Caramel Corn

If not for Halloween, when would we eat things that are sweet and sticky and bound to rot our teeth?
When you make this caramel corn...the answer might just change to every day.


I hope this recipe finds you in time.  It's Saturday evening, and you're probably preparing the final touches on your costume and getting ready to go to a fun Halloween party, or host one of your own.  But it's still not technically Halloween, so you have one more day to make this AMAZING caramel corn...and make everyone around you very, very happy.

Luckily, you probably have all of the ingredients for this on hand already.  It takes almost no effort to prepare, and is an instant hit.  The unique thing about this recipe is that once you dump the caramel sauce all over your popcorn, you bake it in the oven for an hour.  Orangette says "In the oven, the caramel, which had started to harden as you stirred it into the popcorn, gets a chance to soften again. You can now stir it into the popcorn more easily and evenly. The whole, gooey mess will crisp spectacularly as it cools, and the kitchen will smell outrageous."

She wasn't kidding.  I couldn't even bring myself to let it bake for the full hour.  I made it to 20 minutes, did the first stir, and let it sit in the oven another 10 minutes before I couldn't bear how amazing my kitchen smelled, and how I had to have that caramel corn now. (I ate it right then and there...without allowing it to cool as recommended...and it was still INCREDIBLE).

Caramel Corn
adapted from Orangette

Orangette's recipe notes:

• Be sure to have a whisk and a rubber spatula close at hand. You’ll need them both on short notice.
• Before you begin cooking the caramel, measure out the baking soda and the vanilla, and set aside in small bowls. You won’t have time to do it later.
• Do not try to make this recipe without a candy thermometer.

Ingredients

• 1 (3½-ounce) package plain (unbuttered natural flavor) microwave popcorn, or about 10 cups fresh popcorn popped by any method, lightly salted
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• ¼ cup light corn syrup
• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 250°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. If using microwave popcorn, pop the popcorn according to the package instructions. Coat a large mixing bowl with nonstick cooking spray, and dump the popcorn into the bowl, taking care to pick out and discard any unpopped kernels.
3. In a medium saucepan, whisk together the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, salt, and 2 tablespoons of water. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.
   
   
   
4. Continue to simmer, whisking often, until the mixture reads 250°F on a candy thermometer, about 3 to 4 minutes.

5. Immediately remove the pan from the heat, and whisk in the baking soda and vanilla.
6. Quickly pour the hot caramel over the popcorn. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the caramel into the popcorn, taking care to distribute it as evenly as you can.

7. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour, stirring and turning the popcorn with a spatula every 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, and place on a cooling rack for 20 minutes. Gently break up the popcorn, and serve.

8. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days (or thereabouts).

Make Your Own Girl Scout Cookies (Samoas!)

I know what you're thinking - Girl Scout cookies should not be tampered with. These little colorful boxes of perfection couldn't possibly be improved upon...could they? Plus, it's not even Girl Scout Cookie Season! (January - March...but who's counting?)

But let me tell you - if you haven't learned enough already that things made at home are much better than store-bought, then get ready for Samoas. Or as I have always called them, Caramel deLites (it depends on where you live, apparently, what they are named...but they are the same delicious cookie). Caramel, chocolate, coconut and cookie - does it get any better?

This was definitely a time consuming cookie. A bit ambitious for a Tuesday night after soccer practice, but Wednesday was my company team's final game, and I wanted to bring something to help celebrate. So be prepared to spend a good couple of hours cutting out cookies, melting caramel and chocolate, and making delicious little replicas of the cookies we all know and love, except better because you made them! Just take your time and have fun with them - the results are worth it!

My roommate, upon trying the cookie, said "those are the cookies that God eats." Is there a better compliment than that? Come Girl Scout Cookie Season, it would be fun to do a side-by-side taste test... I will have to enlist my mom - Caramel deLites are her favorite!

Samoas (aka Caramel deLites)

Adapted from Baking Bites

Cookies

• 1 c. butter, softened
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 c. flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• up to 2 tbsp milk (I didn't actually need to add milk to my dough)

Preheat oven to 350 deg F.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Then mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk, adding in the milk only as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky (it’s possible you might not need to add milk at all, I didn't). The dough should come together into a soft ball. Add in a bit of extra flour if your dough is sticky.

Roll the dough (working in two or three batches) out between pieces of wax or parchment paper to about 1/4-inch thickness (or slightly less) and use a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds (surprisingly, I don't actually own any cookie cutters! I used a lid to a jar of honey, and it worked perfectly.) Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and use a knife, or the end of a wide straw (a boba straw was great for this), to cut a smaller center hole. Repeat until the dough is all used (it's okay to re-roll, this dough is very forgiving (read: buttery)).

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are very lightly browned.

Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet to firm then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Topping

• 3 c. sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
• 11 oz chewy caramels (I say 11 oz because I got two 5.5 oz bags of Werther's Chewy Caramels)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp milk
• 16 oz semisweet or dark chocolate (I used one whole bag of chocolate chips just for the dipping, and then had to run out and get another bag to top the cookies! I used half of the new bag for the topping)

Preheat oven to 300 deg F.

Spread coconut evenly on a baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.

Using the spatula or a small spoon, spread topping on cooled cookies, using about 2-3 tsp per cookie. Reheat caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if it gets too firm to work with. [NOTE: this is tricky - the caramel needs to be warm to work with, but it will be hot out of the microwave, so BE CAREFUL. I definitely burned my fingers spreading the caramel mixture on these cookies.]

While topping sets, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle finished cookies with chocolate.

Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes about 3 1/2-4 dozen cookies.

Also, if you want recipes for more Girl Scout Cookies, you should check these out:

Thin Mints

Do-Si-Dos (aka Peanut Butter Sandwiches)

Tagalongs (aka Peanut Butter Patties)