Will sugar and butter cooked until carmel color do it? Anybody know a recipe? How about popcorn Recipe’s in general?
My mother made carmel by heating Eagle Brand milk over a low flame until it was a carmel color. Yummm…
The Eagle Brand cream thing is good. You can also just melt some candy caramels, adding a little water, etc. (Unwrapping the buggers is more pain than it’s worth, though.) But here’s an easy “from scratch” recipe:
Yield: 8 Servings
1/2 c Packed brown sugar 1/4 c Margarine or butter
1/2 c Dark corn syrup 1/4 ts Salt
8 c Popped popcorn
For holidays or special occasions tint popcorn balls with a few drops. Heat all ingredients except popcorn to boiling in Dutch oven over medium-hi heat stirring constantly. Boil and stir 2 minutes; remove from h Stir in popcorn until well coated; cool slightly.Dip hands into cold water. Shape mixture into 8 balls each about 2-1/2 inches in diameter. Place on waxed paper; cool. Wrap individually in plastic wrap or place in plastic bags and seal. 8 POPCORN BALLS; 205 CALORIES PER BALL.To Microwave: Mix all ingredients except popcorn in 3- or 4-quart microwavable bowl or casserole. Microwave uncovered on high about 2 minutes boiling. Stir until smooth. Microwave uncovered about 1 minute long or until boiling. Stir in popcorn. Continue as directed.
Have a ball! (yuk-yuk-yuk)
Veb
:::smacks head:::
Like an idiot I forgot to cite the source; it’s from eCuisines. Not a bad source for basic recipes.
Veb
You can also gently heat (till it’s pourable) caramel dip. (The stuff that comes in the tub that you get in the produce section of the grocery store. I think Marzetti’s makes it, but I also know that Abdallah makes it in the Minneapolis area.)
Robin
The sugar and butter thing works well, Wham. Just take 1 pound of butter and 2 cups of sugar and boil in a sauce pan, stirring, until it reaches soft-crack stage (239 F., IIRC; you’ll need a candy thermometer).
Have popcorn ready in a a big roaster pan to pour it over and stir it in. You’ll need lots of room to mix it because it’ll begin to harden quite fast and you want to spread it throughout the popcorn without large globs. Be sure to keep a wet rag handy in case you get any syrup on you…it’ll have to be wiped off fast!
Salted mixed nuts are a great addition.
This is the real crunchy “toffee” type caramel corn.
I make a “cheaters” version of popcorn balls which is very much like TVBlen’s, except I use buttered microwave popcorn (I would omit the salt from the caramel in this case). This is a softer, more sticky type of caramel corn (and I really like the flavor of the butter and salt on the popcorn with the caramel on top of it). Oh yeah, if you’re like me and don’t like surprise unpopped kernels in your balls (hmm, that didn’t come out quite as I meant it :)), just shake the popcorn in a separate container to get the kernels to the bottom, and move the popped kernels from the top to another container.
Oops, sorry, I meant “TVeblen”
Here’s the recipe my own mommy used to make when I was growing up, so I can vouch for it’s yumminess. It’s also pretty darn easy:
1 C Butter
2 C Brown Sugar
1/2 C Corn Syrup
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Vanilla
6 qt Popped Popcorn
Melt butter; stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then boil without stirring for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in soda and vanilla. Gradually pour over corn, mix well. Turn into two large, shallow baking pans. Bake at 250 degrees F for 1 hour, stir every 15 minutes. Remove from oven, cool completly. Break apart and store in tightly covered containers.
Good eatin’.
its. I can vouch for its yumminess.
Beadalin’s Mommy’s recipe looks alot like the one I use in the microwave. Boil the same bits together, being careful not to spill. Stir in soda. Hold spoon at very end and stir gently while it foams madly.
Put popcorn in clean paper grocery bag. Pour caramel over it and stir well. Fold bag closed. Nuke on high for 1 min. Stir (carefully, this will be hot!). Nuke for another minute. Stir. Nuke for 30 seconds. Stir. Pour out onto a kitchen counter you have cleverly covered with waxed paper. Eat. Burn mouth. Wait. Eat. Storage tips? Wouldn’t know. Never used ‘em.
I’ll check the recipe tonight and post corrections and addendums as needed.
I boiled sugar in the microwave once… in a tupperware container. Of course it melted clear through and ruined a nice microwave! 
DOH!
Beadalin’s is lots of fun cause when you add the soda it foams up like crazy.
But these days, I just buy the microwave corn & carmel, it’s sold as a set now.