Bacon Caramel Popcorn

Don’t hate me, but I don’t like baseball. It’s boring. Every so often I’ll play the freakin’ sport, but to just kick back and flip on a game…eh…not my thing. Which is a shame because my family used to have season tickets for two teams, I live in America, and ALL of my friends are into it. Those three factors should have made me into a huge baseball nut, but nope, I’ll pass. However that doesn’t mean ballpark food won’t inspire me slide into the kitchen and to make a home run recipe (ba dump tssh!). Which is exactly what I did. You know peanuts and crackerjacks? Well I updated that that classic snack and made it into bacon caramel popcorn. Mmm mm!

So making caramel corn is pretty easy if you just melt down caramel chews with a little bit of bacon fat. This goopey, sugary syrup gets drizzled over popcorn and crumbled bacon (which adds an unexpected salty twist). Then you lay it out on a baking sheet to toast in the oven. When it cools, the everything gets so crunchy. It literally looks and tastes like you got it at a gourmet baseball game. And yeah, you’ll seriously be shoveling it into your mouth.

I initially made this recipe for a friend’s birthday (the same friend that I mentioned here, here, and here), and was was going to post it last week, but we weren’t able to meet up. So then I waited for the weekend…but both of us were too busy. Sigh. So yeah, since I’m not sure when I’ll get to see her, I figured I’d just put it up and make it for her another day.

Anyway…enjoy the recipe and I promise I’ll be posting more often in May!

8 cups popped popcorn

8 oz caramels

5 strips of bacon

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon water

Salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

Crisp the bacon in a skillet. After they get crispy, remove from pan and place onto a paper towel to absorb the excess grease.

Unwrap the caramels. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the caramels, butter, water, and about a tablespoon of the bacon fat. Melt until smooth, about 4 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Put the popped popcorn in a large bowl. Crumble the bacon over it. Then drizzle the caramel over it. Stir to coat. Pour onto a baking sheet and spread into a single layer.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Remove from oven, slide popcorn onto parchment paper, and cool completely (it will get hard).

Serve and enjoy!