Our Bacon Popcorn with Caramel Drizzle recipe is a family movie night favorite.Love bacon popcorn?Then make this bacon popcorn for your movie night snack.After all, crispy bacon with caramel corn makes a yummy movie popcorn treat. Chunks of smokey bacon and Dell Cove® Kettle Corn popcorn seasoning give this bacon caramel popcorn a flavor twist. And then everything is baked together until you have salty-sweet, crunchy popcorn clusters.
The key is to pop your popcorn in the bacon fat. So good! Think of this as a special treat – and a little goes a long way. (You can cut the recipe in half to decrease the servings.) David and I developed this recipe as part of our family’s Sunday movie night tradition – where we have been inviting the family over for dinner and a movie, and started pairing popcorn and cocktails with our favorite films. Here is an idea of how you can do your own movie and drink pairing:
MOVIE WE WATCH WITH THIS SNACK: Dr. No (1962). The classic James Bond movie where a British government agent seeks answers in a case involving the disappearance of a colleague and the disruption of the American space program. It stars a very young (and gorgeous) Sean Connery and Ursula Andress. The chemistry between those two is both smokey and sweet!
COCKTAIL IDEA FOR PAIRING: The Americano Cocktail. Why? It was the first cocktail mentioned in the James Bond novels. (Not a martini!) It’s a little sweet, a lot bitter and that bitterness pairs well with the sweet and smokey bacon caramel popcorn.
Preheat your oven to 250 degrees F, and line a baking tray with a Silpat or silicon baking sheet. Don’t have one? Then line your tray with tin foil and spray the tin foil with nonstick cooking spray.
Fry the bacon in a pan, until the bacon is crunchy. Remove the bacon and cut into small pieces, and set aside. Spoon the remaining fat into a large saucepan with a lid.
NEXT, POP YOUR POPCORN IN THE BACON FAT
Make sure you have enough bacon fat to cover the bottom of the pan. If not, add some canola or vegetable oil to the fat – and then add four popcorn kernels. Cover the pan and place over medium heat. When the kernels pop, VERY CAREFULLY (because that oil is very hot and can burn you!) add your popcorn kernels and re-cover the pan.
Shaking the pan constantly to ensure that the kernels don’t burn, while the popcorn pops. Once the pops are 3 to 5 seconds apart, remove the pot from heat.
Dump your popped popcorn onto your baking sheet. Spread the popcorn out with a wooden spoon. Pick out any unpopped kernels. Evenly sprinkle a couple pinches salt over the hot popcorn and allow to cool.
Once the popcorn is cool, put the popcorn back into a big bowl. Sprinkle on the chopped bacon and set the bowl aside.
Get a medium-sized saucepan. Stir together the butter, sugar and corn syrup over low-to-medium heat. Stir until well mixed, and your sugars have melted and it is just beginning to boil. At this point, stop mixing. (Trust us. Just let it be.)
If you have a candy thermometer, insert it into the pot and continue to allow the sugar-butter mixture to boil until it reaches 238 degrees F. No thermometer? You can guesstimate it: Let the mixture bubble for about 3 to 4 minutes.
Once the mixture reaches the proper temperature – or time – remove the pan from the heat and add the popcorn seasoning and baking soda mix. Then stir that to mix everything together well, for about 30 seconds to one minute.
Important note: Don’t panic if your caramel foams up or changes colors at this stage. It’s happening because of a chemical reaction from the caramel sauce to the baking soda, which is adding more air to the caramel and thinning it out a bit. (Which makes it easier to use to coat your popcorn.)
NOW, COAT YOUR POPCORN WITH CARAMEL
You need to stay focused and careful at this step, because you are going to be moving quickly and can burn yourself. (I say this from experience.) Pour your caramel mix over the popcorn and bacon pieces in the bowl and quickly stir everything together. Coat everything with the caramel.
FINALLY, BAKE YOUR BACON POPCORN
Spread the caramel coated popcorn on the prepared baking sheet. Bake it for about 45 minutes, stirring the popcorn every 10 to 15 minutes. (This step helps to make sure all of your popcorn is coated with the caramel.)
Once the popcorn is crunchy and golden brown, take it out of the oven and let it cool. Break any large clump up into smaller bites and then serve. Have extra? You can store your bacon caramel popcorn in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
Recipe Note
Share your creations with us on Instagram! You can find our Instagram account here – or tag you creation with #dellcovespices and we would love to give you a shout-out!
Leave a comment