Pumpkin Spice Caramel Corn

I am so late getting on the pumpkin bus. Maybe because it is still 90 degrees in Phoenix. Maybe it is because our air-conditioner is running at 7 am in the morning.  I know fall officially begins when Starbucks rolls out the pumpkin spice lattes, but I have to say I need the temperatures to go down a bit, so that I can begin to enjoy all my fall favorites.  Some of our favorite fall dishes are  roasted red pepper  and tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich, homemade shredded beef chili and caramel corn. I thought I would kick up our regular recipe and make pumpkin spice caramel corn. Pumpkin spice caramel corn is that perfect blend of sweet and salty all wrapped into one snack.  I must say it is quite addiciting as well.

Do you know what is in pumpkin pie spice? I always thought it was a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and all spice, but I was surprised at all the spices that make up one of fall’s favorite flavors. Cinnamon, ginger, lemon peel, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, star anise, fennel and black pepper. Black pepper was surprising to me.  I must say the smell of the pumpkin pie spice baking in the caramel corn is quite intoxicating.

Pumpkin Spice Caramel Corn Recipe {Printable Recipe}

12 cups of lightly salted popcorn

1 cup brown sugar
¼ cup light corn syrup
½ cup butter
¼ tsp. baking soda
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 250.

Place popcorn in large bowl. If you can’t fit all 12 cups in one bowl divide among two bowls.

Combine brown sugar, corn syrup, butter and pumpkin pie spice in a saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat. Stir occasionally to blend. Once the mixture begins to boil, boil for 5 minutes while stirring constantly.

Remove mixture from heat, and stir in the baking soda and vanilla. The mixture will become light, with some foam.  Pour over popcorn right away. Use a wooden spoon to stir the mixture. Don’t worry about all the corn being coated at this moment.

Place the popcorn in two shallow greased baking pans. Bake the popcorn for one hour. Remove the popcorn, one pan at a time, from the oven and stir every 15 minutes.

Line the kitchen counter with wax paper. When the popcorn is finished baking empty the popcorn out onto the wax paper and separate the pieces that have clumped together. Allow to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Caramel can be tempermental but making caramel corn is easy. You don’t have to have a thermometer. You don’t have a to have a keen eye to know it has turned the wrong color and will now taste bitter. Yeah! If you want to read more about caramel, Buttercream Couture is doing a series on all things CARAMEL.  Her caramel cracker candy looks amazing.

Originally, when I made the caramel corn, I lined the baking pans with the popcorn and then poured the caramel over the corn and stirred. After doing this, I decided to try it a different way. I put the popcorn in a large bowl and then poured the caramel over the popcorn and stirred. This method was easier for me to coat the popcorn with caramel. But to each is own. You can do it either way. Just find the way that works best for you when making caramel corn.

Now all you have to do is pour the pumpkin spice caramel corn in your favorite bowl, turn on a movie and enjoy! Or you can bag it, tag it , and give it as a gift. Caramel corn makes for a great and easy gift to hand out to friends and family during the holidays. Enjoy!

Here is a fun idea you can do with your pumpkin spice caramel corn:

Popcorn Ball Pumpkin Patch by Lisa at The Bearfoot Baker

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