Caramel Corn

So I had a random craving for caramel corn the other day ... but Jeff and I are trying not to eat a lot of sugar these days. But while he's out of town on his "man weekend," he gave me permission to bake. So I figured I would take the opportunity to bake while I had the time and could choose to do whatever I wanted! :)

Caramel Corn
from Simply Recipes

INGREDIENTS

4-5 quarts popped popcorn (about 2/3 cup unpopped kernels)

2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1/2 cup dark corn syrup

1 Tbsp molasses

1 teaspoon salt (I used less and it turned out fine)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups salted peanuts (optional)

*I halved this recipe - see note below for cooking times

Heat oven to 225°F. Place popcorn in large roasting pan; set aside.

Combine brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, molasses and salt in a thick-bottomed, 2-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a full boil. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until candy thermometer reaches 250°F or small amount of mixture dropped in ice water forms a hard ball (about 12 to 14 minutes). Remove from heat; stir in baking soda. The caramel will foam up a little and turn a lighter color when you add the baking soda.

(***I halved this recipe, so the cooking time for this mixture was about 9-10 minutes - do not overcook, or you run the risk of scorching your caramel! Pay attention to your nose! I might have cooked my caramel mixture a tad bit too long, so it's not quite as sweet as it could be, but it still turned out okay!)

Carefully pour hot mixture over the popcorn in a large roasting pan. (If you would like peanuts with your popcorn, sprinkle the salted peanuts over the caramel sauce at this point.) Using a wooden spoon, stir until all popcorn is coated. (Be careful not to let the caramel touch you; it's very hot.) Place in oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, stir to more evenly coat the popcorn with the caramel sauce. Return to oven. Continue cooking for 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Immediately spread caramel corn out onto waxed paper. Let cool completely. Break into bite-sized pieces. Store in tightly covered container.