Homemade Caramel Apple Popcorn Without Corn Syrup
Are you ready for a taste of fall? Then this homemade caramel apple popcorn without corn syrup recipe is for you! The combination of my delicious popcorn recipe with a variation of my best caramel syrup, along with chopped apples and drizzled chocolate creates not only an amazing fall treat but also evokes a nostalgic and comforting feeling. It will have you longing for fall and holiday season! Made without light corn syrup and brown sugar, this crunchy caramel recipe is contains only simple ingredients that you can feel good about serving to your family at your next halloween party or movie night.
Table of Contents
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Tips for this Easy Homemade Caramel Corn
- For this recipe I used my popcorn recipe cut in half, found in this post: The Best Oil For Making Perfect Stovetop Popcorn. Making a half batch of the full recipe results in the following: 1/2 cup unpopped kernels makes approximately 14 cups of popcorn. Popcorn bags are fine to use, just make sure you make the right amount to equal the amount needed in the recipe, which is 14 cups worth. For more in depth instruction on how to make homemade popcorn, please refer to the original post listed above and cut the recipe in half.
- This best caramel corn recipe calls for 1 and a half cups caramel sauce. I used a modified version of my Homemade Soft Caramel Recipe (Without Corn Syrup). The amount of cream is reduced from the original recipe so that the caramel is slightly thicker and will require less time in the oven baking and have less of a chance of it burning.The altered recipe is in the recipe card for this recipe, however if you’d like more information with pictures on making a caramel sauce, then please refer to the link above.
- Feel free to use a milk chocolate or a darker chocolate instead of the 60% dark chocolate chips recommended, or you can choose to omit the chocolate drizzle entirely.
- Make sure to use a large enough bowl to toss the apples with the popcorn and the caramel, without losing any precious pieces! As you can see from my pictures, I made the mistake of starting out too small and had to transfer everything to my largest bowl!
Equipment Needed Best Caramel Popcorn Recipe
Cookie sheet or large baking sheet
Large pot
Large bowl
Small saucepan
Wooden spoon
Airtight container
Piece of parchment paper
Ingredients for Easy Caramel Popcorn Recipe
- 1/2 cup 60% dark chocolate chips melted in a double broiler
- 14 cups popped popcorn such as: air popper popcorn, microwave popcorn, or follow this best popcorn recipe but cut it in half: The Best Oil For Making Perfect Stovetop Popcorn (if using this recipe, make sure to use a smaller pot so that the oil will coat the bottom, and then salt the popcorn to taste)(We love yellow kernels that are non-GMO found here.)
- 3 cored chopped red apples
For the Homemade Caramel Sauce:
- 1 cup of pure cane sugar (I use organic)
- 1/2 cup of fresh cream
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or 1 vanilla pod scraped
- 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
Homemade Caramel Apple Popcorn Without Corn Syrup
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Make the Popcorn and Prepare the Apples
- Pop the popcorn and place into a large bowl.
- Chop the apples into uniform squares and toss them with the popcorn.
Make the Caramel Sauce
- Measure out the cream.
- Add the salt and the vanilla to the cream and place it to the side.
- Then, measure out a cup of sugar and place it in a heavy small saucepan.
- Turn the heat on to medium heat. (I have an electric stove and set the temperature to between 6 and 7.)
- Start your timer for 6 minutes! (It takes exactly 6 minutes from start to finish on my stove.)
- During the cooking process, you will find that the sugar will melt down and become a sugar syrup.
- Once the 6 minutes is up (you will notice it starting to smoke a little, this means it is at the right temperature), the sugar should look like the color of a copper penny. If it does not, then keep whisking for a few more seconds until it does. It can go from a copper color to burnt fast, so be careful!
- Once it is the desired color, carefully and slowly pour in the the heavy cream mixture, whisking continuously.
- At this point, you will find that the sugar syrup has clumped up. Place the pot back on the stove and turn the stove on to its lowest setting. Keep working it with the whisk or wooden spoon and it will eventually start to melt down into the heavy whipping cream.
- Add the vanilla extract and the sea salt to the caramel mixture.
- Whisk until everything is completely combined.
Incorporate the Caramel Mixture with the Popcorn Mixture
- Place a pot holder under the bowl of popcorn.
- Pour the hot caramel over the popcorn mixture and use a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon to gently fold it together. The caramel will still be hot, so be careful.
- Slowly combine the caramel with the popcorn mixture and gently toss. Make sure that the apples and popcorn are completely coated with the caramel sauce before transferring it to the baking sheet.
Bake the Homemade Caramel Popcorn
- Transfer the mixture to a prepared baking sheet pan and spread it in to an even layer. Place into the preheated oven.
- Allow the caramel corn to bake for 10 minutes.
- Carefully remove the pan from the oven and (very carefully) stir the popcorn, then spread out into an even layer.
- Place the popcorn back into the oven for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the caramel is sticking to the popcorn and not the parchment paper.
- Once the 10-15 minutes is up, carefully remove the sheet of popcorn.
- Give the popcorn one last stir. Then allow it to cool completely for at least 1 hour before enjoying. The temptation will be hard but the caramel will burn you!
Prepare the Chocolate
- Place the chocolate chips in a double boiler filled with water. Turn the temperature to medium and melt the chocolate.
- Using a fork, dip the teeth into the melted chocolate and drizzle it over the cooled popcorn.
- Allow the chocolate to cool completely.
- Place the room temperature popcorn into a large bowl and serve!
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Equipment
- Cookie sheet or large baking sheet
- Large pot
- Large bowl
- Small saucepan
- Wooden spoon
- Airtight container
- Piece of parchment paper
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup 60% dark chocolate chips melted in a double broiler
- 14 cups popped popcorn such as: air popper popcorn microwave popcorn, or follow this best popcorn recipe but cut it in half: The Best Oil For Making Perfect Stovetop Popcorn (if using this recipe, make sure to use a smaller pot so that the oil will coat the bottom, and then salt the popcorn to taste) (We like yellow kernels that are non-GMO found here.)
- 3 cored chopped red apples
For the Homemade Caramel Sauce:
- 1 cup of pure cane sugar I use organic
- 1/2 cup of fresh cream
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or 1 vanilla pod scraped
- 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Make the Popcorn and Prepare the Apples
- Pop the popcorn and place into a large bowl.
- Chop the apples into uniform squares and toss them with the popcorn.
- Make the Caramel Sauce
- Measure out the cream.
- Add the salt and the vanilla to the cream and place it to the side.
- Then, measure out a cup of sugar and place it in a heavy small saucepan.
- Turn the heat on to medium heat. (I have an electric stove and set the temperature to between 6 and 7.)
- Start your timer for 6 minutes! (It takes exactly 6 minutes from start to finish on my stove.)
- During the cooking process, you will find that the sugar will melt down and become a sugar syrup.
- Once the 6 minutes is up (you will notice it starting to smoke a little, this means it is at the right temperature), the sugar should look like the color of a copper penny. If it does not, then keep whisking for a few more seconds until it does. It can go from a copper color to burnt fast, so be careful!
- Once it is the desired color, carefully and slowly pour in the the heavy cream mixture, whisking continuously.
- At this point, you will find that the sugar syrup has clumped up. Place the pot back on the stove and turn the stove on to its lowest setting. Keep working it with the whisk or wooden spoon and it will eventually start to melt down into the heavy whipping cream.
- Add the vanilla extract and the sea salt to the caramel mixture.
- Whisk until everything is completely combined.
- Incorporate the Caramel Mixture with the Popcorn Mixture
- Place a pot holder under the bowl of popcorn.
- Pour the hot caramel over the popcorn mixture and use a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon to gently fold it together. The caramel will still be hot, so be careful.
- Slowly combine the caramel with the popcorn mixture and gently toss. Make sure that the apples and popcorn are completely coated with the caramel sauce before transferring it to the baking sheet.
- Bake the Homemade Caramel Popcorn
- Transfer the mixture to a prepared baking sheet pan and spread it in to an even layer. Place into the preheated oven.
- Allow the caramel corn to bake for 10 minutes.
- Carefully remove the pan from the oven and (very carefully) stir the popcorn, then spread out into an even layer.
- Place the popcorn back into the oven for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the caramel is sticking to the popcorn and not the parchment paper.
- Once the 10-15 minutes is up, carefully remove the sheet of popcorn.
- Give the popcorn one last stir. Then allow it to cool completely for at least 1 hour before enjoying. The temptation will be hard but the caramel will burn you!
- Prepare the Chocolate
- Place the chocolate chips in a double boiler filled with water. Turn the temperature to medium and melt the chocolate.
- Using a fork, dip the teeth into the melted chocolate and drizzle it over the cooled popcorn.
- Allow the chocolate to cool completely.
- Place the room temperature popcorn into a large bowl and serve!
