Caramel Corn and Catan
Way back in December a couple friends and I wanted to get together to play some Catan. Flash forward four months later and it FINALLY worked out. When you all work shift jobs scheduling things can be pretty tricky. Is it a game night without snacks? I don’t think so. Caramel Corn was needed!
I love the idea of people coming together over food. Maybe just because I love food but I think community is built around food. Conversations around the dinner table are some of my favourite memories. When it comes to cooking/baking abilities I am quite a novice, but for the first time, I’m actually trying. When recipes say ‘easy’ ‘no hassle’ ‘beginner’ I am THERE! As someone not well experienced or naturally talented trust me when I say this recipe is easy!
INGREDIENTS:
- 10 cups popcorn (already popped not kernels)
- 1 cup brown sugar (packed down)
- 1/4 cup corn syrup
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
Pop that popcorn! Honestly, the recipe gives a specific amount of popcorn you should. I blew past that amount and made way too much. So I ended up having to double the amount of caramel. The measurements got me all mixed up. Feel free to ignore that popcorn amount and just make a regular sized mixing bowls worth of popcorn. Then lay it out evenly in a baking pan.
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees. Next throw the sugar, corn syrup, butter, cream of tartar, and salt (leaving the baking soda for later) into a pot over medium-high heat.
Keep stirring until it bubbles like this for five minutes. Take the pot off the heat and quickly stir in the baking soda.
Pour the caramel over the popcorn and try to mix it up. It won’t work very well but don’t worry it’ll work out. Bake the popcorn in your oven for 1 hour. Every 20 minutes take the pan out and mix up the popcorn. This gives it a more even coat and gets it all crunchy and buttery and delicious.
I won’t lie the need for this much caramel corn was non-existent but it was pretty spectacular to offer up the most massive bowl for my guests! Hopefully, it also made them less angry when I beat them all at Catan.
When Catan was all said and done I still had such a huge amount of caramel corn left over. Thankfully I have lots of wonderful people in my life who 100% deserve all the yummy treats in the world. Brought over this jar for Naomi when she and I were meeting up to craft and hang out. She came up with THE GREATEST IDEA. Feast your eyes on the ‘Snackrifice’ jar. Once all the caramel corn is no more the jar will be refilled by her with a delicious snack for me! Think of it like the Sisterhood of the Travelling Snacks. I am in heaven.
