Description
This festive Christmas Popcorn Candy is a delightful treat combining crunchy popcorn with a rich, spiced caramel coating. Enhanced with warm cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves, and topped with slivered almonds, this candy offers a perfect balance of sweet and spice, ideal for holiday celebrations or gifting.
Ingredients
Scale
Popcorn
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil (not required if air popping with a popcorn maker)
- 1/3 cup popping corn (10 cups popcorn)
- 2/3 cup slivered almonds
Caramel
- 100g / 7 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup (170g) light corn syrup
- 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 the popcorn: Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add a few kernels to test; when they pop, remove the popped pieces. Add the remaining popcorn kernels, spread them evenly by shaking the pot off the stove, and cover with a lid. Once popping intensifies, gently shake the pot once. Remove from heat when popping slows to about 3 seconds between pops. Transfer the 10 cups of popcorn to a very large bowl.
- Prepare the caramel: Preheat the oven to 110°C (230°F). Melt the unsalted butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, light corn syrup, and salt, stirring until just combined. When the mixture starts bubbling, simmer without stirring for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and quickly whisk in the Christmas spices, vanilla extract, and baking soda. Whisk vigorously for 10 seconds until the caramel foams and increases in volume.
- Coat the popcorn: Pour the hot caramel directly over the popcorn and toss thoroughly to coat all pieces. Sprinkle the slivered almonds over the coated popcorn and toss again until the caramel cools slightly and begins to harden.
- Bake to crisp: Spread the coated popcorn evenly across two baking trays. Bake for 45 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes. The caramel will melt during the first few tosses, which helps coat the popcorn evenly. Remove the trays from the oven and allow the popcorn candy to cool completely. Break into pieces once hardened and store in an airtight container.
Notes
- For a lighter caramel coverage, increase popcorn kernels to 3/4 cup; this yields a less sweet coating while still flavorful.
- Corn syrup stabilizes caramel to prevent crystallization; glucose syrup is an excellent substitute but requires 15 additional minutes of baking due to higher water content.
- Other substitutes for corn syrup include golden syrup, honey, or maple syrup, all requiring 15 additional minutes of baking.
- Store popcorn candy in an airtight container to maintain crispness for 2 to 3 weeks.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 220 kcal
- Sugar: 18 g
- Sodium: 120 mg
- Fat: 12 g
- Saturated Fat: 6 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 28 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 25 mg
