Peanut Caramel Corn Food

PEANUT BUTTER CARAMEL CORN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
• First make the popcorn: Put a large pot over medium heat, and add the oil and popcorn. Place a lid on the pot, slightly askew, so that steam can escape. Pop the corn until there are a few seconds between pops, and it sounds like they are mostly cooked.
• Pour the popped corn into a large roasting pan (like one you would use to roast a turkey) and sprinkle with kosher salt.
• In the same pot that you made the popcorn, melt the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, peanut butter and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring, for 7 minutes.
• In a tiny bowl, mix the baking soda and vanilla together until the baking soda is mostly dissolved.
• Remove the pot from the heat, and stir in the vanilla and baking soda mixture. The caramel should be very light and frothy. Immediately pour the caramel over the popcorn, and gently fold the caramel into the popcorn to coat it. (At this point, you might think there is not enough caramel for the corn, as there will be globs of caramel, and a lot of the popcorn will not seem well-coated. But don't worry! There will be plenty.).
• Bake the caramel corn for 15 minutes. Remove the roasting pan from the oven and gently stir the popcorn into the melting caramel until the popcorn is better coated. Return to the oven for another 15 minutes, after which the popcorn should be evenly coated with the caramel.
• Return the caramel corn to the oven and bake for a final 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and give the corn one final stir to coat thoroughly. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• When the popcorn is totally cool, it will have a nice, thin, crispy coating. Serve immediately or store in airtight containers for up to 10 days.

PEANUT CARAMEL CORN

Steps:

• Place popcorn and peanuts in a large bowl coated with cooking spray; set aside., In a large heavy saucepan, combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, , molasses, butter and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 2-3 minutes without stirring., Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla and baking soda (mixture will foam). Quickly pour over popcorn and mix well., Transfer to a 15x10x1-in. baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 250° for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from pan and place on waxed paper to cool. Store in an airtight container.

CARAMEL CORN WITH PEANUTS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 250 degrees. Spray two rimmed baking sheets with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine popcorn and peanuts. In a medium saucepan combine butter, sugar, molasses, and salt over medium high until butter has melted. Stir once to combine. Bring mixture to a boil without stirring until the temperature reaches 248 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in baking soda.
• Working quickly, add caramel to popcorn and peanuts and stir to coat. Transfer mixture to 2 baking sheets, spread out evenly, and bake until crisp, 15 minutes, stirring halfway through. Let cool completely. Break into clusters.

MISS BROWN'S PEANUT-PISTACHIO CARAMEL CORN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Grease or butter two large, rimmed baking pans. Combine the popcorn, peanuts, pistachios and sesame seeds in a very large bowl or roasting pan.
• Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, corn syrup, peanut butter and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then cook until the mixture is completely emulsified and there is no visible melted butter around the edge of the pan, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and baking soda. (The mixture will puff up.)
• Pour the mixture evenly over the popcorn mixture and toss well to coat. Divide the popcorn between the two prepared pans, spreading in an even layer. Bake the popcorn for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes and rotating the pans so it cooks evenly. Let cool in the pans, about 20 minutes. Break into pieces to serve.

BACON PEANUT CARAMEL CORN

Steps:

• Pre Heat Oven to 375. Lay bacon out on a baking sheet and cook until the fat has rendered and the bacon is crispy, about 10 to 15 minutes.
• Reserve the rendered fat and set the bacon aside.
• Reduce the oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large pot, place 1 tablespoon of the reserved bacon fat and the popcorn. Put a lid or heat proof bowl on top (unless you want popcorn all over your kitchen). Cook over medium heat, shaking the pot intermittently until the popcorn slows to 1 pop every two or three seconds. Remove from heat and pour the popcorn into a bowl. (if you'd like to use air popped or microwave popcorn, that will work as well. Make sure it's a "natural" kind without the artificial butter flavor. 2 bags of microwave popcorn will give you more than enough for 8 cups.).
• Wipe out the popcorn pot, making sure there is residue and add the water, then the corn syrup and sugar. Cook on medium high heat, until the mixture turns a light amber color, about 6 to 8 minutes. You do not want to over cook the caramel.
• While the caramel cooks, spread the popcorn onto a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat, or parchment paper (if using parchment paper, make sure it fully lines the baking sheet or the caramel corn will stick.).
• Sprinkle the peanuts evenly over the sheet. Crumble the cooled bacon over the popcorn and peanuts. You want the bacon to be in small pieces. Season the popcorn with a generous pinch of salt. (If you are using microwave popcorn that is salted, omit this step).
• Once the caramel is light amber, drizzle it evenly over the sheet of popcorn, scraping the pot with a heatproof spatula. Immediately stir the popcorn mix and caramel to coat. The caramel will start to harden and not fully coat everything, that's ok, you just want to get the process started.
• Place the sheet in the oven and bake for thirty minutes, stirring the corn every 8 to ten minutes. When you stir the corn, make sure to scrape the caramel off the silicone mat and turn it over to coat.
• Once fully coated, remove from the oven and break the clusters apart with a fork, or your hands.
• Let fully cool. Once cool the caramel corn will store for a week in an airtight container protected from humidity.

MICROWAVE CARAMEL AND PEANUT POPCORN

Steps:

• Place the popped popcorn into a large brown paper bag. Set aside. In a 2-quart casserole dish, or other heatproof glass dish, combine the brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, vanilla extract and salt. Heat at full power for 3 minutes in the microwave, then take out and stir until well blended. Return to the microwave, and cook for 1 minute and 30 seconds more. Remove from the microwave, and stir in the baking soda. Pour the syrup mixture over the popcorn in the bag. Roll down the top once or twice to close the bag, and shake to coat the popcorn. Place bag into the microwave, and cook for 1 minute 10 seconds. Remove, shake, flip the bag over and return it to the microwave. Cook for another 1 minute and 10 seconds. Dump the popcorn out onto waxed paper, and let cool until coating is set. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container.