Love buffalo wings? Get that same hot, zippy flavor in everything from deviled eggs to enchiladas. And of course: wings.
Copycat Cracker Jacks Caramel Popcorn
- add review
- #14220
Frederick William Rueckheim and his brother Louis created the first Cracker Jack treat in 1896. Their original recipe was a mix of popped popcorn and roasted peanuts held together with molasses.
serves/makes:
ready in:
1-2 hrs
1-2 hrs
25 reviews
2 comments
ingredients
4 cups freshly popped popcorn, lightly salted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
directions
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
Place the popcorn in a large roasting pan.
Combine the sugar, butter, and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until it comes to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes at a boil without stirring.
Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the vanilla and baking soda. Pour the mixture over the popcorn, stirring to coat the popcorn in the caramel.
Place the roasting pan in the oven and bake at 250 degrees F for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the caramel corn to a sheet of waxed paper. Let the popcorn cool. When cool, break the popcorn up into chunks and store in an airtight container.
Optional, add 1 cup of peanuts to the cracker jacks popcorn before stirring in the caramel sauce.
nutrition data
273 calories, 12 grams fat, 44 grams carbohydrates, 0 grams protein per 1/2 cup.
Keeping a can of frozen orange juice concentrate in the freezer means you can make more than just orange juice. Try it in a variety of orange-flavored recipes.
Love the spinach dip at restaurants like TGIFriday's and the Olive Garden? Make it at home with these easy-to-follow copycat recipes.
reviews & comments
July 10, 2020
Awesome. Whoever added oil well thatâs your mistake. You add real butter. And omg its grrrreeet!!! My husband and grown kids loved it. And of course so did I. So itâs not oily if you put in the recipe she wrote. Butter not oil. How simple!
December 14, 2019
Once you have a good system down it is very easy. You have to be really really quick with the sauce. It dries up really fast. The end result is so delicious!!! A cute cellophane bag of treats !!!
September 9, 2014
you will need 4 quarts of pop corn which is equal to about 2 standard sized bags of microwave popcorn popped. Came out great!
October 23, 2013
Wow. This recipe really is perfect. I took the suggestion of another reviewer and used brown rice syrup, which seems much healthier than corn syrup to me. I also added red skinned peanuts and some pecans. Yum.
July 6, 2013
This is a perfect copycat version of cracker jacks!!
November 2, 2012
Thank you so much for the PERFECT cracker jack recipe! I followed the others suggestion and doubled the popcorn. I went a bit overboard on the peanuts, but hey! it that really possible? This recipe is a real keeper
November 30, 2011
This recipe was a HUGE hit with our family! I didn't have peanuts so I used cashews. I've also made it with mixed nuts. It doesn't make it through the night! Talk about gone in 60 seconds! We love this!
October 5, 2011
This recipe may be a little time consuming but if done right is the very best OMG and I highly recommend putting in the Spanish red skin peanuts also but this stuff is better than store bought cracker jacks hands down wow thank you very much for the recipe
July 12, 2011
Delightfully crunchy! As a single person I reduced the recipe from four to two; worked out fairly well. It still made a lot of syrupy sweetness, more than enough to coat the corn, as other users have written. Will make again and use all the willpower I can garner...not to use peanuts. Makes for very dangerous snacking!
December 20, 2010
Loved it! I used more popcorn than the recipe called for - double - and it turned out great. The caramel was still generous.
Isn't this supposed to be 4 QUARTS of popped corn? That's what other similar recipes say, with the same amount of syrup. Is this a typo or not?
November 14, 2010
Warning! Think very carefully before making this recipie! I don't care how much self-control you might think you have, you can't stop eating this stuff as soon as it comes out of the oven. This was my first try at caramel popcorn and it turned out perfect. My only recommendation is to double the amount of popcorn or better yet, double the amount of caramel and quadruple the popcorn 'cause you're going to want more!
October 19, 2010
Great recipe!! my first time making this and they r great. One problem, I took them out 10 min early b/c the caramel was burning but it must be my oven so I'll try less heat next time.
July 18, 2010
We made a half quantity of the recipe and used about 6 cups of air popped popcorn. This gave a good balance between the caramel and the popcorn. Yummy!!!
Drizzle caramel onto popcorn with a spoon, layer-by-layer, to avoid soggy corn. DON'T TRY TO POUR!! (Spoon technique is more fun for the grandkids anyway!). Add nuts for an extra treat. I enjoyed this recipe!
January 3, 2010
I made this last week and already I've made it 3 more times ya can't stop eating it and if you have company it's gone in a flash this is a great recipe and easy to make too thanks
December 15, 2009
i made this recipie (i doubled it)it was great and all all the direction were good but just one thing i subsituted shortening for margarine and it was sooo oil when it ws still hot we poured out a lot of the oil and it was still really oily!! so i dont think that would be a good i dea but otherwise it was great!!
Shortening isn't really a good substitute in this recipe so, yes, it would be too oily if you did that.
December 6, 2009
Tasted great, was easy to make, but the amounts given make WAY TOO MUCH caramel. I popped 10 cups of popcorn and still had caramel left over.
October 8, 2009
This recipe is perfect! Everytime I make it, I have to make copies of the recipe because it is so delicious!
July 20, 2009
I can't tell you how good it was because our whole batch was ruined. We had way, way to much surup and i even doubled the amount of popcorn, and it still came out soaked in surup and mushy. I was really excited about this recipe... GROSS!
March 12, 2009
I love love love this recipe it is so awsome make sure you make 2 batches, i also used more than four cups of popcorn i used probably around 8-10, i reccomend this to everyone!!!!
December 8, 2008
There must be something wrong with the measurements in this recipe. There is waaaay too much caramel for the amount of popcorn. The popcorn just swims in it and pools up under the popcorn when it cools.
December 3, 2007
Delish popcorn! Tastes wonderfull even before it goes in the oven. Not to sweet but not bland. Overall a 5 star recipe!
October 7, 2007
Thanks! This is great!
August 15, 2007
This recipe is excellent. I didn't have corn syrup, so I substituted Barley Malt Syrup (avaiable at health food stores and WHole Foods) and my popcorn came out tasting like the inside of a whopper (minus the chocolate). Yum Yum Yum!
July 18, 2007
This recipe is absolutely fabulous! Very tasty, crunchy, and just sweet enough!
February 27, 2007
This recipe was outstanding! It works like a charm! I made a batch yesterday and I must say, it will be a keeper and I will be using this for gifts and gatherings from now on.... As being a caramel popcorn lover from a child, this is just right....