Caramel Party Popcorn
“Anyone who thinks they’re too grown up or too sophisticated to eat caramel corn, is not invited to my house for dinner.” – Ruth Reichl
Stress Scale: 2 | Prep time: 15 min | Total time: 45 min | Yield: About 8 cups
INGREDIENTS:
½ cup popcorn kernels
½ cup malted barley syrup
½ cup maple syrup
½ t salt
OPTIONAL: 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips and/or your favorite nuts
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Pop popcorn kernels, as directed on package, into a nice big mixing bowl. Sift out any unpopped kernels.
In saucepan, bring malted barley and maple syrup to a boil. Stir continuously. Simmer for 4-5 minutes. Keep on stirring.
Remove saucepan from heat. Mix in salt. Let sit for 5 minutes. Then pour half of the syrup over the popcorn. Mix to coat. (Remember that syrup will still be warm, so use a spoon.) Assess the saturation level. Is it to your liking? If not, add additional syrup. If you want to taste more popcorn, go lighter on the syrup. Mix in nuts, if desired.
Pour popcorn onto parchment-lined baking sheet. Spread out over pan. (I use a spoon sprayed with olive oil cooking spray to ease the process.)
Bake for 3-4 minutes. Careful to not burn.
Remove from oven and (immediately) use a spatula to “lift” the popcorn from the paper. Failure to do so will result in an unbreakable bond between popcorn and paper. Not tasty.
Mix in mini chocolate chips, if you like.
Let sit for at least 30 minutes to dry. Serve with love. And a perhaps spoon.
TIP: If molasses and golden syrup had a baby, it would probably be malted barley syrup. And while this is actually made from sprouted barley, it still packs hefty amounts of maltose, glucose and sucrose. (Yes, all of those “ose’s” mean sugar.) Also flavors seem to marry overnight, so feel free to make a day ahead of time.
