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Here’s a delicious, easy to make caramel puff corn recipe that’s perfect for family movie night or anytime you want a sweet treat. This article explains the steps, showing you exactly how to make it.
Caramel Puff Corn takes an ordinary snack food and turns into a sweet treat that you won’t be able to stop yourself from eating! Seriously, this treat is addicting. And, it’s cheap to make!
Buttery caramel combines with the salty goodness of puff corn in this recipe which is sure to be loved by all who try it.
Table of Contents
Caramel Corn Puff Recipe
You know what puff corn is, right? That childhood memory of the yellow puffed corn that made an awesome salty snack. Who knew that it could be morphed into the most delicious crack, I mean snack of all time.
This Caramel Puff Corn is a perfect addition to any get together – especially at the holidays. Or even better, what a great gift. It’s also budget-friendly compared to other holiday goodies such as nuts.
Puffed corn can be found in most larger grocery stores, typically in the chip aisle. Around the holidays, it is often found at smaller chain stores such as Aldi too. Or, shop for it here at Amazon.
These two products are completely different. Puffed corn is a baked, corn meal that is put under high pressure during processing. Once the cornmeal comes out of the high pressure, steam is created causing it to immediately “puff.”
If you are looking for a caramel corn recipe, try our grandma’s recipe.
Recipe FAQs
- For the perfect caramel sauce, cook until soft ball stage. What is soft ball stage? If you drop a little caramel into cool water, it will form a ball as opposed to being stringy. Try it!
- Spray the inside of the bowl used for stirring caramel and puffed corn together for easy removal and less sticking.
- Use a sheet pan with sides for the baking stage; this keeps the sweet corn puffs from falling off.
- Stir every 15 minutes during the baking stage to prevent the caramel puffed corn from sticking together.
- Let this old Dutch caramel puff corn cool completely before packaging.
- Want something more savory? Try our bold and spicy homemade Chex Mix.
Easy Candy Recipe
It is the same story but with a different recipe as we’ve told on here before. This recipe once again comes from a co-worker of Barbara’s. At every pitch-in, everyone demands that she brings this because they all love it so much.
Barbara asked her to share her best ever caramel puffed corn recipe, and she was delighted to pass it on for us to share on here.
The best part of her sharing was when she was walking Barbara through the steps, and she explained how to know when the sugar was exactly right. Her mom taught her, and she passed it on to Barbara. The look on her face as she talked about her mom was priceless.
So what’s the secret for this puffcorn crack recipe?
The caramel sauce is ready when it’s at a “soft ball” stage. This means that if you drop a little drop of the sauce into cool water, it will form a ball as opposed to being stringy.
Ingredients
- Puff Corn
- Butter
- Light Brown Sugar
- Corn Syrup
- Salt
HOW TO MAKE CARAMEL PUFF CORN
Step By Step Instructions
- Place puff corn in a large bowl; set aside.
- In a saucepan, heat butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and salt until it comes to a rolling boil. Boil rapidly for 1 minute or until it comes to the soft ball stage.
- Remove from heat, and pour caramel mixture over puff corn.
- Spread onto a baking sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. A pan with sides is the best option.
- Bake in a 200 degree F oven for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
- Let cool. Package it up in pretty, airtight containers to make the perfect gift.
Storage Instructions
Let the candy cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to a month at room temperature.
For the full recipe and ingredient list for caramel corn puffs, scroll to the bottom of this post.
Old Fashioned Christmas Candy Recipes
Fantasy Fudge
Cathedral Windows
Copycat Mall Nuts
Looking for other unique holiday gift ideas? Try our White Chocolate Snack Mix, Crock Pot Chili Nuts, and Crock Pot Banana Bread.
Linking up to Weekend Potluck!
Linking up to Meal Plan Monday!
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5 from 1 vote
Caramel Puff Corn
Caramel Puff Corn takes an ordinary snack food and turns into a sweet treat that you won't be able to stop yourself from eating! Seriously, this treat is addicting. And, it's cheap to make!
Prep Time10 minutes mins
Cook Time1 hour hr
Total Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: best ever caramel puff corn, caramel corn puffs, caramel puff corn, caramel puffed corn, old dutch caramel puff corn recipe, puffcorn crack recipe, puffed corn vs popcorn, sweet corn puff recipe, where to buy puff corn
Servings: 8
Calories: 256kcal
Author: Barbara
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3.5 oz. butter-flavor puffed corn
Instructions
Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
Add corn syrup, butter, brown sugar and salt to a saucepan.
Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a rolling boil for 1 full minute or until the sauce is at the soft ball stage.
In a bowl, pour the caramel sauce over the puffed corn, stirring constantly until evenly coated. Spray the bowl with non-stick baking spray before adding the sauce and puffed corn to prevent it from sticking.
Pour onto a large sheet pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
Cook at 200 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
Cool on the pan.
Video
Notes
- You can find Puff Corn in the chip aisle!
- For the perfect caramel sauce, cook until soft ball stage. What is soft ball stage? If you drop a little caramel into cool water, it will form a ball as opposed to being stringy. Try it!
- Spray the inside of the bowl used for stirring caramel and puffed corn together for easy removal and less sticking.
- Use a sheet pan with sides for the baking stage; this keeps them from falling off.
- Stir every 15 minutes during the baking stage to prevent the caramel puffed corn from sticking together.
- Let cool completely before packaging.
- These treats go great with Cinnamon Roasted Pecans.
Nutrition
Calories: 256kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 342mg | Potassium: 48mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 35g | Vitamin A: 177IU | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 1mg
