Cinnamon Caramel Corn with Pecans & White Chocolate {AKA Cinnamon Bun Popcorn!}

So it's Thursday, but I thought it was only fair to post this recipe today since people in Utah get to see me cook it on TV! If you want to catch it, my (very short-really, don't blink or you'll miss it) segment will air Thursday Sept. 17th some time between 11am-12. I'll do my best to avoid being a gigantic disappointment. If any of you imagine me in your head to look like Heidi Klum with spatula in hand, then do me a favor and don't watch. I'd like to preserve at least some of those metal images. However, if you'd like a good laugh, there's an extremely high chance that I'll do something ridiculously klutzy on live television (like spill boiling sugar on my already burnt hand or drop a cuss word in Zion or something).

For everyone else--here's what we're cookin' up today.

Oh yeah, it's really good. It's a variation of this regular caramel corn, but with all of the warm cinnamon-y goodness of fall. (Hmm...warm cinnamon-y goodness appears to be our theme this week). When it bakes, the pecans get toasted and the creamy white chocolate just makes it food-gasmic. Whip this up for all of the fall TV premiers this week (by the way, it's not even funny how excited I am for those). (Hey, do you think I could use any more parenthesis in this post??)

*note: there are a few minor changes to this recipe as compared to the recipe on KSL. They're both fine, I just removed the salt and added a bit more white chocolate in this version.

Cinnamon Caramel Corn with Pecans & White Chocolate

{AKA Cinnamon Bun Popcorn!}
Recipe by Our Best Bites

print recipe text only

12 C popped popcorn (about 1/2 C kernels)*
1 C roughly chopped pecans
1 C brown sugar
3/4 t cinnamon
1/4 C Karo syrup (or honey makes a good substitution)
1 stick real butter (1/2 C)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
3 squares almond bark

*You can use air popped or microwave popcorn. If using microwave, anything works, but I prefer a "natural" flavor that's low in butter and salt.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees

Place popcorn and chopped pecans in a large bowl and set aside. And by large bowl, I mean like, twice as big as you think you really need. If you don't believe me, then maybe you will believe the scorching hot caramel goo that's splattered all over your hands while you're stirring in your not-so-big bowl. Just a thought.

Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a big, microwave-safe bowl. Like a 2-quart bowl or Pyrex measuring bowl. Again, use a bowl larger than you think you need to avoid scorching hot caramel goo accidents. It's really important to incorporate the cinnamon into the brown sugar at this point. For some reason, if you don't it does crazy things. I don't know why. Try it and then email Alton Brown and ask him if you really want to know.

Chop butter into chunks and place on top of sugar mixture. Pour corn syrup (or honey) over the top of everything.

Microwave on high for 30 seconds (just to soften the butter a bit) and then stir to combine.

Return to microwave and heat for 2 minutes. Remove and stir and then microwave for 2 minutes more.

By this point it should be nice and bubbly like this.


If it doesn't quite look like that you can microwave it a little longer, but just beware that if you over cook it, it will reach the hard candy stage and you'll end up with a giant clump of tasty concrete-like substance with little popcorn pieces stuck to it. Don't ask me how I know this.

Remove from the microwave and add in vanilla and baking soda.

This is where you can justify making this every day. Adding vanilla and baking soda to boiling sugar totally counts as a science project so you can check it off as a teaching moment with your children. Really. It's about the children. Here at Our Best Bites we're all about educating America's youth. So you should also know that if you count how many pizza rolls or toffee chip cookies you eat it qualifies as math class. Count in Spanish and you get extra credit. And heck, if you're doing Spanish, you should just go ahead and make taquitos to go with it. And you can't have taquitos without guacamole. And something to wash it down with. Like I said; it's all about the kids. If you give a mouse a cookie...

Okay, back to caramel goodness. See what happens? The vanilla makes it bubble and pop and the baking soda makes it foam up, like this:



Now take that foamy science project and pour it right over the popcorn and pecans. Stir right away, and stir lots. Take too long and the caramel will harden on you. Keep stirring until everything is well coated.

Spread popcorn mixture onto a foil-lined jelly roll pan.


And yeah, go ahead and pop some in your mouth, you know you want to. It will be kinda chewy and stick-to-your-teeth-like. But we're gonna change that. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

After 30 minutes, take a piece out and let it cool. "Sample." If it's not crunchy enough, bake for another 5 minutes. "Sample" again. This will not be the end of "sampling."

When it's done, give it a final stir and let it cool off for a bit while you melt your almond bark (just nuke it in the microwave according to the package directions) If you want, you can spread out your caramel corn on a clean piece of parchment, waxed paper, or foil. I always do this because sometimes it sticks to the hot foil if I leave it on the original pan. I'm kind of a clean control freak and I like to have it on a nice, fresh surface.

Now, just use a fork and drizzle the melted almond bark over the popcorn mixture.



When it's hardened (pop it in the fridge to speed that process along) break into chunks and enjoy!


This stuff is so awesome for packaging. Put it in cute bags like shown in this Halloween popcorn post, or in little tin pails, or cellophane bags with a ribbon. It's great for bake sales and party favors too. Or just to EAT! It's so stinkin' addictive.


People always tell me I should sell it. I did once, at the only garage sale I've ever had. People apparently thought the well-packaged bags next to the "Gourmet Popcorn for $1" sign were samples. But they DID disappear real fast.


If you're new here (welcome!) and want to make sure you don't miss a thing, keep in touch by subscribing here. Enter your email address in the box and you'll get new posts delivered as they appear on the blog (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays). You can also see our left-hand side bar to follow us in Google or join us on Facebook (where we sometimes do surprise giveaways!) and Twitter.

And thanks to all of you loyal readers who already keep in touch. We love hearing from you and appreciate your support! We seriously have the BEST readers ever. Best.