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Our Homemade Caramel Corn is surprisingly easy to make with a caramel sauce that comes together in the microwave! You can be enjoying a fresh batch of caramel corn in just 30 minutes!
When my kids were younger, we’d curl up together with a bowl of homemade caramel corn and watch TV together.
Now that they’re a bit older, and I’m less cool, I’m pretty sure the caramel corn is the only thing drawing them to a night in front of the TV with mom, but I’ll take what I can get!
Not only is this homemade caramel corn a kid magnet, it also makes a great homemade gift to give friends and family. Or pop it on your next cookie tray, filled with our Millionaire Shortbread, Christmas Crack, Christmas Chocolate Chip Cookies, and microwave peanut butter fudge!
You can make this solely in the microwave for a nice, chewy texture, or you can finish it in the oven for a few minutes to get a more crunchy caramel corn.
Whichever you choose, you’re going to love this recipe – and the fact that it’ll bring your family running to spend time with you (and your bowl of caramel corn) is just the icing on the cake.
What We Love About This Recipe:
Microwave: Caramel sauce can be intimidating but this one is made in the microwave to keep things ultra quick and easy! You can’t mess this up.
Customizable: Like it soft and chewy? We got you. Want it a bit crunchy? No problem? In the mood experiment? We’ll share some ideas!
Giftable: Package this up in a cute tin and share it with friends and family this holiday season. Everyone loves a homemade gift.
Homemade Caramel Corn
Ingredients
- 12 cups popped popcorn about 1/2 cup kernels or about 2-3 bags microwave popcorn
- 1 cup peanuts optional
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup
- 1/2 cup butter cubed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon optional
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
- Place popcorn and peanuts (if using) in a large bowl and set aside.
- Add the brown sugar, corn syrup, and butter to a small microwave safe bowl.
- Microwave for 2 more minutes and stir.
- Return to microwave for another 2 minutes. Stir to combine. The mixture should be hot and bubbly.
- Stir in the vanilla, baking soda, and cinnamon (if using). The mixture will get a bit foamy.
- Stir and then pour over the large bowl of popcorn. Mix well to coat popcorn and sprinkle lightly with salt.
- If you want your caramel corn very chewy, go ahead and eat it now. Otherwise, pour caramel corn onto a foil or parchment paper lined baking sheet in a single layer.
- Bake for 5 minutes and then stir and taste. Keep baking and stirring every 5 minutes (up to 20 minutes of baking) until the popcorn is as crunchy as you'd like. It will harden up a bit as it cools.
- Break apart any large clumps and let cool.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Ingredient Notes:
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Popcorn – There are two main varieties of popcorn and both should work well. There is the butterfly type and the mushroom type, both named after how they look. The mushroom variety is what gets used most often for caramel corn you’d buy at the store. We normally use the butterfly type, because that’s what is easiest to find in the microwavable packets. 😉
Peanuts – These are completely optional, but my kids love the crunch of the peanuts with the caramel corn!
Caramel Sauce – This homemade caramel sauce is easy to make in the microwave with a few simple ingredients like butter, corn syrup, and sugar! (Did you know that Karo corn syrup is NOT the same as High Fructose Corn Syrup? It’s 100% glucose – no fructose at all.)
Cinnamon – This is optional but we love to add a little for some extra flavor. Perfect for Fall!
Baking Soda – It will help keep the sugar in the caramel from crystalizing and clumping together.
What Readers are Saying!
“I just made this for my family (to put into their lunch boxes for the week) and I can honestly say that this is THE best caramel popcorn I’ve ever had in my whole life!!! Thank you! This recipe is a keeper!” – Becca
How to Make Caramel Corn Recipe:
Popcorn: To start this easy caramel corn recipe, just pop some corn! You can use microwave if you want, or you can pop it on the stove. Check out Simply Recipes for how to make perfect popcorn.
Caramel: For the caramel sauce you just add butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup to a microwave safe bowl and heat it all up! Stir in some baking soda and vanilla, dump it on your popcorn and stir. Seriously, does it get easier than that?
Bake: You can go ahead and eat your caramel corn as it is, if you like it very chewy and soft. We prefer ours to have a bit of crunch to it, so we take the extra step of baking the caramel corn.
You’ll just bake for 5 minutes, stir, and repeat until the caramel corn is as crunchy as you’d like. It will harden a bit after it cools as well, so don’t bake for more than 20 minutes.
Devour or Store: You can go ahead and break this apart and dig in as soon as your caramel corn has cooled, or you can portion it out how you’d like into zip top bags. It’ll stay fresh for about 2 weeks.
FAQs:
Some people like their caramel corn soft and chewy and some like it hard and crunchy. I prefer it to be more crunchy than chewy, but not so hard that it breaks my teeth. If you like it soft, go ahead and eat it immediately. If you want it a little crunchier, bake it for 10 to 20 minutes depending on how crunchy you want it!
Yes, caramel popcorn will stay fresh for 2 weeks in an airtight container at room temperature.
Karly’s Tips & Tricks!
Popcorn: If you use a microwave popcorn, look for one that’s a bit light on the butter. This isn’t the time for theater style/extra buttery popcorn.
Texture: It’s so easy to make this a chewy caramel corn or a crunchy caramel corn! The longer you bake, the crunchier the caramel corn becomes. Do keep in mind that it will get a bit more crunchy as it cools, as well.
Additions: You can keep it simple and make a standard caramel corn, or you can dress it up by stirring in peanuts or pecans! You can also add in a bit of cinnamon to give it this delicious warmth. Pumpkin pie spice is tasty on this caramel corn for a Fall vibe, too.
linda says
would like recipes that i can print out for micro-pop popper on qvc theysaid you could go on line and print them out
Karly says
Hi Linda,
I don’t have any experience with a micro-pop popper. Good luck in your search!
Needful Things says
My kids have been begging me forever to make caramel corn & I keep putting it off thinking it would turn out to be too labor-intensive. But this recipe has just changed my mind. I am going to make this for them tonight. Dumb question: by 250 degrees do you mean 250F?
Becca says
I just made this for my family (to put into their lunch boxes for the week) and I can honestly say that this is THE best caramel popcorn I’ve ever had in my whole life!!!
Thank you! This recipe is a keeper!
Yene K says
Made a double batch of this last weekend cuz I knew it would go fast…and there are only 2 of us! I’ve made the caramel on the stove in the past, but this is so much easier and requires less effort in the microwave! This is my new permanent caramel corn recipe. Thanks Karly!
Rae says
I made this today. I added pecans (I am allergic to peanuts), and mini-cherry chips for my daughter, and melted almond bark to schfancy it up…IT IS YEMMY, thanks for the recipe!!!!
My daughter (just turned 2) super enjoyed standing in a chair next to me, eating the popcorn – before it got carmeled – watching me make it. So not only do I thank you from me, but thanks from my family who will enjoy the product, and thanks from my baby, who enjoyed the process!
top internet business says
This looks so good! And I agree with Meredith, that some chocolate drizzle would make it perfect.
Meredith Baadte says
What makes this even better is if you pour melted chocolate over it. I like to make a nice layer of dark chocolate and drizzle white chocolate over it….its just SCRUMPTIOUS!
Heather says
This? Is crazy good.
RJC says
Great, easy recipe! takes mere minutes to make! no sure why, but my caramel seemed a bit thicker than it need to be, making it slightly hard to pour out, but it all worked out fine, and it’s a definite repeat! thanks 🙂
Sara says
Read this @ 8:00 and had it made by 8:20! I used dark corn syrup ’cause I didn’t have lite! It. Was. Awesome. BTW, can I adopt your mother in law? Please?
Lisa says
I just had to leave a post after reading through and seeing the comments to you from your mother-in-law! What a sweetie-pie! lol
Again, thank you so much for the simple, easy and most delicious recipe. For the record: I’ve added toasted almonds, pecans and cashews to the mix, but then again, if you knew me, you’d already say I was nuts. *snicker*
Happy New Year!
Mother In-law says
You just keep blowing my mind with your recipes. I just nominated you to cook for Christmas Eve Brunch!
I absolutely love the new look of the website! How cool! I’m proud of you my daughter In-law. You have really made this a cool blog! Oh and I love all the cute things in your blog about my wonderful little grandkids!