Seriously Addictive Caramel Corn

I meant to share this recipe sooner, but the caramel corn kept disappearing before I could take any pictures. Mackenzy wanted to take some to her poor fellow employees who would be working at Starbucks on Christmas morning, so I decided to try again.

My longtime friend and neighbor, Pam, has been making this for years and she shared the recipe with me a long time ago. I am not a great cook, but this recipe ALWAYS causes quite a stir and is my most requested (not that that is saying much).

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees. Pile 15 cups of popcorn on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. I always make a double recipe, because it just doesn't work to make any less than that. So that is why you see two cookie sheets.

In a thick pot, melt 1 stick of butter, add 1 cup of packed brown sugar, 1/4 cup of light corn syrup (Karo), and 1/2 tsp. of salt.

Stir constantly over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. It will be "shiny".

After the 5 minutes, remove the pan from the heat and stir in 1/2 tsp. of baking soda.

It will become dull and frothy.

Then pour it over the popcorn. Remember I am showing a double recipe.

Carefully toss to coat all the popcorn. It is hot and sticky and it will try to jump overboard. Just take your time and make sure it is all coated. Stir all the way down to the bottom of the pan because the caramel will try to puddle there, and you have to keep tossing to get it on the corn instead of at the bottom of the pan.

Then place the cookie sheet in the oven for 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, take it out and toss all the popcorn again. You will repeat this process 3 more times so the total time in the oven is one hour.

When the hour is up, turn the corn out onto wax paper to let it cool, breaking up any big lumps. It will try to slide right off the wax paper and counter onto the floor so be forewarned. It is truly tragic to have any of it wasted.

After it has cooled, store in airtight containers or ziploc bags. That is if you're fast enough! :)