Jenny's Harvest Popcorn Mix

My dear friend jenny shared this recipe with me years ago. I have made it many times over the years and it is always a big hit. This is great for football watching and halloween parties. It is a caramel popcorn with hints of baking spices. Unless you are an experienced caramel corn maker (and even if you are), i highly recommend using a candy thermometer with this recipe. It is not a hard recipe, but you do have to pay attention and have everything ready to go before you start.

Steps

First , freshly pop your popcorn and measure out 3 quarts , then sift through your popcorn to remove any unpopped kernels.

Make sure you have a large shallow sheet pan handy and you may wish to line it with foil or parchment paper.

Preheat oven to 250f.

In a very large bowl , mix together the popcorn , dried apples , raisins , and nuts.

Set aside.

Combine brown sugar , butter , corn syrup , and salt in a 2 quart size saucepan.

Cook over medium heat , stirring until the sugar dissolves.

Continue to boil to the firm ball stage , about 5 minutes.

Do not overcook !.

Remove from heat and stir in the spices and the baking soda.

Pour hot caramel over the popcorn mixture and stir quickly to coat.

Spread popcorn mixture evenly on your pan.

Bake at 250 f for 45-50 minutes , stirring every 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

I often leave out apples , but you can also use other dried fruits if you desire such as dried cranberries or apricots.

Just make sure.

Ingredients

popped popcorn, dried apple, raisins, peanuts, brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, salt, pumpkin pie spice, ground ginger, ground allspice, baking soda