Pumpkin-Pie Caramel Corn, Microwave Style and Two Secrets to Save Money

You probably all know this already, but it was news to me! ................ I just learned that you can ...................
................... make popcorn in the microwave ................. in a brown paper lunch bag! It's cheap (costs pennies per batch), nutritious (you can make it with no added oil and no artificial ingredients), super easy and no mess (just throw out the bag when you're done!).

One thing I love about popcorn is that there are infinite flavor variations ............. just try googling  "flavored popcorn recipes" ................ you'll flip at how many links come up. I clicked on the Martha Stewart link and found four delicious sounding variations: Cajun, Curry, Italian and Southwestern, just on that one link alone.

I was in the mood for caramel corn and decided to have some fun of my own today. I used my Microwave Caramel Corn recipe, adapted it a bit and gave it an seasonal twist with pumpkin pie spice and pecans. It's delicious and would be perfect for gift giving ................ if you can resist gobbling it up yourself, as it's quite addictive............. don't ask me how I know ...............

Oh, and speaking of pumpkin pie spice, I'm including a recipe for making it yourself. If you can measure and stir you've got it made (literally) and you'll be saving yourself a chunk of change. Spices can be incredibly expensive, especially the "gourmet" blends such as pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice. You probably have all the ingredients right on your spice shelf, so don't waste the money.

I do recommend though, to buy a good quality popcorn. The first batch I made with some generic brand popcorn that's been in my pantry for months. I didn't really like how small and dry the kernels looked in the finished caramel corn, they even tasted dry................ I bought some fresh, high quality popcorn and the difference was phenomenal; big fluffy popcorn with great flavor, even before I stirred the delicious caramel in.

So there you have it! Three-in-one today; popcorn in a lunch bag, pumpkin pie spice from scratch and a wonderfully simple recipe for a delightful autumn-inspired caramel corn. Don't worry I won't charge you a penny more than a normal day at The Café :).

P.S. My husband and I work as a team at The Café. I'm the crazy cook and he's the phenomenal photographer (and chief taste tester, of course). Speaking of photography, I've thought he's done a wonderful job since day one but if you want to see something amazing, check out the incredible progress he's made since I did my original post on caramel corn ............... did you look? Amazing, isn't it?

****One last but definitely not least thing. I've found over the last year and half, since I started blogging, that the blogosphere is full of wonderful people. One of them is my friend Veronica form Veronica's Cornucopia who's having a bake sale today. Not just any bake sale, but a bake sale for a fellow blogger who's run into some serious health problems recently and doesn't have the money to pay for some very hefty bills. Veronica, out of the great kindness of her heart, is having an online fund-raising bake sale for Suzie.She doesn't know Suzie except virtually and neither do most of us.  Our hearts go out to Suzie and we hope and pray for the best outcome for her. You can read more about it out here. I've donate some of my favorite cookies and there's a ton of other delicious looking stuff for sale.

Pumpkin Pie & Pecan Caramel Corn

Ingredients:
14 cups popped popcorn (I make mine in the microwave in a brown paper lunch bag, see recipe below)
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup butter
¼ cup corn syrup
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup roughly chopped pecans

Instructions:
1. In a large microwave safe bowl (mine is 7 quarts), combine the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup vanilla and salt. Place in microwave and heat on high for one minute. Stir to mix well and return to microwave, heat another 2 minutes, stirring after each minute, to dissolve all sugar. Add baking soda and stir well. Mixture will foam up a bit. Add pecans and stir to coat.

2. Immediately add popcorn to bowl with the brown sugar mixture. Stir gently, trying to coat popcorn as much as possible with caramel. Don't worry about getting every piece covered at this point. I stir from the bottom up, being careful not to break the popcorn pieces as I stir.

3. Place bowl back in microwave and cover loosely. Cook for 1 minute on high. Remove from microwave and stir. Cook again for one minute, stir and repeat for one more minute. Turn popcorn mixture out onto waxed paper to cool.

4. Popcorn is ready to enjoy at this point. However, if you're not eating it right away, or you are planning to give it as a gift I recommend one more step. Preheat oven to 200˚F. Lift up parchment paper (with caramel corn on top) and place on a sheet pan. Bake in oven for 30 minutes. This will ensure that your popcorn stays nice and crisp.

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Microwave Popcorn

Ingredients:
½ cup good quality, fresh popcorn kernels

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon salt (I like to use popcorn salt as it's very fine and tends to combine better)

Instructions:
1. Combine popcorn, oil and salt in a small bowl and stir to coat well. Pour popcorn mixture into a brown paper lunch bag (I like to use the jumbo lunch bags). Fold the top down twice. 

2. Place bag in microwave with folded side down. Microwave on high for 2½-3 minutes or until popping slows down and there is a second or two between pops. Watch carefully at this point as it can burn quickly.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
4 teaspoons ground ginger
3 teaspoons ground allspice

Instructions:
1. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well. Store in air tight container. If you don't need this much, just halve the recipe.

Adapted from AllRecipes

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