Caramel Corn

I have been super busy this past week, so I unfortunately haven’t had much time to blog about all of the fun Halloween happenings and recipes. Therefore I will be giving my post-Halloween rundown this week!

The whole gang at the entrance of the cave

Every year Lance and I get a bunch of our friends together for our bat cave and bonfire event the weekend before Halloween, this year was our 3rd official trip. We head out into the AZ desert to check a bat cave (aka an abandoned mine that bats live in) then have a bonfire. We roast marshmallows, make s’mores and have lots of hot chocolate and apple cider to warm up. It’s a ton of fun!

The bonfire

Inside the cave

This year we decided to switch it up a little so we brought a projector and screen so we would play a scary movie. We decided to watch Nightmare on Elm Street – which was extra scary since we were in the middle of nowhere to watch it!



This year I made bat shaped sugar cookies - everyone said they tasted great dipped in hot chocolate!



And some yummy caramel caramel corn to snack on while we watched the movie! I dropped my camera and messed it up right after I made the corn so I didn't get a picture of it, but trust me, it was delicious!


Caramel Popcorn
Ingredients:
5 quarts of popcorn ( about 1 cup unpopped kernels)
2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup)
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 the popcorn and place into two large bowls.

Preheat the oven to 250° F.

Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, mix in the corn syrup, brown sugar and salt. Increase the temperature 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 (be careful during this step – the caramel was very hot!)

Spread the popcorn evenly onto two large baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake for 60 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to spread caramel mixture evenly over corn. Remove from oven and let cool completely before breaking apart.