Hulless Carmel Corn

Hulless Carmel is on my honored "Favorite Recipes" board on Pinterest. It is a twist off of my Nan's recipe. I can remember her making carmel corn my entire childhood. I vividly recall someone would get the "carmel corn bowl" out, someone would pop the popcorn in the Whirley-Pop popcorn popper (Can you smell it? There really is no other way to pop great popcorn!) and someone would begin making the carmel. The family fun would begin the moment the baking soda was sprinkled into the boiling hot carmel and the carmel would come screaming to the top of the sauce pan. It was all giggles getting the carmel to the carmel corn bowl and pouring it over the fresh popcorn. The adults, my big brother or older cousins would stir the carmel and popcorn to coat each piece of popcorn. As the carmel began to cool, this became a chore (a chore indeed worth every single ounce of effort). With my family, however, chores somehow became entertaining- still productive, yet always entertaining. My Dad still prefers a large bowl and stirring method. Since I do not have an "official carmel corn bowl", and I'm all about less dirty dishes, I use a (clean) brown paper bag to coat my popcorn. Yes... A brown paper bag. I keep a special stash for making carmel corn.

You will need:

3 qt sauce pan

Measuring cups and spoon

A lg spoon (plastic or wooden)

A brown paper bag

Lg pan

Storage container

Ingredients:

2-7.5 oz bags of hulless popcorn

2 sticks (1 c.) Butter or margarine

2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. Karo syrup*

1 t. vanilla*

1/2 t. baking soda*

* not present on the day the photo was taken

Place the two bags of hulless popcorn into your brown paper bag and set aside (I find it easier to place mine on the kitchen floor so I can see where I am pouring the carmel.)

Preheat oven to 200*.

Over medium heat, melt 2 sticks (1 c.) butter or margarine, 2 c. brown sugar, 1/2 c. karo syrup, I omit salt from my recipe because hulless popcorn is lightly salted.

Bring the ingredients to a low boil. Stir this boiling mixture for about 5 minutes.

Remove pan from the heat. Add 1 t. vanilla and 1/2 t. baking soda, use caution and be prepared for the carmel to rise quickly.

Pour carmel over the hulless popcorn.

Roll the brown paper bag down a few times and begin shaking and rotate the bag so the carmel will completely cover all of the hulless popcorn.

Optional;  Pour the carmel corn onto a large baking pan, I do this in two batches to avoid losing carmel corn all over the kitchen. Place the pan of carmel corn in the oven, turning every 10-15 minutes for about 30-45 minutes.

Cool and store in an airtight container.

ENJOY!!! :)