Sriracha Caramel Corn
Yeah, this happened. And I need to tell you about it.
Although I’m somewhat of a wuss when it comes to spicy food, I always have a bottle of Sriracha in the fridge. It’s the red stuff that comes in a squeeze bottle with a rooster on it and bright green lid – known by those who aren’t quite sure how to pronounce it as rooster sauce. It’s spicy, but not overly so (about half the heat of a jalapeno pepper) and easy to use when you need to add a little kick to something. Anything, really. Even caramel corn.
We used to make caramel corn ALL the TIME. It’s easy, once you’ve done it. Pop your corn. Simmer brown sugar, corn syrup (or Roger’s golden syrup or honey) and butter for 4 minutes. Stir in a teaspoon each of baking soda and vanilla, which will make it foam up like a science experiment and ultimately have a nice light crunch without sticking to your teeth.
Spread it out and bake it, and you have yourself the very best caramel corn ever.
Unless you like things spicy, in which case you’d swap that vanilla for a squirt of Sriracha sauce.
Yes, indeed.
Sriracha Caramel Corn
AuthorJuliePreheat the oven to 250F and put the popcorn in a big bowl.
In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar, corn syrup and butter and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat and boil without stirring, swirling the pan occasionally, for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the baking soda and Sriracha - it will foam up at first, but stir it well to get any lumps of baking soda out.
Quickly pour over the popcorn and stir (with a heatproof spatula or tongs) to coat well. Spread out onto a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice. Cool and break apart.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 250F and put the popcorn in a big bowl.
In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar, corn syrup and butter and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat and boil without stirring, swirling the pan occasionally, for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the baking soda and Sriracha - it will foam up at first, but stir it well to get any lumps of baking soda out.
Quickly pour over the popcorn and stir (with a heatproof spatula or tongs) to coat well. Spread out onto a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice. Cool and break apart.
This is both dangerous AND a public service. I say thank you.
Ha ha Tara^^ you are exactly right!
Now that’s innovation at its finest! Could lead to all kinds of combos.
Oh, my. Would it be wrong for me to drop everything I’m doing right now and make a batch of this?
I make something like this but I crumble fresh homemade bacon too! So delicious!
Jake was JUST THIS MORNING asking about caramel popcorn. He’s never had it, poor angel. Methinks I have a plan this weekend (although he’ll be lucky to get any, I LOVE it.) Not 100% sure about the hot sauce though…
Also? “Serves a medium size crowd”, my ass. It will serve ME. And maybe Jake, if he’s lucky.
Yumm!Definitely will try this on for the weekend.
Hi Julie, I read you blog for almost a year but hardly left any comments. You have done tremendously good job on your home cooking, and this blog is awesome! Will visit more often. Cheers.
You are a genius. That is all.
Oh my!
Can not wait to give this a try.
It seems like a pretty fabulous combination.
Believe it or not – love mine with Chinese Chili Garlic Sauce! We put that @#$% on everything!
🙂
V
OMG – it hasn’t even cooled yet and I can’t stop munching it. I even ate some while I stirred it in the oven. Because I cannot choose between sweet and hot, I used both vanilla AND Sriracha. OMG! Thank you Julie.
Wow, what a delicious idea! As a kid I was forever trying to figure out the secret behind sponge toffee, so this is a double whammy for me– sponge toffee and chillies— too too good!
We didn’t have any Sriracha on hand so we threw in some Turkish Marash chilis from the Silk Road Spice Merchant and a couple handfuls of salty peanuts. Hello!
LOVE the idea of sriracha in this! Pinning now!