I grew up with a mom who made popcorn balls quite often, so I've always had a sweet tooth for anything including caramel and popcorn. This recipe caught my eye because it's different from all the other caramel corn recipes out there. It includes PEANUT BUTTER. Sound interesting? It is worth a try, especially for your kiddos who enjoy peanut butter and constant snacking!
Peanut Butter Caramel Popcorn
Serves 6
8-10 cups popped popcorn
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch coarse, kosher salt
Add popped popcorn to large bowl. In a medium saucepan, add the sugar and corn syrup. Over medium heat, stirring often, bring the mixture to a steady boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the peanut butter, vanilla, and pinch of salt until smooth. Immediately pour the warm mixture over the popcorn. Toss until the popcorn is evenly coated. Serve immediately.
Step-by-step tutorial:
Gather your ingredients.
Using an air popper (or you can use microwaved plain popcorn) pop approximately 8-10 cups of popcorn. This is using 1/2 cup unpopped kernels.
Put the popped corn in a large bowl to make stirring easy.
In a medium saucepan, combine the 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup light corn syrup.
Bring to a rolling boil over medium heat, then remove from heat.
Add 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and a pinch of salt. (Anyone else notice how easy this recipe would be to memorize? Every ingredient uses 1/2. That's dangerous to know....)
Stir until smooth, then pour over popped corn.
Stir until all of the popcorn is coated with the goodness.
Pour out onto parchment paper to let cool. Or just dig right in. That's what I usually do.
It's gooey, salty, sweet, and yummy. A perfectly fun snack for your kiddos!
Recipe Source: Recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe (my favorite food blog of all time)