No HFCS Caramel Corn

Summer reminds me of swimming for endless hours at my Gramma and Grandpa's pool, climbing their cherry tree and eating cherries until I thought I would explode, jumping on the trampoline and sleeping out under the stars.  But, summer wouldn't have been summer without Gramma's famous caramel popcorn.  When I got married that was one of the things I asked Gramma for, her caramel corn recipe.  Well, Gramma gave me her recipe and this is about how I remember it, "Pop your corn and then in a sauce pan add some Karo Syrup and a little of this, some of that, a sprinkle of this and a dash of that, mix it together and shape into popcorn balls.  That's the way Gramma cooked, "a little of this and a little of that."  That's  mostly how I do it too! But, I'm sad to say I never really made her delicious popcorn. 

One of the reasons was because the first ingredient I could remember was Karo Syrup.  HFCS is not something that I keep in my kitchen and not something I want to use to make a deliciously sweet treat.

Each year as summer rolls around and we go swimming, camping and picnicing in the park I wish I had a batch of caramel corn to take with us.  Well, this weekend that is just what I did.  By the way, caramel popcorn and American Fork canyon go great together!

Making caramel popcorn without High Fructose Corn Syrup (AKA: Karo Syrup) probably would have baffled my Gramma's mind...but that's what I had to do!

Careful it's delicious!  Be sure to make it when your family is around otherwise they won't even know it ever existed, trust me I almost ate the whole batch!

Caramel Popcorn Gramma would be proud of:

Air pop 2 batches of popcorn- my popper uses 1/2 cup dry kernels per batch

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sucanat

1/4 cup honey

2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

In a sauce pan over medium heat add butter and sucanat, melt together, stirring constantly.

Stir in honey and vanilla and allow to come to a boil, boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat, add baking soda and stir for 2 minutes.  Add salt and stir until well combined.

Drizzle over popper corn and gently toss with a rubber spatula until nicely coated.

Shape into balls, be careful though it's still hot or pour out onto a baking sheet and allow to cool.