So, who wants caramel corn and chocolate chip cookies?

[MaggieTheCat]

'cuz I have a huge homemade double batch of each. It's D&D tomorrow, and we're going to a new game store -- actually, it's not really new, a few of us have shopped there many times before, we've just never gamed there. They allow outside food, so I thought I'd celebrate by bringing treats for everyone. Man, did each recipe make a lot! My entire table was covered in caramel corn and I almost didn't have room for the cookies!

[BookstoreEscapee]

I DO I DO I DO !!!!

[lupo pazzesco]

CARAMEL CORN!!!


<CHOMP!!!>

[MaggieTheCat]

If anyone wants the caramel corn recipe, I'd be happy to share. It's really easy to make, although a bit time consuming. It took about 2 hours for me to make a double batch yesterday. It also makes a lot! A single batch makes about 6 quarts of caramel corn. I doubled it 'cuz, hey, this is the D&D group I'm feeding...

Also, I have made many, MANY cookies in my life...I've never been able to make soft cookies until recently. The problem is, I'm not ENTIRELY sure what I'm doing different. Ever since I moved to Texas, I can now produce soft cookies. However, I have also been letting my butter get SUPER soft before I mix it, as opposed to only somewhat soft, so I think that's been helping too. Anyway, if you can believe it, I made the Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip cookie recipe for the first time ever last night, and they are soft and delish! Success!

[Teysa]

*Swipes a couple cookies.* I love caramel corn but my teeth have an entirely different opinion.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Where did you live before you moved to Texas? Maybe it's something in the weather...

[MaggieTheCat]

Where did you live before you moved to Texas? Maybe it's something in the weather...

I used to live in northern Wisconsin. Texas is much, much hotter, but it's also been drier this year than Wisconsin normally is.

[tropicsgoddess]

OOoh!!!! I want some!!!

[Becks]

Is there any left for me?

[Jester]

Caramel corn?

CARAMEL?

Two words: hell freakin' yes!

Recipe please! Gimme gimme gimme gimme gimme!

And so it makes a large batch. I have two options: scale down the portions, or make the full batch and bring it in to work to butter up feed my coworkers. Either way, a win-win situation, don'tchya think?

[MaggieTheCat]

You guys are awesome.

The Best Homemade Caramel Corn

First, some hardware:
-1 large roasting pan per batch of caramel corn. If you have a non-disposable one, great. If you don't, I picked a couple disposable aluminum roasting pans at the grocery store for about $2.50 each.
-1 saucepan; at least a 2-quart saucepan for a single batch, 4-quart for a double batch.
-Something to stir with. A wooden spoon works great.
-Parchment paper or freezer paper (enough to cover your kitchen table with)

Software:
-6 quarts of popped popcorn. This is approx. 3/4 to 1 cup unpopped popcorn. You can use microwave, make sure to get some that is plain (no butter or salt.) I am guessing it would take 2-3 bags of microwave popcorn but I made my own popcorn on the stove, so I don't know for sure.
-Non-stick cooking spray

For the sauce:
-1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine
-2 cups brown sugar
-1/2 cup light corn syrup (like Kero white corn syrup)
-1 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp maple extract or (real) maple syrup
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1/2 tsp baking soda

Note: If you don't have maple extract or maple syrup, the recipe will not fail. You can add a little extra vanilla to make up for it. However, the maple in this recipe really adds a nice flavor, so use it if you can.

Directions:
Spray roasting pan with non-stick spray. Pop popcorn and place into roasting pan. Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees.

For the sauce:
Melt all ingredients except the vanilla extract and the baking soda in a saucepan over medium to medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Allow to come to a gentle boil (this will take anywhere from 10-20 minutes depending on how cold your butter is.) Once boiling, boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. After 5 minutes, remove from heat, continue to stir until mixture settles slightly. Add vanilla and baking soda and stir to combine. Pour over the popped popcorn and stir to coat. It will not look like enough sauce at first (it will not completely coat the popcorn at this point) but don't panic, it will even out while it's baking. Place in pre-heated oven and bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes to help coat the popcorn in the sauce.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT INCREASE OVEN TEMPERATURE TO TRY AND REDUCE COOKING TIME. Caramel corn will burn very quickly and very easily, even at 275 degrees. Plus, baking it at a lower temperature for longer will help the caramel sauce to melt more over the popcorn.

Lay parchment/freezer paper over your kitchen table. Once caramel corn is done baking, dump it on your table and spread it out in a single layer, breaking up any big clumps, and allow to cool to room temperature.

Store in air-tight containers. Will keep...well, I dunno. It never lasts more than a few days whenever my mom or I make it.

Enjoy!

[Primer]

Also, I have made many, MANY cookies in my life...I've never been able to make soft cookies until recently. However, I have also been letting my butter get SUPER soft before I mix it, as opposed to only somewhat soft, so I think that's been helping too. Anyway, if you can believe it, I made the Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip cookie recipe for the first time ever last night, and they are soft and delish! Success!

I always melt my butter (no margarine for cooking) in the microwave, and refrigerate the dough between batches. Soft and gooey every time!

I started refrigerating the dough when I lived in an apartment and had a really bad roach problem.

I also let the cookies cool on the pan for a few minutes before I try to move them to the cooling rack so they don't tear.

[lupo pazzesco]

Caramel corn?

CARAMEL?

Two words: hell freakin' yes!

Pssst! That's three words....

[Jester]

So I am unclear, due to the way you worded it....you bake the corn at 275 then? Just want to make sure I don't burn the first batch, you see.

Pssst! That's three words....

I know. That's the joke.

[MaggieTheCat]

So I am unclear, due to the way you worded it....you bake the corn at 275 then? Just want to make sure I don't burn the first batch, you see.

Bake it at 250 degrees. Sorry for the confusion. I meant, don't increase the temperature, even to 275, 'cuz it could burn easily. I mentioned that because I have seen other caramel corn recipes that say you can bake it for shorter times at higher temperatures (for example, bake it at 275 for 30 minutes) but the likelihood of it burning is a lot more if you do this.

So, anyway, bake it for 1 hour at 250 degrees.