Pantry Revamp: Cracker Jack Style Maple Syrup Popcorn

Today’s post on maple syrup popcorn is part of the Pantry Revamp series here on Five Little Homesteaders.  To read more about it, check out the first post here.  To read all the posts in the series, click the “pantry revamp” label to the right.

This week’s pantry revamp recipe is not for those who are attempting to keep sugar out of their diet.  It is, however, homemade and delicious.  I call it the homemade Cracker Jacks recipe (aka homemade maple syrup popcorn) and it is, like so many of my recipes of late, inspired by Alana Chernila’s book  The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying and Start Making.

As a side note, we have been really enjoying  Quinn Popcorn lately.  A three-pack was gifted to us by my mom and it is so, so good.  As you may or may not know, there have been some questions and concerns of late about the safety of microwave popcorn, specifically the additives that give it its buttery flavor.  These questions alone have been enough to scare me off, so I’ve taken to popping my corn the old-fashioned way – on the stove.  However, Quinn Popcorn is microwave popcorn that doesn’t include these additives and comes in three delicious flavors.  Anyhow, they aren’t paying me or anything, I just really like it (especially the maple & sea salt flavor).

The point is, I’ve been really loving popcorn lately, so making this recipe couldn’t have come at a better time.  So, without further ado – the maple syrup popcorn recipe…

Ingredients

1/2 c unpopped popcorn
1/2 c butter
1/2 c maple syrup
1/2 c sugar
1/2 t salt
1/2 t vanilla
1/4 t baking soda

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

2.  Pop the popcorn – in a pan, on the stove.

3.  Boil butter, maple syrup, sugar, and salt in a saucepan on the stove for 5 minutes.

4.  Add the baking soda and vanilla and mix.

5.  Pour the sugary goodness over the popcorn and mix it.

6.  Put it in a pan and stick it in the over for an hour.  Be sure to stir it up every so often.

**Note: If you REALLY want to send this recipe over the edge, throw in some peanuts with the caramel goodness.  Yum!**