Description
Festive Christmas Popcorn Candy combines crunchy popcorn coated in a rich, spiced caramel with toasted slivered almonds for a perfect holiday treat. This sweet snack bakes to a crisp finish and can be enjoyed fresh or stored for weeks.
Ingredients
Scale
Popcorn
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup popping corn (yields 10 cups popcorn)
- 2/3 cup slivered almonds
Caramel
- 100g / 7 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (170g) light corn syrup
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
Christmas Spices
- 3 tsp cinnamon powder
- 2 tsp ginger powder
- 1/2 tsp allspice powder
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
Instructions
- Pop popcorn: Heat vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add a few popcorn kernels and wait for them to pop, then quickly remove them. Add the remaining popcorn kernels, shake pot off heat to spread evenly, and cover. Once popping intensifies, gently shake the pot once. Remove from heat when popping slows to about one pop every three seconds, then transfer popcorn to a very large bowl, ensuring you have 10 cups.
- Prepare caramel: Preheat oven to 110°C (230°F). In a saucepan over medium heat, melt unsalted butter. Add brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt, stirring until combined. When mixture starts bubbling, simmer without stirring for 4 minutes.
- Add spices and finish caramel: Remove saucepan from heat. Quickly whisk in cinnamon, ginger, allspice, ground cloves, vanilla extract, and baking soda vigorously for 10 seconds until caramel foams and increases in volume.
- Coat popcorn: Immediately pour the caramel over the popcorn and toss to coat evenly. Sprinkle the slivered almonds over the popcorn and toss again until caramel begins to cool and harden.
- Bake to crisp: Spread the coated popcorn across two baking trays in an even layer. Bake for 45 minutes at 110°C (230°F), tossing every 10 minutes to ensure even coating. Note: If using glucose instead of corn syrup, bake an additional 15 minutes.
- Cool and store: Remove trays from oven and let popcorn cool completely. Once cooled, gently break into pieces and store in an airtight container. The candy will remain crisp for 2 to 3 weeks.
Notes
- Adjust popcorn amount for caramel coverage: 1/3 cup kernels for full candy-like coating; 3/4 cup for lighter coating.
- Corn syrup prevents sugar crystallization; glucose is a suitable substitute but requires extra baking time.
- Alternative sweeteners like golden syrup, honey, or maple syrup can be used but also require additional baking time.
- Popcorn remains fresh and crisp stored in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 250 kcal
- Sugar: 20 g
- Sodium: 150 mg
- Fat: 12 g
- Saturated Fat: 7 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 33 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 30 mg
