I haven't fallen off my vegan wagon but I've been wanting to post about this childhood favorite since the World Series. Up until about 3 weeks ago, I would whip up a batch of this peanut-caramel corn (aka Cracker Jacks) almost every weekend. Sadly I am on a dairy hiatus and I did make a fresh batch yesterday, but none of it was for me.
I discovered this recipe for homemade Cracker Jacks on Brown Eyed Baker's blog. I followed the recipe straight forward the first couple of times I made it, and then sometimes I used dark brown sugar instead of light brown, and kosher salt in place of regular salt. You'll need a candy thermometer to make the caramel and some patience while you wait for the caramel corn to cool. This recipe makes up to 10 cups of peanut-caramel corn which makes a great homemade Christmas gift or two.
Peanut-Caramel Corn (aka Cracker Jacks)
thank you BROWN eyed BAKER
makes up to 10 cups
***Brown Eyed Baker has a foolproof recipe for popping popcorn. Although you can easily use microwave popcorn but honestly her method for popping corn is so easy. Trust me.***
INGREDIENTS
10 cups of freshly popped popcorn - stovetop or microwave
1 cup light brown sugar ***dark brown sugar is OK too!***
1/4 cup light corn syrup
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup lightly salted & roasted peanuts
a candy thermometer
Preheat oven to 250ºF. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. ***I prefer using a Silpat mat here. But parchment works fine too.***
Pop the corn. Coat a large mixing bowl with nonstick cooking spray and transfer the popcorn to the bowl and set aside.
In a saucepan, mix together the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, salt and water and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Continue to simmer, stirring often (I use the candy thermometer to stir), until the mixture reaches 250ºF on a candy thermometer, about 3 - 5 minutes. ***Time will always vary depending on how high your heat is and how accurate your thermometer is. Sometimes it took my caramel 7+ minutes to reach the desired temp.***
Turn off heat and mix in the vanilla and baking soda. ***Again I just mix with the candy thermometer.*** The caramel is HOT and it will bubble like crazy when you're mixing in the vanilla extract and baking soda. Don't be scared and BE CAREFUL!!!
Immediately pour the hot mixture over the popcorn. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the caramel into the popcorn until all of the popcorn is coated. Gently stir in the peanuts and divide the mixture to the prepared baking sheets, spreading it out evenly. ***You can also use 1 baking sheet here, but I found that dividing the mixture into 2 sheets resulted in a crispier caramel corn.***
Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes or until completely cool. Gently break up the popcorn. Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container for up to 5 - 7 days.
Graham crackers, butter, sweetened condensed milk, walnuts, coconut, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and kosher salt. Does that make these 9 layer bars??? There are many versions of this recipe, but I liked the chip combo from the Brown Eyed Baker. I altered some of the ingredients to my personal taste and used what I had in my pantry.....
INGREDIENTS
9 graham crackers - you'll get 3 packages in a box of grahams. One package is 9 crackers.
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter - melted ***I cut 3 tablespoons out of the original recipe. I know it doesn't sound like much, but I was trying to cut back on our butter consumption a little. Due to the minimal butter used, my bars also crumbled as we ate them, but we didn't really care? They were still tasty***
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk ***I used about 9 oz. or 3/4 of the can because that's what I had available.***
1 cup walnuts - finely chopped
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips ***You could use semi-sweet, but I personally like the taste of bittersweet.***
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
1/3 cup butterscotch chips
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Spray lightly with cooking spray a 9x13 inch pan and line with 2 sheets of parchment paper - overlapping bottom and going up the sides. Leave the wider sides a little long so that it acts as handles when you want to remove the bars from the pan. Preheat oven to 350°F. When your oven is ready, toast coconut. Don't walk away, the coconut toasts/browns pretty quickly. 4 - 5 minutes. Toss during baking to ensure even browning.
In the meantime, dump your graham crackers into a gallon ziplock bag. Press out all of the air and with a rolling pin bash and roll them into fine crumbs.
In a bowl, mix together thoroughly the graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and melted butter. Firmly press mixture into the bottom of your prepared pan.
Scatter the chopped walnuts onto graham cracker crust, then assorted chips and next the toasted coconut. In an even stream, pour the sweetened condensed milk over the entire pan of goodness. Generously sprinkle the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt on top.
Bake until golden brown for 25 - 30 minutes.
Cool bars in the pan for at least 2 hours.
With the parchment handles, gently remove from pan and cut into bars.
I'm not going to waste any time writing about ranch pretzels.....They are what they are. Ranch Pretzels.....
Ranch Pretzels
thank you brown eyed baker via Amber's Delectable Delights
1 9 oz. bag of pretzels ***Mini or sticks. I used mini.***
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1 oz. package of Ranch Dip mix
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
1 large/gallon-size ziploc bag
rimmed cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
Preheat oven to 250˚F.
Place the pretzels in a large/gallon-size ziploc bag. Add the oil, seal the bag, and toss to coat. Add the ranch dip mix and garlic powder (if using) to the bag of oil-coated pretzels, seal and toss again until all of the pretzels are dusted with ranch.
Spread out onto your prepared cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until all of the oil has absorbed into the pretzels. Cool and store in an air tight container.
