Caramel Puff Corn

This stuff is seriously addictive, and you'll either love me or hate me for sharing the recipe. Many batches were made over the holidays, and they disappeared so quickly there was barely time to take a photo. It's sweet, salty, buttery, crunchy, ridiculously easy to whip up and even easier to eat. And eat. And eat.

Did you notice that there are no popcorn hulls? No hard kernels or bits to get stuck in your teeth either. That's because it starts with a bag of butter flavored Puffcorn,  a ready made snack food you can buy in the potato chip aisle. I used Chester's Puffcorn, but there are are other brands available that come in different sized bags. Thank you Vicki Bensinger, for introducing me to this irresistible confection!

The caramel corn may be good, but it doesn't hold a candle to this sweet little bundle! I braved the cold of Chicago last week to snuggle with my brand new granddaughter. Isn't she precious? I hope one day she'll love to bake with me as much as my sweet grandson does. I miss them both!

Caramel Puff Corn
Recipe from here, here, and here!

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) butter (no substitutes!)
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup light Karo syrup
1 tsp. baking soda
approx. 8 oz. BUTTER flavored Puff Corn (I could only find Puff Corn in 3.5 oz. bags. I used two bags of Chester's Puff Corn. You could use three bags to get a bigger batch with a lighter caramel coating.)
***If you have a hard time finding Butter flavored Puff Corn, you can use the Snack Finder here to find Chester's Puff Corn in your area. 


Directions
Empty puff corn from bags into large buttered roasting pan. Set aside.
In a 2 qt. saucepan stir together butter, sugar and syrup.
Using medium heat, bring to boil. Boil 2 minutes stirring constantly.
Add baking soda. Mixture will bubble up. Stir and remove from heat.
Pour caramel mixture over puff corn in roaster. Stir until puff corn is coated.
Bake in 250F oven for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to distribute caramel evenly over puff corn.
Working quickly, turn out onto parchment and separate puffs while they cool. Store in an airtight container. Try not to eat it all before it gets into the container! :)