The Best Caramel Corn Recipe Ever

The Best Caramel Corn Ever

I was looking for recipes for gluten free snacks to take to a party.  A good friend's mother has Celiac disease.  I don't know a lot about that except that she absolutely cannot have any foods containing gluten.  Not even a smidgen.  There's a great blog called The Gluten Free Girl and the Chef with hundreds of terrific gluten free recipes but I need something easy and I needed it NOW!

So I Googled gluten free snacks and this recipe came up from an  About.com contributor.  It looked easy; I had everything I needed to make it and I thought it was worth a shot.  Well, let me tell you...it was a huge hit.  I mean, it's so darned delicious that it's addicting.  I'm not kidding.

I've made a ton of it since then and we've put some of it in packages that we've mailed.  It's perfect for sending through the mail because it's so light weight.  Anyway, here's the recipe:

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

5 quarts fresh popcorn
1/2 cup agave syrup OR light corn syrup
2 cups brown sugar
2 sticks (1 cup) butter
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 250°

1. Pop 5 quarts of popcorn and place in a large roasting pan.
2. Put butter, sugar, agave syrup OR corn syrup and cream of tartar in a large pan. Over medium heat, melt the mixture, stirring to prevent burning.
3. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
4. Add vanilla and baking soda and stir to mix.
5. Carefully pour this mixture over the popcorn. Gently stir to thoroughly coat the popcorn.
6. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
7. Remove and pour on a large baking sheet to cool. Use a spatula to separate the warm clumps.

To freeze. Cool caramel corn completely. Seal tightly in freezer bags. Bring to room temperature to serve.

Gluten Free Reminder: Always make sure your work surfaces, utensils, pans and tools are free of gluten. Always read product labels. Manufacturers can change product formulations without notice. When in doubt, do not buy or use a product before contacting the manufacturer for verification that the product is free of gluten.