My New Popcorn Popper!

So for Christmas a couple of years ago my brother-in-law got me a popcorn popper. Just this fall it stopped working. He couldn't find the receipt, long story short the store (Sears) wouldn't do anything for me without it (even though it was still under warranty). So I told him that I wanted another one this year, but with a gift receipt!

I haven't gotten the receipt yet but I got this beauty and so far it's amazing! It's nice not having to pick up all the pieces of popcorn that the air popper fired out and bounced out of the bowl!

So in all my joy of my new machine I thought I would give you a couple of popcorn recipes as well!

Happy popping!

Carmel Popcorn

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 quarts popped popcorn

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (95 degrees C). Place popcorn in a very large bowl.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil without stirring 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in soda and vanilla. Pour in a thin stream over popcorn, stirring to coat.
3. Place in two large shallow baking dishes and bake in preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool completely before breaking into pieces.

Chocolate Popcorn

• 2 quarts popped popcorn
• 1 cup peanuts (optional)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup corn syrup
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Oil a 10x15 inch baking pan with sides.
2. Place popcorn and peanuts into a large, metal bowl, and set aside. Stir together the sugar, corn syrup, cocoa powder, and butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Stir in the vanilla, then pour over the popcorn. Stir until the popcorn is well coated. Spread the popcorn into the prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, stirring several times.
4. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool to room temperature. Break into small clumps, and store in an airtight container.

Candy Cane Popcorn

• 1/2 cup unpopped popcorn
• 4 ounces vanilla-flavored confectioners' coating, or as needed
• 6 peppermint candy canes, crushed

1. Using an air popper, pop the popcorn, place into a large bowl, and discard unpopped kernels. Melt the confectioners' coating according to the package directions.
2. Pour the melted coating over the popcorn, and sprinkle the crushed candy canes over the mixture. Using your hands, work the candy coating and crushed candy canes all through the popcorn. Let the mixture cool, and break apart into bite-size pieces.

Italian Popcorn

• 5 cups popped popcorn
• 4 1/2 teaspoons butter, melted
• 3/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 2 tablespoons grated Romano cheese

1. Place the popcorn in a bowl. Combine the butter, Italian seasoning and garlic salt; pour over popcorn and toss to coat. Sprinkle with cheese; toss to coat.

Nacho Popcorn

• 10 cups popped popcorn
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Place popcorn in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine butter, paprika, cumin and red pepper flakes. Pour over popcorn and toss to coat. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and toss again.