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Old Fashioned Caramel Corn (using only unrefined sweeteners)

October 26, 2009 by KimiHarris 55 Comments

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Thanks for stopping by! If you're interested in healthy eating check out my free gifts! and subscribe to get regular email updates. *Some links may be affiliate.*

ng_caramelcorn
Joel had a few friends over last night to watch the live streamed U2 concert . I thought it would be nice for them to have a little snack mid concert, so I made up a batch of this delicious caramel corn. It was well received and was eaten up quite quickly. In fact, one friend thought I was joking when I said it was a healthier version! This recipe uses rapadura, a whole cane sugar, and honey. No white or brown sugar, no corn syrup. Just buttery sweetness.

This recipe is adapted from a recipe that my husband grew up eating.  I thought this would be a good week to share it, with Halloween coming up. Another great “candy” recipe is homemade fudge. So good.

Enjoy!

Old Fashioned Caramel Corn Yield: About 16 cups

To get a thicker coat of caramel, just use a little less popcorn. I used butter in this recipe since it wasn’t really for Elena and I, but coconut oil would work here too for a dairy free version. You could also experiment with different sweeteners, such as maple sugar or coconut sugar.

    3/4 cup of popcorn kernels, popped
    1/2 cup of butter or coconut oil
    1 cup of rapadura
    1/4 cup of honey

    1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    1 teaspoon vanilla

1-Melt the butter, rapadura and honey together in a small pot. Allow to simmer for five minutes. Be very careful with this hot mixture, as it can cause bad burns.

2-Meanwhile, place the popcorn in a large bowl with plenty of room to stir. When the mixture has simmer for the allotted five minutes, then add the baking soda and the vanilla and stir it in (it will get foamy).

3-Take off of the heat and pour over the popcorn. Stir until well coated.

4-Place on two jellyroll pans in a single layer and place in a 250 oven for about 45 minutes to an hour. This hardens the caramel. If a lot of the caramel is dripping onto the pan, you can give it a gentle stir back onto the popcorn throughout the cooking process.

5-When done, remove from pans, breaking into small pieces and cool. Enjoy!

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KimiHarris

I love beautiful and simple food that is nourishing to the body and the soul. I wrote Fresh: Nourishing Salads for All Seasons and Ladled: Nourishing Soups for All Seasons as another outlet of sharing this love of mine. I also love sharing practical tips on how to make a real food diet work on a real life budget. Find me online elsewhere by clicking on the icons below!

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Filed Under: Dairy Free, Desserts, Gluten Free, Snacks, Vegetarian Tagged With: Dairy Free, Desserts, Gluten Free, Honey, Vegetarian

Previous Post: « Pumpkin LattΓ© (Caffeine, Dairy, and Sugar Free)
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dina

    October 26, 2009 at 9:25 am

    Thank you so much, my kids are gonna love this!

    Reply
  2. Michele @ Frugal Granola

    October 26, 2009 at 9:56 am

    Thank you! We were just hoping for a recipe without corn syrup. πŸ™‚

    Reply
  3. Sweta

    October 26, 2009 at 10:02 am

    Try using jaggery the next time-we use it a lot in our Indian sweets and brittle(peanut/sesame and mixed fruit+nut brittle).You’ll find two types of jaggery in most Indian stores-cane and palm, and both have a distinct flavors.
    Here’s a link to a traditional Indian dosa( fermented pancake) recipe in which I’ve use jaggery:
    http://bonnenutrition.blogspot.com/2009/04/sweet-mango-dosa.html

    Reply
    • Helen V

      October 26, 2009 at 4:52 pm

      I tried the jaggery (palm) and my children liked it very much! Thank you for the suggestion:)

      Reply
  4. Katie

    October 26, 2009 at 11:19 am

    This will be great for my dairy, soy, and gluten free toddler! And not to mention the rest of us.

    Reply
  5. Natalie

    October 26, 2009 at 11:56 am

    Can I use sucanat instead? I just ran out of rapadura and the woman I buy my raw milk, eggs, freshly ground ww flour, etc. sells sucanat.

    Reply
    • KimiHarris

      October 26, 2009 at 12:20 pm

      Definitely πŸ™‚

      Reply
  6. Jessica

    October 26, 2009 at 12:02 pm

    We don’t celebrate Halloween but this will be a fun family treat. Thank You! Last year at Christmas I tried to think of a healthier way to make them & just could not so we did w out! Thanks again!

    Reply
  7. Sarah

    October 26, 2009 at 12:05 pm

    I make a quick version of this that tastes like cracker jack using molasses, honey, butter, and adding peanuts to the popcorn. It’s really good too. I don’t bother baking it, I just eat it sticky. : )

    Reply
    • KimiHarris

      October 26, 2009 at 12:21 pm

      Yummy! That sounds great. You can eat this one sticky too. πŸ™‚ I bet yours is a little more sticky though, since you use molasses. Want to share the recipe?

      Reply
  8. Alisa - Frugal Foodie

    October 26, 2009 at 1:03 pm

    Oh yum! Talk about comfort food!

    One of my favorites is actually PB popcorn. I make it with a liquid sweetener (usually honey or maple) and spices … oh so good!

    Reply
  9. Meg

    October 26, 2009 at 1:26 pm

    Mmm… I’ll try this sometime this week, although I really enjoy the popcorn I make using peanut butter and brown rice syrup. Much lower on the sugar, and still tastes just as sweet! If the kids aren’t around, I throw some dark chocolate chips in – ends up tasting like Moose Munch! πŸ˜‰

    Reply
    • Helen V

      October 26, 2009 at 3:42 pm

      Could I get your recipe for this? I love Moose Munch! Thanks!

      Reply
      • Meg

        October 31, 2009 at 9:40 pm

        Sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you! Here’s the recipe:
        2 T coconut oil
        1/3 c popcorn kernels
        1/2 c brown rice syrup
        1/4 c crunchy nut butter (almond, peanut, or cashew)
        1/4 t sea salt
        1/4 ( or more πŸ˜‰ ) c dark chocolate chips

        Pop the popcorn with the coconut oil, set aside. Heat the brown rice syrup and stir in nut butter to a rolling boil, stirring constantly for 30 seconds. Remove from heat, stir in salt. Pour the mixture over the popcorn, and stir to coat popcorn. Let cool slightly, and add chocolate chips. Enjoy! πŸ™‚ It also makes awesome popcorn balls if you stick them together while still warm… which is what we did for our Harvest Party tonight. πŸ™‚

        Reply
        • Allyson

          October 8, 2012 at 12:13 pm

          Thanks for sharing; this is delicious. I might try honey for the corn syrup next time.

          Reply
  10. Steph Garvey

    October 26, 2009 at 2:16 pm

    and rumor is the guests LOVED it.

    Reply
  11. Mindy

    October 26, 2009 at 2:38 pm

    This looks amazing. I am definitely going to try it soon.

    Any thoughts on caramel apples?

    Reply
    • Rosita

      October 30, 2009 at 10:22 am

      101 Cookbooks has a carmel apple recipe that just uses honey as a sweetner.

      Reply
  12. Helen V

    October 26, 2009 at 3:42 pm

    All I can say is WOW! I am trying very hard to not eat this right out of the oven. Don’t want to burn off my taste buds:) Thank you so much for this one. We love caramel corn!

    Reply
  13. Rachel

    October 26, 2009 at 3:55 pm

    We love popcorn at our house and have it often with smoothies for a snack. Sometimes I will batch up carmel corn to make it extra special for them. . . I just use coconut oil and honey – yum! πŸ™‚ Thanks for sharing Kimi!

    Reply
  14. Rachel

    October 26, 2009 at 3:56 pm

    Oh and I forgot to mention that sometimes we like to add our raw, roasted pecans on top or mixed it – delish! πŸ˜‰ Give it a try – you won’t be sorry! Although I can’t promise you won’t have a hard time turning down 2nds! lol

    Reply
  15. CHEESESLAVE

    October 26, 2009 at 10:37 pm

    YUM! I love the little container you served it in. So cute!

    And how funny that you wrote this post and Kelly posted hers today, too! Great minds think alike!

    Reply
  16. Tonya Davis

    October 27, 2009 at 4:44 am

    The recipe sounds yummy but I noticed it called for 3/4 cup of popped corn and yielded 16 cups. Did I miss something, I usually do ~smile~!

    Tonya

    Reply
    • Lisa Z

      October 29, 2009 at 4:24 pm

      The 3/4 cup is UN-popped corn, which I guess yields 16 cups of popped corn.

      Reply
  17. Coco Palm Sugar

    October 27, 2009 at 4:56 am

    Just looking at the picture makes my mouth water. Kids are in for an easy-to-do treat!

    Reply
  18. Amy

    October 27, 2009 at 7:22 am

    This looks great! I would love to make it for Halloween night. Where do you purchase rapudura? Could I replace it with coconut sugar?

    Reply
  19. Dana

    October 28, 2009 at 2:51 pm

    I just made this and the taste is wonderful. The only problem I had was that I did use Coconut Oil /butter mixture and I couldn’t get the sugar and oil to blend properly. It was kind of clumpy- I mixed it good and the kids didn’t really care but I am just wondering if coconut oil won’t blend with sugar like butter does.

    Thanks for the recipe!!

    Reply
  20. Lisa Z

    October 30, 2009 at 12:19 pm

    I’m just making this, and it’s amazingly good! There may not be much left for my daughter’s Halloween party tonight…

    Reply
  21. Sara C.

    October 30, 2009 at 8:37 pm

    Thanks for this great recipe! I just made a double batch and it is fantastic. I used maple syrup instead of honey and it worked beautifully. Happy Halloween!

    Reply
  22. karen

    November 18, 2009 at 8:10 pm

    here is another good one that came off the popcorn bag from azure standard.

    Old Fashioned Caramel Corn Yield: About 40 cups

    2 cups of popcorn kernels, popped
    1/2 cup of butter or coconut oil
    2 cups of honey
    1/3 cup molasses
    3 tsp peanut butter
    1 teaspoon vanilla
    dash salt

    1-Melt the butter or coconut oil, add rest of ingredients together in a small pot.

    2-Meanwhile, place the popcorn in a large bowl with plenty of room to stir.

    3-Pour mixture over the popcorn. Stir until well coated.

    4-Place in stainless steel bowls, large roaster or jelly roll sheets and place in a 200 oven for about one hour. Stir every 15 minutes. If you want to make popcorn balls, place in 200 oven for 45 minutes and then form balls.

    5-When done, cool. Enjoy!

    Reply
  23. Kelsey

    September 10, 2010 at 3:08 pm

    THANK YOU for posting this! I was just looking for a caramel corn recipe that doesn’t use brown sugar! Yay!

    Reply
  24. Anna

    October 12, 2010 at 3:28 pm

    I was wondering if you could post what the calories,fat grams,sodium, etc. is in this recipe. Thanks!!!!

    Reply
  25. carolyne

    June 30, 2011 at 6:17 pm

    Thanks for posting this. I didn’t have any corn syrup or honey, so I added extra sugar with water, and about 1 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar to make sure the sugar wouldn’t crystallize. I wasn’t sure how much of the c of t it would need, so I probably used too much, but I wanted to make sure. It tastes excellent!

    Reply
  26. Rebecca

    August 19, 2011 at 9:09 pm

    Fabulous recipe! I knew there had to be a healthier version out there – thank you!! I used coconut sugar and added a pinch of sea salt. We like our caramel corn warm and gooey so we skipped the baking part. Very yummy!! I can’t wait to try that Moose Munch recipe too!

    Reply
  27. Cheryl

    October 19, 2011 at 2:40 pm

    Just made this and it is amazing!! Eating it sticky- we’ll see how much makes it to the oven for the final step! Thanks!

    Reply
  28. G

    December 9, 2012 at 5:34 pm

    I’m thinking I could try this with a puffed cereal or Rice Chex for my corn allergic daughter. Thanks!

    Reply
  29. Katie

    December 21, 2012 at 6:55 pm

    Making our 2nd batch now. 1st one was eaten super quick! (Mostly by me) We used the coconut oil and we didn’t have rapadura so used some sucanat on the first batch. 2nd batch we didn’t have a full cup of sucanat left so it was 3/4 sucanat and 1/4 turbinado.
    Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
  30. KarenL

    December 25, 2012 at 6:01 pm

    Thank you for posting this recipe! It matches, exactly, the caramel corn recipe I’ve always used (minus the vanilla, plus sea salt) but better ingredients!

    So…my kids (and I!) love Caramel Crispix, too, so I switched the “not so good” ingredients for sucanat and honey in the recipe and it turned out great!

    Pre-heat oven to 250Β° F

    17 oz Crispix cereal – put in a large shallow pan or roaster

    In heavy sauce pot combine:
    1 cup unsalted butter
    1/2 c honey
    3/4 c sucanat
    1/2 tsp sea salt

    Bring to boil over med heat. Boil 5 min, stirring occasionally. Pour over cereal. Cook @ 250Β°F for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Pour out onto parchment or wax paper to cool.

    Reply
  31. John A. Cooper

    February 7, 2013 at 3:17 am

    Good Afternoon; can you use agave in this recipe? Also, apart from the candy bars, are there any other agave sweets recipes that you can inform me of? Icing recipes would also be welcome.

    Thank you,

    John A. Cooper

    Reply
  32. Erin

    October 24, 2013 at 10:43 am

    I just want to let you know how big of a hit this popcorn has been with my family and friends! I made a big batch and shared it all around and everyone loved it so much I’m making another right now to include in treat bags for a children’s Halloween party this weekend, I’ve been told its the only thing I ought to bring to contribute to Thanksgiving dinner, and my aunts and uncles have requested that bags of it be their Christmas gifts this year as well. “Best caramel corn I’ve ever had” has been the common refrain. So thank you!

    Reply
    • KimiHarris

      October 24, 2013 at 7:47 pm

      YAH! So glad it’s worked out so well for you. πŸ™‚

      Reply
    • Erin

      October 25, 2015 at 11:56 am

      Two years later and I’m still coming back here for this recipe! We love it so much! This time I’m making it for “You’ve been Boo’ed” gifts!

      Reply
  33. Jill

    October 30, 2013 at 2:11 pm

    This is great right after mixing but once I put it in the oven it started burning after only 15 minutes. Any ideas why?

    Reply
    • KimiHarris

      October 30, 2013 at 8:05 pm

      Jill,

      Either you were cooking it at 350F instead of 250F, your oven is too hot, or the pan was too close to the heat elements.

      Reply
  34. Samara

    November 21, 2013 at 2:05 am

    This is great Kimi! Thanks! I am sorry to say that unrefined sugar is totally unavailable here , so I used regular brown sugar. But the recipe is great!

    Thanks again. Your recipes never fail me! πŸ™‚

    Reply
  35. Krystal Wight Armstrong

    September 13, 2014 at 2:35 pm

    I’ve had this pinned forever, and was thinking about finally making it tonight, or this weekend. Can’t wait!

    …Random question though, just because I’m curious: What does the baking soda do; or why is it needed?
    Curious, novice cook here, so thanks for helping explain the food science part to me, if anyone knows.
    Happy Weekend! : )

    Reply
    • KimiHarris

      September 13, 2014 at 6:53 pm

      I’m not sure what is happening chemically, but one time I accidentally forgot it, and it didn’t spread out on the popcorn very well. πŸ™‚

      Reply
      • Krystal Wight Armstrong

        September 15, 2014 at 7:47 pm

        Huh, good to know. Thanks!

        Reply
  36. Micah

    February 1, 2015 at 4:32 pm

    I’ve made caramel corn before (from a different recipe) and none of my children enjoyed it. I made this recipe tonight & we all tasted before putting it in the oven. Everyone loves it!! Can’t wait for it to come out of the oven!

    Reply
    • KimiHarris

      February 2, 2015 at 10:03 am

      Great! Hope you guys like the finished product. This recipe is a favorite.

      Reply
      • Micah

        February 8, 2015 at 7:18 pm

        It was fabulous! I made I t again today & my parents came for an unexpected visit. My daddy said its the best he’s ever eaten!

        Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Sweet Almond Cookies (Gluten, Grain and Dairy Free) says:
    October 30, 2009 at 7:58 am

    […] These simple cookies use only a few ingredients and are so delicious. Almonds are the main ingredient and flavor, making this cookies gluten and grain free as well as delicious. Slightly Sweetened with coconut (palm) sugar, these cookies are full of protein from the ground almonds and are perfect to pack in a lunch or to have with a cup of coffee after dinner. We served these to some guests last week, and they were well received (along with the caramel popcorn!). […]

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  2. Hand Crafted Tea Blend, Blooming Rooibos, and Other Gift Ideas says:
    November 18, 2009 at 11:59 am

    […] Caramel Popcorn is always a delicious treat and makes a great sweet gift. […]

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  3. Happy and Healthy 4th of July Recipes says:
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    […] Old Fashioned Caramel Popcorn If you bring a big bowl of caramel popcorn to a celebration, you can be sure it will be popular! […]

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  4. 12 Healthy Homemade Candy Recipes says:
    October 31, 2011 at 8:30 am

    […] Old-Fashioned Caramel Corn: I adapted my husband’s favorite caramel corn recipe from his younger years to only include […]

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