Salty, sweet, sticky, and easy-to-make Peanut Butter Caramel Corn. You won’t be able to put this stuff down! A 20 minute recipe.
I’ve been feeling rather snacky lately. Are you a snacker too?
Hand me some hummus, veggies, granola, grapes, peanut butter, trail mix, and pretzels over a meal any day. Working from home has put a small shift on my eating habits and I found myself reaching for little nibbles here and there yesterday and today. The fix? Popcorn, of course.
I make microwave popcorn all the time. My favorite is kettle corn, but I’m no stranger to light butter. You can usually find me munching on the stuff as I sit here at my desk or on the couch. And yes, I’m eating it right now. But this week I wanted a little something extra on my popcorn. Nothing outrageous or complicated, but a flavor boost to my regular popcorn fix. I took three simple ingredients, added them to a saucepan, and poured them over my popcorn. Easy stuff!
This popcorn makes me love snack time even more. I didn’t even know that was possible.
Here’s the plan. Pop a bag of “natural style” popcorn or make your own with a popcorn maker or on the stovetop. Any sort of popcorn that isn’t flavored or heavily buttered. Even light buttered popcorn will be ok. You want about 10-12 cups of popcorn, which is a typical full size bag.
Pour the popped popcorn in a large bowl and make your peanut butter “caramel” sauce.
For the sauce, boil some honey and sugar together. Watch it boil for about three minutes. Stir in a pinch or two of salt. Keeping the saucepan on heat, stir in your peanut butter until everything is silky smooth. Like so:
Shower your innocent popcorn with the peanut butter/honey mixture. Those little kernels never saw that peanut butter coming! Mix it all around, trying hard not to break up the kernels.
Next, and completely optional: add some roasted peanuts to the peanut butter caramel corn. Every time I make my salted peanut nutella puppy chow, my friends ask me where all the peanuts went. One friend said he didn’t even know peanuts were in it. Guilty as charged. I eat all the peanuts first. I can’t help it… peanuts and peanut butter must run through my veins or something. I’m a peanutaholic. And a peanutbutteraholic.
I love the added texture the peanuts gave the popcorn! An extra satisfying crunch.
Spread the peanut butter caramel corn onto a parchment paper or silicone baking mat lined cookie sheet. The popcorn will form large clusters, which is OK—it will break up easily when you take a serving. Allow it to cool for a few minutes. And then… dig in. So much chewy goodness.
The clusters with the most peanut butter coating on them were my favorite. Naturally.
This is such a simple snack to make and share with others. Simple, quick, practically no baking at all. And it is so easy to make in bulk! I tripled the recipe by popping three bags of popcorn and tripling the rest of the ingredients. I sent Kevin off to work with some and we have a big container of the rest on the counter. It’s fun to grab a bowl of it and plop myself in front of the TV or computer.
Oh! And this peanut butter caramel corn does a wonderful job at making cleaning more fun. I know from experience. Grab a bowl and munch as you go. I got a lot of vacuuming done yesterday and I have to be honest: I enjoyed it.
More snacks to love!
- Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Almonds
- Homemade Caramel Corn
- Granola Clusters (GF)
- Soft Pretzel Bites
- Seasoned Pretzels
See all of my salty/sweet recipes.
Peanut Butter Caramel Corn Recipe
Ingredients You’ll Need
Instructions
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
- Pop 10-12 cups of popcorn and pour it into a large bowl. Toss in the peanuts. Set aside.
- Over medium heat, warm the honey and sugar together in a medium sized saucepan. Stir occasionally. Once it begins to bubble, allow it to boil for about 3 minutes. Add the salt and peanut butter and stir until smooth. Remove from heat.
- Pour the peanut butter mixture over the popcorn/nuts. Toss gently to coat practically every kernel. The popcorn will form large clusters. Spread the popcorn onto prepared baking sheet and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving.
- Makes 10-12 cups. Popcorn remains fresh for up to 10 days covered at room temperature. If storing in a tight container, be sure to break up the popcorn as you serve it because it will form large clusters.
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