Nickel Free Caramel Popcorn

Today I am going to a potluck. My favorite dish to bring to any event is zucchini bread! However, it’s starting to get really hot and I live in a place without an air conditioning. So I decided I’d rather cook something quick on the stove. Caramel popcorn is the perfect quick and easy dessert. My mother always doubled the recipe. I like to keep it in this ratio, as it still creates a large dessert serving.

Recipe:

2-3 cups of popped popcorn

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons honey

½ half cup of brown sugar

This quick and easy recipe only has 4 ingredients and 4 steps. I used all ceramic and rubber cooking tools to ensure no nickel is leached into the dish from the cookware.

First pop the popcorn. I pop all my popcorn on the stove in a ceramic pot. Make sure you use a pot with a handle, as you will have to shake the pot when the popcorn gets popping! I coat the bottom of the pot with olive oil (probably 1-2 tablespoons). Then I pour the popcorn kernels into the pot and put the temperature on medium high and place the lid on top of the pot. Within 3-5 minutes the pot heats up and coats the kernels in oil. When this occurs I begin to shake the pot back and forth over the stove burner from side to side. This ensures you don’t burn the popcorn while it is popping. All of the popped kernels will begin to fill the pot under the lid. Now you’ve popped all your popcorn. Take it off the stove and place it in a large bowl.

Second make the caramel sauce.  The first thing I do is melt the butter in another ceramic sauce pan on medium. I use a rubber spatula to help melt the butter. Then I added the brown sugar and honey. My mother’s recipe calls for dark corn syrup. Not using corn syrup as it’s a terrible ingredient and usually it contains hydrogenated soybean oil. So instead I substituted honey. The honey also gives the corn syrup a nice sweeter taste. Once all the caramel sauce ingredients are melted together, I put a lid on the pan for it to heat up. The mixture should quickly begin to thin and boil. That’s when it’s perfect to take off the stove and immediately pour over the popcorn!

Third pour the caramel sauce slowly over the popcorn. I used the rubber spatula to mix the heated caramel sauce throughout the popcorn. You’ll want to mix the popcorn using the spatula (as it will be hot) so that the sauce covers it all, including the popcorn at the bottom of the bowl. Going slowly is key, but you don’t want to do it too slowly that the caramel hardens.

Finally wait for the caramel popcorn to cool and enjoy!