October was a very special month for one of my daughters. To celebrate we had lots of friends and family over and had some delicious food, including this popcorn bar--after all, did you know that October is Popcorn Month. Everybody loved it, including me. It was so easy to put together in advance so I wasn't rushing around at the time of her celebration. My wonderful sister Emily helped me decorate it and we served Cinnamon, Original (butter/salt), Peppermint, Cinnabon, and Gingerbread Caramel. They were absolutely delicious! First I am going to share the Cinnabon recipe because it was the #1 favorite. A note: make sure you have somewhere to take it!
12 c. popped popcorn (about 1/2 cup unpopped)
1 c. brown sugar
3/4 t. cinnamon
1/4 c. corn syrup
1/2 c. soft butter
1t. vanilla
1/2 t. baking soda
White chocolate (about 4 oz)
1. Place popcorn in large bowl and set aside. (**To get rid of all the unpopped kernels, place a grid cooling rack over your bowl of popcorn. Invert it and shake. The kernels will all fall through the holes but the popcorn won't fit. It works great!**)
2. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a large glass bowl. Mix well. Add butter and corn syrup. Microwave on high for 30 seconds; stir to combine. Return to microwave and heat for 2 more minutes. Remove and stir. Microwave for 2 more minutes. Stir in vanilla and baking soda. Mixture will foam. Pour caramel mixture over popcorn and stir till everything is well coated. Line a jelly roll pan with foil and spray with non-stick spray. Pour popcorn onto foil. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Melt white chocolate and drizzle with a fork over popcorn mixture. When chocolate is set and popcorn is cool, break into chunks. Enjoy!
