Honey Caramel Corn – A Fun and Easy Family Treat
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Our old fashioned Honey Caramel Corn Recipe is light, buttery and delicious! This snack is great for gatherings or an anytime treat.
When I was a little girl, one of the treats my Grandma Catherine would buy me was CrackerJacks™ caramel corn. I had a collection of all the little toys they put inside the boxes, from mini-holographic photos to magnifying spyglasses. I enjoyed that sweet, crispy buttery caramel corn, but haven’t purchased it in years because they use ingredients that we try to avoid, like genetically modified soy and corn.
My friend, Shannon, mentioned that her family always made a delicious honey caramel corn recipe for the holiday season. She messaged me a copy of a handwritten list of ingredients, saying that she remembered they used a thermometer but didn’t remember cooking details. A little online digging revealed a recipe that sounded similar, so I married the two together and came up with a recipe that reminds me of grandma and the way things used to taste.
Honey Caramel Corn Recipe
Ingredients
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup butter or coconut oil
1/2 cup packed brown sugar or sucanat
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (homemade extract is great if you have it)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
4 quarts popped popcorn
Directions
Melt butter in large saucepan or cast iron skillet; stir in sugar, honey and salt.
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Cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; boil without stirring about three minutes to 265°F (130°C – hard ball stage). Remove from heat; stir in vanilla extract and soda. When you add the soda, the color will get lighter and the mixture will get more bubbly.
Place popcorn in large oven-safe bowl; slowly pour syrup over popcorn while stirring.
Turn onto greased or reusable parchment paper covered baking sheet. Bake at 250°F (120°C) for 45 minutes; stir every 15 minutes. Cool. Break into serving-sized pieces. Store in airtight container. Makes four quarts (eight servings of two cups each). You can make a bigger batch of honey caramel popcorn and pile it up in a Dutch oven for an attractive, rustic centerpiece on the serving table.
PrintHoney Caramel Corn
Old fashioned honey caramel corn is light and crispy, buttery and not too sweet.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 16 cups 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Stovetop Cooking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup butter or coconut oil
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar or sucanat
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 4 quarts popped popcorn
Instructions
- Melt butter in large saucepan or cast iron skillet; stir in sugar, honey and salt.
- Cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium; boil without stirring about three minutes to 265°F (130°C – hard ball stage).
- Remove from heat; stir in vanilla extract and soda.
- Place popcorn in large oven-safe bowl; slowly pour syrup over popcorn while stirring.
- Turn onto greased or reusable parchment paper covered 15-1/4×10-1/4×1/4-inch baking pan.
- Bake at 250°F (120°C) for 45 minutes; stir every 15 minutes.
- Cool. Break into serving-sized pieces. Store in airtight container. Makes four quarts (eight servings of two cups each).
Don’t forget to check out more of our made from scratch recipes, such as:
- Honey-Sweetened Lemonade
- Chocolate Chestnut Brownies – Gluten Free and Honey Sweetened
- No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars – Sweetened with Honey
P.S. – I’d love to hear your stories about family favorite recipes or recipes you remember from childhood. Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.
Originally posted in 2014, updated in 2018.
My favorite recipe is “Hungarian Gulash” and I wish these sites would STOP using facebook, I am not on facebook, can’t post there and want nothing to do with them…they are phishers!
With Halloween coming up I started thinking about popcorn balls…. this caramel corn recipe sounds perfect for this season….
Thanks for doing the giveaway! The honey caramel corn recipe looks delicious.
Kimberly
My favorite recipe happens to be any one associated with a holiday. I love cooking for my family when they gather at my home for a holiday!
I love skillet cornbread.
Going to try this honey carmel corn today. Thanks for posting.
Thanks once again for a fabulous recipe, and a chance to win great prizes….appreciate your dedication!
Can’t pick a favorite recipe as they all become fav’s as I use them—today a soup – tomorrow a cake—who knows what next??
love to try to win–maybe this will be my lucky entry–lol
We love caramel corn and we love honey. This recipe looks amazing! Thanks.
Love your contests!
A beef curry we make for company all the time. Thanks!
I loved CrackerJack as a kid. Excited to try this recipe and start a new tradition for the holidays!
What a wonderful giveaway, thank you for the opportunity!
My favorite recipe is Milwaulke slow cooked roast. Delicious and melts in your mouth.
This sound like my kind of recipe . Love that the recipe does not have corn syrup and also that one can use coconut oil rather than butter ! I will definitely be trying this recipe for the holidays. Thank you for sharing !
I can’t wait to try the carmel corn…it sounds like the “crunchy” kind I like so much (not the soft one that isn’t as yummy!).
I, too am glad for the ‘free’ entry as I am not a Facebook person (maybe someday).
Thanks for all the great info you send out!
Just make sure you keep it airtight after baking, or eat soon after prep, as it will soften if left out.
No more facebook entries after November 3rd, although I will still have pinterest follows as entries. It’s just a tool for me as a blogger to reach out to people. I do always try to include a free entry, because I realize not everyone is on social media.
My aunt used to make the best caramel corn I’d ever tasted. I haven’t had it since I was a little kid. This recipe looks fantastic! I can’t wait to give it a try. 🙂
ZachI love the cornbread reciepe! I lo e good cornbread.
Thank you for the recipe for the caramel corn! It looks wonderful!
Thanks for the caramel corn recipe. My favorite recipe in my cast iron skillet is fried potatoes.