Treat: Popcorn Tin Recipes

Traditionally, popcorn tins are made up of an original (butter), a savory (cheddar), and a sweet popcorn (carmel). But seeing as we all know the carmel corn is the only flavor worth going for (as previously mentioned), I decided to recreate the concept of traditional popcorn tins using only variations of carmel corn. So, roll up your sleeves, get some popcorn going on the stove (or air popper—do not by any means use popcorn from a microwave bag), and get ready for the best tasting tin you’ve ever had.

Carmel corn is one of those things that can either be incredibly simple to make, or horribly complicated. Thankfully, my mother has a recipe that falls under the simple category, and is even made using the—wait for it—microwave. Now for me, microwave cooking is almost akin to blasphemy of some sort; but this carmel corn is just so darn delicious, I don’t care. All of these recipes stem from the original recipe, so we’ll start with that one first.

Original (Plain Carmel):

Begin with your popcorn. If you’re making this on the stove, turn your pan onto high heat and add 1-2 Tbs oil (my favorite is peanut, but vegetable or canola oil would work well). Once hot, pour in 1/3 cup popcorn kernels, cover and shake occasionally. Pull off heat six seconds after the sound of popping has stopped.  

While the kernels are busy popping, ready your carmel mixture. Into a microwave safe bowl place one cube of butter, 1 cup brown sugar, ¼ cup corn syrup, and ½ tsp salt. Set aside (without mixing) until kernels have been popped.  Pour popped kernels into an empty brown paper bag, and place carmel mixture into the microwave.

This is where it gets semi-tricky since microwave heat varies. Microwave carmel mixture until it starts to boil (mine starts a little after one minute). Once you see the boil begin, microwave for two minutes. As soon as the two minutes are up, pull from microwave and whisk in ½ tsp baking soda.  

Pour carmel mixture onto popcorn in brown paper bag, fold top over, and shake vigorously. Place bag in microwave for 1 ½ minutes. Shake and place back into your microwave for another 1 ½ minutes. Shake, place back into microwave for 1 minute, and shake. Fun. =) Open the bag and check to see if the popcorn has been thoroughly coated over with carmel. If it looks evenly distributed, spread out into baking sheet and allow to cool. Once cool, break up carmel corn and set aside. I don’t suggest putting it into the tin yet, see note below for my reasoning.

Savory (Carmel Corn and Salted, Roasted Peanuts):

Follow original recipe, only inside brown paper bag with popcorn add 2 ½ - 3 cups whole salted, roasted peanuts. You may want to add a bit more carmel than the original recipes asks for, but I didn’t and it turned out fine.

Sweet (Carmel Corn with Dried Cherries and Pecans):

Again, follow original recipe with the addition of placing 1 ½ cups dried cherries (or cranberries), and 2 cups whole pecans in with the popcorn before adding the carmel sauce.  If desired, use more carmel sauce than in the original recipe.

Note:

When putting the carmel corns into a tin, try to do it at an even pace (one cup of each at a time). The dividers tend to slide and are hard to adjust once a section is full.

Eat up and enjoy!

10 Days Until Christmas!