making sure to stir every 10 minutes or so. Keep an eye on it though so you don't burn the sugar.

Remove from heat, let cool slightly and enjoy. It will be delicious and crunchy!!!

Homemade Microwave Popcorn

Tonight I'm going to share with you a post from my main blog.

I got this idea from a Nutritionist friend of mine and I'm so glad she shared it because I had no idea how easy it was to make microwave popcorn at home without all that added nastiness they add to the store bought kind.

I wish I had found out about this before, I did a google search and found quite a few other posts about it.  I always feel like the last one to join the cool club LOL

Anyway, here we go:

All you need are brown paper lunch bags, popcorn kernels and tape.

Place a 1/4 cup of popcorn kernels in each bag.  You can add toppings after it's done, but I tried garlic, salt and some with sugar mixed in with the kernels and it turned out great :)

Take a small piece of tape and fold over the top of the bag, tape it in place.

Fold the bottom part up about halfway.....

Then fold down the top part over it, you will have it folded in thirds, the same as the store bought bags.

I made some quick labels in photoshop, printed them all out on a sheet of paper, cut them out and used some double sided tape to attach them to the bags.

Added a bit of twine just for decoration and VOILA!

I will no longer be buying the store bought kind.  Besides, I am thinking these would make pretty cute gifts with different kinds of labels, and flavors.

Yummy popcorn!

You should have seen the kids faces.  They think I'm Super Woman which is pretty funny considering how easy these are to throw together :)

Peanut Butter and Nutella Popcorn

Well it's been one of those days, you know the ones where the weather is kinda yucky outside and you're sitting at home relaxed, crocheting and watching chick flicks on the Hallmark Channel........and then you get a craving for a snack but don't quite know what you want?



The kids asked for Popcorn, so I made them some, homemade not the microwave kind (not that there's anything wrong with that, I keep it at home too), and after filling up their bowls I realized that I wanted some but not plain, it needed a kick, needed some umph!



So I grabbed a small pan and whipped up a quick sauce to pour over, don't ask me where it comes from because I can't for the life of me remember when I first learned how to make it, it's been THAT long, funny enough, I just noticed the other day that the peanut butter popcorn seems to be all over pinterest and food blogs lately :)  Great minds and all that :)

I use this sauce for all sorts of combination, I've made plain chocolate, plain caramel, white chocolate and I've even made one with just a mixture of chopped nuts.  (so good).



But today, I decided to kick up the plain peanut butter with nutella.....Lordy sometimes I should be restrained from the kitchen  because I can't stop eating it and I'm afraid by the time my hubby gets home from weekend duty, the only thing he'll find is an empty pan and a wife with a stomach ache.



Peanut Butter and Nutella Popcorn

Popped popcorn (it's really best if you pop your own, and if you do, about 1/4 cup should do it)
1/2 cup sugar (when I want just caramel I change this to brown sugar)
1/2 cup honey (you can use Karo syrup too)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup nutella spread

In a small pan, bring the sugar and honey to a boil, stir for a few, I don't really pay attention to how long, I just bring it to the boil and then stir for a few seconds while it bubbles. Remove from the heat and add in the peanut butter and the nutella and stir well until melted and well incorporated.

Pour over the popcorn and quickly fold everything together. Be careful because the sauce is really hot and I burned myself I don't know how many times. It's the one process of making flavored popcorn that I have yet to master LOL

Once the popcorn is coated well, turn it out onto a sheet of parchment paper, I just lay a big sheet on the counter and pour it onto there, I used to try the baking sheets but always ended up with too much popcorn and not enough baking sheet so a mess everywhere.



Push it down slightly to spread it and then let it sit until it sets. It won't take long at all, I actually like popping mine in the fridge for about 20 to 30 minutes. *drool*

Enjoy!

Chocolate Popcorn

Remember the Caramel Popcorn from a few months ago????

Well I figured it was time to change it up a little, so this afternoon, I brought out the chocolate chips and made chocolate popcorn.   I swear it was like I placed a batch of GOLD nuggets in front of my family, the way they looked at it, their twinkly eyes, the licking of the lips and the "Oh THAT is good" comments that ensued.

Guess it's a winner and I'll be making a bunch more just to keep around in mason jars, for snack time.

Chocolate Popcorn

12 cups popped popcorn
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Spread popcorn on a cookie sheet, if it's too much, just bake it in batches or use two sheets.

Preheat oven to 300 F.

In a medium saucepan, add sugar, corn syrup and butter.  Stir and cook over medium heat and mixed well and boiling.  Remove from heat, add the vanilla extract and the chocolate chips and stir until chocolate is melted.

Pour over the popcorn and stir to coat.  Bake for 45 minutes, stir every 15 minutes or so.  When done, remove from oven and allow to cool completely.  Break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

Caramel Corn

Just in time for Halloween goodie bags.

I saw this posted over at Annie's eats a while ago, I immediately bookmarked it with the intention of going back and making it that very same day, but as usual, things got busy and I completely forgot about it.

As I was going through my recipes today trying to find something for goodie bags or just to have around the house to snack on, I came upon the link.  Caramel corn, I tell you it reminds me of the Cracker Jack boxes popcorn but without all the additives and nasty stuff they put in there and it whips up pretty fast too, easy and delicious.

My kind of snack, though maybe I should stay away from it because I can see myself consuming insane amounts of this stuff.

Caramel Corn
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Ingredients:
1 cup popcorn kernels, unpopped
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
½ cup light corn syrup
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla extract


Directions:
Pop popcorn using your preferred method.

Place the popped popcorn in a very large bowl (or two large bowls).  Make sure there is enough room in your bowls for tossing the popcorn.

Preheat the oven to 250° F.  Meanwhile, to make the caramel, melt the butter in a 2-quart saucepan set over medium heat.  Once the butter is melted, mix in the corn syrup, brown sugar and salt.  Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently.

Once the mixture reaches a boil, let the mixture continue to boil for 5 more minutes without stirring.  Remove the mixture from the heat, stir in the baking soda and vanilla extract.  The mixture will bubble up and become frothy.  Pour the caramel sauce over the popcorn in the bowl(s) and toss to coat thoroughly.  (I found my salad spoons very useful for this step.)

Spread the popcorn evenly onto two large baking sheets lined with parchment paper.  (It is okay if there are some clumps of caramel throughout.  It will melt and become better spread out while baking.)

 Bake for 40-50 minutes, removing from the oven to toss/stir every 10 minutes.  After 40 minutes, test a cooled piece of popcorn.  If it is not completely crispy (i.e. still slightly mushy when you bite it), bake for 10 minutes more.

Remove the baking sheets to a wire rack and allow popcorn to cool completely before breaking apart for serving or packaging.

I found these cute Halloween themed ziploc bags, just perfect for them. I popped in some candy corn too. My kids and their friends loved them :)