Caramel Popcorn
Soft Caramel Popcorn is a soft, gooey buttery caramel popcorn that is a delicious treat and addicting! A great snack or dessert that is made with simple ingredients and no candy thermometer.
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HOMEMADE CARAMEL CORN RECIPE
I’ve eaten this caramel corn more times than I can remember. It’s soft, gooey, and addicting. This tried and true recipe comes from a family friend, Tiffany Thornton. I don’t know if I should thank her or spank her for introducing us to it! I used to enjoy her famous caramel corn often when we visited my husband’s family in Denver, but now that my in-laws have moved I get to make it at home.
In the Denney family, my sister-in-law Kim is our resident expert at making Tiffany’s popcorn. Since it’s so gooey, once you grab a handful…you’re committed. I remember watching a movie with my husband’s family and laughing so hard as we glanced at each other and we were all holding up a “claw” (our designated popcorn hand) in the dark.
This is a Denney family favorite and makes an appearance at family movie nights and holidays! The best thing is you can make this ahead of time and it makes a huge batch.
INGREDIENTS
- POPCORN – You can pop popcorn any way you want. Any popped corn will do. Air-popped popcorn, a bag of microwave popcorn, stovetop popcorn, or brown paper bag popped corn. Make sure to get all the unpopped kernels out or you could hurt your tooth.
- SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK
- LIGHT CORN SYRUP
- LIGHT BROWN SUGAR
- BUTTER
HOW TO MAKE CARAMEL CORN
- In a large saucepan melt together the butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup.
- Bring mixture to a rolling boil. Once it comes to a boil, reduce to medium heat and add the can of sweetened condensed milk.
- With the rubber spatula, stir constantly for 4-5 minutes scraping the sides and especially the bottom of the pan to prevent any burning. The longer you cook it the firmer it will be. If you like it on the softer side, cook it closer to 4 minutes.
- Pour over popcorn in a large bowl and stir well. Store leftovers in an airtight container.
SOFT VS. CRUNCHY CARAMEL CORN
TIPS TO MAKING THIS SUCCESSFULLY
- Use the largest bowl you have to toss the popcorn with the homemade caramel sauce.
- A good heavy saucepan and a high quality rubber spatula really make a difference when making this recipe. It helps heat it evenly.
- Add a sprinkle of sea salt or kosher salt to bring out the flavors.
OTHER POPCORN RECIPES
- Peanut Butter Popcorn
- Cinnabon Popcorn
- Candy Cane Popcorn
- White Chocolate Frito Popcorn
- Gingerbread Caramel Popcorn
Ingredients
- about 20 cups microwave or air popped popcorn, popped
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 1 (14 ounce can) sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
- Pop popcorn according to package directions and make sure you get rid of any unpopped kernels. This seems like a lot of popcorn but trust me it will get eaten! Place popcorn in a large bowl...larger than you think you will need.
- In a large saucepan melt together the butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup. Bring mixture to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, reduce to medium heat and add the can of sweetened condensed milk. With the rubber spatula, stir constantly for 4-5 minutes scraping the sides and especially the bottom of the pan to prevent any burning. The longer you cook it the firmer it will be. If you like it on the softer side, cook it closer to 4 minutes.
- Pour caramel over popcorn and stir until coated. This will take a lot of stirring to get it all incorporated. It's great warm or at room temperature. Feel free to add in M&Ms, nuts, or drizzle it with chocolate. I like it plain and classic. Enjoy!
Notes
- Use the largest bowl you have to toss the popcorn with the homemade caramel sauce.
- A good heavy saucepan and a high quality rubber spatula really make a difference when making this recipe. It helps heat it evenly.
- Add a sprinkle of sea salt or kosher salt to bring out the flavors.
Pretty awesome but didn’t have a Carmel taste. Maybe I did something wrong??
Maybe you didn’t cook the sugar mixture long enough?
Tip for gooey popcorn, my mom always coated her hands in butter, not a lot! before she formed the balls, doesn’t change the taste and it keeps them from sticking to your bag or box.
Great tip!
Can I make this and put in a bag? What’s the shelve life?
It does tend to get soggy after a day.
Can’t wait to make them!
Can this me made a day ahead?
Yes. Just make sure you boil the mixture on the early end (less time) so it stays soft.
Is it too gooey to put in bags to give as gifts?
Yes, it’s pretty gooey. If you had a nonstick box maybe?
So dang good!
Thank you!
All so beautiful please keep me up dated on the latest pop corn recipe
Why is it 22 hours prep time??
Sorry. It’s a bug in the recipe card.
would it be possible to color it pink for a baby shower? I’d like to try this it looks so good.
I have not tried it so I’m not sure!
I want to make this for my Halloween party and am thinking of making them into mini popcorn balls with a pretzel rod as an edible stick. Is the popcorn ball going to hold it’s shape or is it too gooey?
It’s probably too gooey to be honest.
Best caramel popcorn ever!! I can’t stop eating it and it’s supposed to be for gift baskets!! Way to go!! A++
I know! It’s so addicting.
Just made this and it was perfect! I used three cups of kernels since I use an air popper.
This is definitely a keeper, thank you!
Pro Tip: Do this with the butter flavored puff corn instead! Same taste not a single kernnel or skin.
Wow it would be hard to stop once you started eating this popcorn!
Just tried this. I halved the recipe and it worked out perfectly. Very tasty. Thank you so much!
QWxMLu I appreciate you sharing this article.Thanks Again. Much obliged.
Just made this, excellent! Good taste, texture and chewiness, it is good alright!. Thanks!
Awesome and easy recipe! I searched all over and by far this is the best recipe. The caramel popcorn is yummy!
This needs pretzels and m&ms. Or just pretzel m&ms! Do you think you could add salt to the caramel? I bet thar would be super yummy.
Also the way we make microwave popcorn at home is also a pinterest trick. Just kernels in a brown paper bag! My four year old loves having his own little special bag of popcorn. And he refuses to eat it without ranch seasoning. Funny thing is he doesn’t know he is getting a healthy whole grain snack! (I won’t tell if you won’t tell!! *winks)
Traditionally at Christmas my mom and I always make almond bark treats. Our favorite is covered popcorn! We play with adding roasted peanuts and broken up pretzels and it’s so delicious we can hardly stay out of it until the chocolate dries lol I just adore sweet and salty things!! Can’t wait to try this popcorn. Thanks Christy!
@Jessica,
Great question. Use a 14 ounce can!
What size of can for the sweetened condensed milk??
I madethis and am featuring it on my blog today! Thanks for sharing your tasty recipes! 🙂
i just made this and, um, ate most of it by myself. love it! thanks for another awesome recipe!
I laughed out loud when you talked about the “claw”! I have this same recipe, and we love it, but yes the “claw” is real, haha.
This sounds divine!
Amazing!!
Oh dear. This looks right up my alley. I’m in sooo much trouble now! 😉
Wow! I’ve been wanting to make caramel corn and definitely bookmarking this to give it a try! Beautiful photos, too!
That looks silly delicious!
Mary xx
Delightful Bitefuls!
Yes, Kim says calorie free!
(and the internal exclamations of joy totally drown out the internal voice of guilt that tries to make you stop)
This looks so good and like I probably couldn’t stop eating it! I’d love for you to submit this to the M&T Spotlight at http://www.makeandtakes.com/spotlight. We’re also featuring cookies this week so if you have any great cookie recipes you can submit those too!
we love finding new ways to make popcorn, thanks!
I should know by now never to check your site before I eat breakfast! Now instead of the slimfast I should be having, I want something ooey and gooey! This looks so good!
oh wow! I just made a version of caramel corn yesterday that I am going to post, but if I had seen this first I would have totally used this recipe! Sweetened condensed milk?! Awesome!
Kim says it’s also calorie free???
Caramel corn is so darn good. I’ve never made it myself, but have always wanted to try. Thanks for the recipe!
LOVE caramel corn. Been trying to convince the hubs to let me try it for a while, but the darn diets (and lack of willpower) make this dangerous to have in the house!
This looks dangerously addictive.
Kim also says that it is worth EVERY bit of effort to pick out all of the un-popped kernels (or grannies, as I call them). Seriously, worth EVERY effort!
This looks DEEEEVINE!!! I love my caramel corn soft and gooey:)