This Pumpkin Spice Caramel Popcorn is coated in buttery vanilla pumpkin spice caramel and baked to crunchy perfection.
I love cozying up on a chilly Fall day to watch a good movie with a cup of tea or coffee or hot chocolate. Of course, snacks are the perfect accompaniment to any good movie! This caramel corn is just the snack to munch on this Fall!
This recipe actually doesn't contain any pumpkin purée. It is simply pumpkin spice popcorn. Real pumpkin would make it soggy and yucky so we keep that out of this recipe and save it for recipes that benefit from the moistness of pumpkin purée. Such as pumpkin bread and pumpkin cupcakes.
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⭐️ Why You Need to Make This Recipe
- This caramel corn is irresistibly buttery and crunchy.
- It is full of yummy flavours of pumpkin pie spice and everything nice!
- A tasty snack to munch on while watching a movie on a cozy Fall evening.
- Super easy and quick to make!
🧈 Ingredients
Here are the ingredients needed to make this caramel popcorn.
- Salted Butter - Salt always helps bring out all the flavours in cooking and baking recipes so I bake with salted butter most of the time.
- Brown Sugar - The brown sugar brings so much flavour to the easy caramel that we make to coat the popcorn.
- Salt - Extremely important for flavour development.
- Corn Syrup - You may use Roger's Golden Syrup in place of corn syrup.
- Baking Soda - Much like peanut brittle recipes, baking soda helps create a brittle caramel that will be a crunchy coating on the popcorn.
- Spices - A blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves brings delicious pumpkin spice flavour.
- Vanilla Extract - Adds to the sweet caramel flavour.
- Popcorn - Pop your own or use pre-popped - preferably unflavoured and unsalted popcorn. Air-popped popcorn would be a great option for this recipe but microwave or popped in a pot works great too.
See the recipe card for measurements.
📃 Instructions
Step 1: Combine the butter, brown sugar, salt, and corn syrup in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil for 3 minutes while whisking constantly
Step 2: Remove from the heat and add the baking soda, spices, and vanilla extract. The mixture should react with the baking soda and foam up.
Step 3: Pour the cooked caramel mixture over the popped popcorn in a large bowl.
Step 4: Fold until the popcorn is completely coated. Fold in the chopped nuts, if using.
Step 5: Spread onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Step 6: Bake for 30-35 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, until crunchy and golden caramel colour.
Hint: Stir the popcorn every 15 minutes and watch for when it is ready being careful not to overbake and burn it.
📝 Substitutions and Variations
Here are a few possible substitutes if you find you are missing one of the ingredients!
- Salted Butter - If you don't use salted butter, unsalted may be used instead with an additional ¼ teaspoon of salt.
- Brown Sugar - White sugar plus 2 teaspoons of molasses may be used in place of brown sugar.
- Corn Syrup - I often use Roger's Golden Cane Syrup in place of corn syrup.
- Spices - 1 ½ teaspoons of a pumpkin pie spice blend may be used in place of all the individual spices.
- Nuts - This is completely optional, but a yummy variation of this recipe is adding ¾ cup of chopped pecans or your favourite nuts.
❄️ Storage
Store fully cooled popcorn in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. Depending on the level of humidity where you are, the popcorn may stay fresh for a longer or shorter amount of time.
❓ FAQ
Any unsalted, unflavoured popcorn with minimal or no added oil is best for this recipe. Air-popped, microwave, or stovetop popcorn would all work.
🍿 More Recipes for Movie Treats
Looking for other snacks perfect for snacking while watching a classic? Try these next:
If you tried this Pumpkin Spice Caramel Popcorn or any other recipe on my website, please leave a ⭐️ star rating and write a little note telling me how it went in the comments below. Thank you!!
📖 Recipe
Pumpkin Spice Caramel Popcorn
Equipment
- baking sheet
- parchment paper
- saucepan
- whisk
- measuring cups & spoons
- silicone spatula
Ingredients
- ½ cup salted butter *
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar ** packed
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup corn syrup ***
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ****
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 10 cups unsalted, unflavoured popped popcorn
- optional: ¾ cup chopped pecans (or other nuts)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 250℉. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, brown sugar, salt, and corn syrup. Bring the mixture to a boil and boil for 3 minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and immediately whisk in the baking soda, spices, and vanilla.
- Immediately pour over the popcorn in a large mixing bowl. Working quickly, stir the popcorn using a spatula until evenly coated with the caramel mixture. Fold in the nuts, if using. Spread into an even layer on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes (this avoids ending up with one giant blob of caramel corn and helps it get crunchy). Remove from the oven and let cool down on the baking sheet. The caramel corn will harden and crisp up as it cools. Enjoy!
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