This Gingerbread Caramel Popcorn is a crunchy popcorn baked with gingerbread spices and drizzled with almond bark. If you’re looking for neighbor gifts this is a beautiful treat!
Gingerbread Caramel Popcorn - a crunchy popcorn with festive holiday flavors and drizzled with almond bark. A great neighbor gift for Christmas! the-girl-who-ate-everything.comMy husband loathes family pictures. I mean really detests them. It does suck the life out of you trying to get five kids looking at the camera and smiling. We got our pictures done nice and early in July.

But then…the photographer notified us that she accidentally deleted our pictures from her memory card while preparing for a wedding. You should have seen my husband’s face when I told him.

So…a couple of weeks ago we had our pictures taken again by another photographer. Things were going well – our kids were actually cooperating and keeping their clothes on (that’s something we).

But then the photographer kept pointing to me, shimmying her shoulders and shaking her hands motioning me to loosen up.

You look really tense. You…you need to just relax. Deep breaths.”

We wandered around the park doing different poses and every time she repeated it.

Towards the end of our session my husband came up behind me, rubbed my shoulders, and whispered in my ear with a smirk, “Someone’s really tense today.”

Now I have a complex. I’m Chandler from Friends. I know you know that episode. Every time I pose I’m totally overthinking it, trying not to smile to hard. Ugh.
gingerbread-popcornIf you love gingerbread, you’ll love this popcorn. You want to bring your gingerbread mixture to a full boil and then set your timer for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in your baking soda which will make it all foamy.Gingerbread Caramel Popcorn - a crunchy popcorn with festive holiday flavors and drizzled with almond bark. A great neighbor gift for Christmas! the-girl-who-ate-everything.comPour it over your popped popcorn.Gingerbread Caramel Popcorn - a crunchy popcorn with festive holiday flavors and drizzled with almond bark. A great neighbor gift for Christmas! the-girl-who-ate-everything.comStir it as well as you can. While it bakes the mixture will get thinner and you will be able to completely coat the popcorn.Gingerbread Caramel Popcorn - a crunchy popcorn with festive holiday flavors and drizzled with almond bark. A great neighbor gift for Christmas! the-girl-who-ate-everything.comHere it is halfway through the baking time. It’s key to bake it slow and low so that you get that nice crispy popcorn in the end.Gingerbread Caramel Popcorn - a crunchy popcorn with festive holiday flavors and drizzled with almond bark. A great neighbor gift for Christmas! the-girl-who-ate-everything.comI added a drizzle of melted almond bark. I felt like it made it look fancier and I like the flavor that it adds.Gingerbread Caramel Popcorn - a crunchy popcorn with festive holiday flavors and drizzled with almond bark. A great neighbor gift for Christmas! the-girl-who-ate-everything.comOnce it’s set, break it into pieces and enjoy!

Gingerbread Popcorn -

Gingerbread Caramel Popcorn

5 from 2 votes
This Gingerbread Caramel Popcorn is a crunchy popcorn baked with gingerbread spices and drizzled with almond bark. If you're looking for neighbor gifts this is a beautiful treat!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 16 servings

Ingredients

  • 15 cups popped popcorn
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter
  • 2 cups light brown sugar, packed
  • 1/4 cup light corn syrup
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 1 scant tablespoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 4 ounces almond bark

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
  • Divide popped popcorn equally between 2 lightly greased 13x9 baking pans or bigger pans.
  • Combine salt, butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, molasses, ginger and cinnamon in a large heavy saucepan or pot. Bring heat up to medium high until it comes to a full boil (foamy). I used a pot/pan with high sides because the mixture will boil up and you don't want it to spill.
  • Boil for 3 minutes after mixture comes to a full boil then remove from heat.
  • Stir in baking soda. Mixture will foam up.
  • Pour over popcorn in prepared pans and toss to coat. You will continue to stir and coat as it bakes so don't worry if it's not completely covered. Make sure popcorn is in a single layer as much as you can.
  • Bake for 45-60 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Don't over bake or the mixture can burn. The popcorn will still appear soft while hot but will turn crisp as it cools.
  • Cool completely. Melt almond bark according to package directions. Drizzle over cooled popcorn. You can put it in a ziploc bag and snip the corner off for more controlled drizzling or just do it with a fork. Wait for the drizzle to set or you can speed this up by popping it in the fridge for a couple of minutes. Break into pieces and enjoy. You can place it in clear plastic cones, wrap with a ribbon, and give away!

Notes

Source: adapted from Food.com
Cuisine: American
Course: Dessert
Gingerbread Caramel Popcorn - a crunchy popcorn with festive holiday flavors and drizzled with almond bark. A great neighbor gift for Christmas! the-girl-who-ate-everything.com