Soft Caramel Corn

Insanely delicious and insanely addicting- this soft caramel corn is like no other caramel corn! It comes together in a flash, and it is so ridiculously delicious.

It is crazy how food can instantly transport me to another time. My memories are so connected to food, and so many of my favorite memories are associated with a food that’s special to me. So many late nights talking over Alicia’s salsa, so many dinners with friends with Honey Lime Enchiladas on the table, sooooo many batches of the best Chocolate Chip Cookies made to bring to a friend.

And this soft caramel corn will forever remind me of one of my best friends, Rachel, and her mom Jana. I can still remember the first time I tasted it. I had only had caramel corn of the Cracker Jacks variety, which I found very solidly meh. One bite of this sweet, gooey, sticky treat, and I was hooked. Whenever a batch of caramel corn was around, so were we.

I love to make this popcorn and wrap it up into popcorn balls to give away. I mean, even more than that, I love to make this popcorn to eat by the handful until my pants don’t fit anymore. While throwing elbows to box out my family from snagging the gooeyest bites. So if I’m going the popcorn ball route, I’m gonna need to make another batch or my family will riot.

I pop kernels in our Presto Stirring Popper, but I’ve really got my eye on one of these microwave popper deals. You can also just use regular microwave popcorn, but try to use something plain. And no matter how you pop it, make sure you pick out any unpopped kernels! Those suckers will rattle your brain if you bite down hard on one hidden in caramel.

About 2/3 c of unpopped kernels is the perfect amount of popcorn for this, which amounts to about 18-20 cups of popcorn. I have made it with anywhere between 16 and 20 cups of popcorn. Obviously, with less popcorn, it’s much gooey-er. It’s not rocket science, but you only have one shot! You gotta stir fast or you crush the popcorn and the caramel gets too hard to mix well.

Dangerously fast, and just out of this world delicious. It’s not crunchy or burnt tasting, as so many other caramel corns are. It’s gooey, sweet, chewy, and just the best thing to ever happen to popcorn.

Mix up your caramel, pop your popcorn and go to heaven!

Need another super quick sweet tooth fix? Scotcheroos, No Bake Bonkers Bars, and the Best Ever Rice Krispie Treats will all do the trick!