Christmas Spiced Caramel Popcorn Recipe
This festive Christmas Popcorn Candy recipe combines freshly popped popcorn with a rich, spiced caramel coating and crunchy slivered almonds. The popcorn is air-popped on the stovetop and then baked with a buttery brown sugar caramel infused with traditional holiday spices like cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves, resulting in a delightful sweet and crunchy treat perfect for holiday gatherings or gifting.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: Approximately 10 cups popcorn candy 1x
- Category: Dessert/Snack
- Method: Stovetop and Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Scale
Popcorn
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil (not required if air popping with a popcorn maker)
- 1/3 cup popping corn (yields about 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 (substitute glucose syrup as needed)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3 tsp cinnamon powder
- 2 tsp ginger powder
- 1/2 tsp allspice powder (or more cinnamon)
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves (or more cinnamon)
Instructions
- Pop the popcorn: Heat vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Test the oil by adding a few kernels and wait until they pop. Quickly add the remaining popcorn kernels, remove the pot from heat to shake and spread the kernels evenly, then cover with a lid. Return the pot to medium heat and gently shake once as the popcorn begins popping vigorously. Remove from heat when popping slows down (count to 3 between pops) and transfer the popcorn to a very large bowl to yield approximately 10 cups popped corn.
- Preheat the oven: Set your oven to 110°C (230°F) to prepare for baking the coated popcorn.
- Make the caramel: In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the unsalted butter. Stir in the packed brown sugar, light corn syrup, and salt until just combined. Allow the mixture to come to a gentle boil, then simmer for 4 minutes without stirring.
- Add spices and finish caramel: Remove the saucepan from heat. Quickly whisk in the cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, vanilla extract, and baking soda vigorously for about 10 seconds. The caramel will foam and increase in volume after whisking.
- Coat the popcorn: Immediately pour the hot caramel over the popcorn in the large bowl. Toss well to coat all popcorn evenly. Sprinkle the slivered almonds over the coated popcorn and toss again until the caramel begins to cool and harden.
- Bake to crisp: Spread the coated popcorn mixture evenly over two baking trays. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes to evenly coat the popcorn as the caramel melts and hardens. If using glucose syrup instead of corn syrup, extend baking time by an additional 15 minutes.
- Cool and store: Remove the trays from the oven and allow the popcorn candy to cool completely. Once cool, gently break into pieces and store in an airtight container. The popcorn candy will stay crisp for 2 to 3 weeks.
Notes
- If air popping with an electric popcorn maker, vegetable oil is not required.
- Using less popping corn (1/3 cup) yields about 10 cups of popcorn for lighter caramel coverage.
- Glucose syrup can be substituted for corn syrup, but requires an additional 15 minutes of baking time to crisp properly.
- Substitute allspice and cloves with extra cinnamon powder if desired for a slightly different but still festive flavor.
- Ensure thorough tossing during baking to promote even caramel coating and prevent burning.
Keywords: Christmas popcorn candy, holiday snack, caramel popcorn, spiced popcorn, festive treat, popcorn recipe, caramel candy
