PUMPKIN SPICE CARAMEL CORNfeatured

I love scary movies.

When I was 10 or 11 (aka WAY too young), my older brother Gregg would wander down to the local video rental store, do whatever voodoo magic he would have to do to convince the kid behind the counter to rent horror movies to a minor. This was a regular thing for a while. Gregg and his friends would rent a movie, bring it back to our house, wait for Mom to go to bed and then boom. Scare the crap out of ourselves. Week after week.

Around 9’o clock when Mom went to bed, we would watch whatever horror movie was on deck for the night. Nightmare on Elm Street? Saw them all. Friday the 13th and the Halloween series? Check and check. I even have vague memories of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Which I’m pretty sure I’ve permanently blocked from my memory. I was always horrified. But for some reason that never stopped me from watching the next one. And the next. And the next. Until Mom found out and shut the whole operation down. Which, in hind site, probably saved my brain from completely rotting.

And like all movies, not just the scary ones, they are far far more enjoyable with popcorn. This is my go-to, Friday night stay home movie treat. It’s crazy easy and crazy delicious. And because the popcorn is covered in sticky, gooey caramel, when Freddy or Jason show up on screen, the popcorn doesn’t fly out of the bowl when you jump. Win win for everyone. Except for the victim on screen who just died. Shouldn’t have walked alone into the woods at night sucker.

One of my favorite friends on this planet, Natalie, shared this recipe with me years ago and I’ve made it countless times. Oh and FYI, this is just as good without the spices in it for those all those other non-pumpkin spice months of the year.

Recipe: Pumpkin Spice Caramel Corn  |  Soundtrack: Sleep Machine

• 3 bags popped popcorn
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup light corn syrup
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp all spice
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Directions:
Pop the 3 bags of popcorn and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, butter and corn syrup and melt over medium heat on the stove. When the mixture starts to boil around the edges, set the timer for 5 minutes. Stir as it boils.

After 5 minutes, remove from the heat and add the vanilla. It will bubble up a bit when you do this. Don’t be alarmed. Add the salt and the spices and stir to combine.

In a large bowl, dump half of the popcorn and cover with half of the caramel. Stir quickly to coat. Add the remainder of the popcorn and top with the remainder of the caramel.

If you want to make variations of this (ie: adding chocolate chips, coconut, marshmallows, pretzels, candy, etc) add half of the ingredients with the first half of the popcorn and then add the rest at the end to make sure they are evenly distributed throughout.

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