Spicy Caramel Popcorn
Looking for an extra special, but super easy appetizer for your next gathering? Spicy Caramel Popcorn to the rescue! It’s like regular caramel corn, but with a hint of spice from cayenne pepper. The balance of sweet and spicy is seriously good. And addicting.
Servings: 10
Calories: 347kcal
Ingredients
- 20 cup air-popped popcorn (about ¾ cup unpopped popcorn)
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoon butter
- ½ cup water
- 1 ½ tablespoon salt
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Whisk the baking soda and cayenne pepper in a bowl. Set aside.
- Coat two rubber spatulas and a large bowl with cooking spray. Add your popped corn to the bowl and set aside.
- Set out two large baking sheets. You’ll use these after you’ve mixed the caramel sauce and popcorn together.
- Combine the sugar, butter, salt, and ½ cup water in a medium saucepan. Cook over high heat, without stirring, until the mixture becomes a light caramel color, or until the sauce reads 280 on a candy thermometer. (This should take around 12 minutes.)
- Remove from heat, add the cayenne/baking soda mixture, and stir well. The mixture should start to bubble up.
- Quickly pour the caramel mixture over the popcorn. Quickly mix the popcorn and spicy caramel mixture together with the prepared spatulas until the popcorn kernels are well coated.
- Spread the popcorn onto the baking sheets and quickly separate the popcorn clusters into smaller pieces while still warm (if you wait until they are cooled it will be harder to separate).
- Cool to room temperature and serve. Store leftovers (if there are any!) in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
Nutrition
Calories: 347kcal | Carbohydrates: 77g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 9mg | Sodium: 1241mg | Potassium: 78mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 60g | Vitamin A: 210IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 1mg
