On Monday morning I did something totally crazy.
I reached for my cell, dialed Time Warner and cancelled my cable. This was a desperate measure to take my life back. Sound dramatic? Probably. But last week I called my mom to discuss Bethenny and Jason’s marriage, which sort of seems on the rocks (right?!!?). And on Sunday night I was all like, “Whoa Cythia! That orphan comment you said about Kim was craaaazy messed up. KIM, DON’T FORGIVE HER!”
I have to draw the line sometimes, you know? Being invested in TV relationships is just too much for me right now. I can’t deal. I’d rather spend my life thinking about other things…like bacon and popcorn, and cookies with brown butter in them.
Also, this means I have more money to spend on shoes. Shoes > Cable. DUH!
I woke up thinking about popcorn, literally. I dreamed this popcorn situation while laying in bed before my alarm went off.
My first brain-thought when I get up is always coffee. Always.
So, coffee lead to breakfast foods. Breakfast foods lead to bacon. Bacon lead to something sweet…like maple syrup.
Maple syrup lead to sugar, which then transformed into slightly browned, creamy caramel. And caramel usually leads to salt. And THEN salt lead to popcorn.
(And then I thought to make it spicy while in the shower.)
And then BOOM! Spicy Caramel Bacon Popcorn.
A fun lesson I learned: boiling sugar, checking Instagram, checking Twitter, texting AND taking pictures is totally an accident waiting to happen.
I have a blister on two of my fingers now. No biggie! Just don’t do what I did.
This caramel cooks up like a champ–nothing too scary. All you gotta do is work swiftly, so make sure you have all your stuff set-up and ready to go, beforehand.
What I love about this popcorn recipe is that the bacon bits are added to the caramel, so they’re coated, too! That mixture is poured over the popcorn. This means the bacon is, like, stuck to the popcorn. AWESOME.
This caramel popcorn has a good punch of heat and the salty bacon works wonders with the caramel.
P.S. Is it bad that I already sorta miss my cable?! The OC Housewives are gonna be on tomorrow and I’m gonna miss it. SADFACE!
Spicy Caramel Bacon Popcorn
5-6 slices of bacon
Nonstick cooking spray
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup popcorn kernels
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 cups white granulated sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment and lay bacon side-by-side. Transfer baking sheet to hot oven and cook bacon for 15 minutes, and until crispy and brown. Remove and place on paper towels to drain. When cool, cut into dice-sized pieces.
2. Lightly coat two large heatproof rubber spatulas and a large mixing bowl with nonstick cooking spray. In a large saucepan or pot with a lid, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the popcorn kernels, cover, and keep the saucepan moving until all of the kernels have popped, about 4 minutes. Transfer the popped popcorn to the large prepared bowl, removing any unpopped kernels.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the baking soda and cayenne pepper. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, butter, salt, and 1/2 cup water. Cook over high heat, without stirring, until the mixture becomes a light golden-yellow caramel, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and carefully whisk in the baking soda mixture (the mixture will bubble up). Quickly fold in bacon bits. Pour the caramel over the popcorn and toss, like a salad, until all of the popcorn is evenly coated with the caramel.
4. Pour the popcorn onto a large baking pan and quickly flatten and separate it into small pieces while it is still warm. Cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes. Once it is cool, store it in a well-sealed airtight container.
5. Caramel popcorn will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Adapted from The Craft of Baking
I’m trying this recipe this weekend! Question: does the popcorn crisp like most caramel popcorn or does it stay gooey/sticky? Thanks! Love your blog!
It ends up being a little soggy when you add the caramel but it hardens so it ends up being crisp!
Hi! I just made this recipe and I have to tell you, we can NOT stop eating it! This popcorn is utterly AMAZING! Kudos to you! Perfect combination of spicy, salty, smokey and sweet! You have managed to cover all the craving bases! I’ll be making this over and over and this coming from someone who has never attempted to make caramel anything and have always been a bit intimidated by it. Turned out perfectly. Thanks for a terrific recipe!
Just made it!!!!! AMAZING! Spray your bowl with non-stick spray, the Carmel is hard to get off!!
Awesome! YAY! And good tip.
I made this for a movie night with my boyfriend and it was delish. He loved it! and except for a few burns on my fingers (from mixing the caramel and popcorn) it turned out perfectly! thanks!
oh, crap. it’s so delicious. and now I have a tub of it.
I hadda to cut down the caramel cooking time to *right* when it starts to turn (took about 5-6 min on high heat), as I had a “first batch incident” with over cooked caramel.
but… no really. crap! SoDamnGood!
Caramel is tricky BUT AM SO GLAD you like it!
OMG!! It’s like you and I are twins separated at birth!!! The first paragraph of this blog sounded EXACTLY like me!! My husband tells me “Bethenny isn’t your friend, you don’t know her or have lunch with her, she’s on TV!!” Whatever!! I’m gonna totally make this amaze popcorn today!! Love your site!!
Sounds AMAZING–and I will try it! But–why not use the fat from cooking the bacon to pop the popcorn kernels in????
So I saw the recipe and pictures and instantly became inspired to go in the kitchen and make this. Everything was going awesome until the caramel burned in an instant. It hadn’t been 10 minutes yet and the color changed so quickly i missed the hint to take it off the heat! I have made caramel before but not like this (not that there is anything wrong with this recipe… it was me…i admit it!). I am going to attempt it again tomorrow after I get more sugar! Heehee. I was so hoping to chow down on this while watching The X Factor 😉 It looks great but unfortunately mine is burnt 🙁
Hi Daniah, sorry this caramel gave you trouble. Hopefully it’ll work out great tomorrow. xo
Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!! I took it off too soon!!!!! I was so paranoid of burning it that it came out a gritty, sandy texture. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I usually rock my kitchen!!! I also had a 1,3, and 4 year old running around the house which may have contributed to the lack of focus. I tried 🙂
Just wanted to let you know we used this recipe for a ham-themed first birthday party, and it was a huge hit. We blogged about the party here (http://everybodysinvited.in/2012/11/08/our-events-hattie-hams-1st-birthday/), and devoted special attention to your recipe here (http://everybodysinvited.in/2012/11/12/spicy-caramel-bacon-popcorn/). Thanks for the inspiration!
YAY! Awesome. Love it. The birthday looked super cute, too!
I just made this but it didn’t work out. The caramel never turned brown. And it was all super bubbly with white foam on top before i even added the baking soda. I poured it over the popcorn and it was almost clear, when it set it was all chalky and grainy and WAY too sweet, like eating straight sugar. The bacon didn’t stick either. Any idea what I may have done wrong or how that could have happened?
It takes a while for sugar to carmamelize and once it starts the process goes quickly. most of the water must evaporate before the carmelization process even starts. if you ve never made caramel before you’re almost guaranteed to burn sugar at least once.
I just made this and I’m still shaking from fear! When I added the soda mixture it literally exploded out of my pan, I barely got it to the sink without it getting on me! It is all over my kitchen floor and sink! What the heck? I have made so many candy recipes, and know that it puffs up with the soda, but this was unbelievable! I am seriously lucky that I’m not in the ER!
I honestly thought this was some practical joke, that is definitely not funny! Are you sure you have the measurements right on the soda?
OH MY! That’s awful. It definitely didn’t explode with me and a various people have made it with success so I’m not really sure. The 1 1/2 teaspoons should be just fine. You didn’t add 1 1/2 tablespoons, right? :/
Just made this for a party last night, everyone loved it! Maybe go a little easy on the cayenne pepper
Any way to make this last longer than 4 days? I want to make it as a gift for someone, but I won’t be seeing them for at least 7 days and very little time to make it within the 4 day time span before seeing them.
Hmm…in theory the bacon should last in the fridge for up to 7 days, I just personally wouldn’t chance it. You can always make this and leave the bacon out. I’d recommend making this and simply leaving the bacon out. 🙂
thanks for the response, i was able to postpone making it for a few days. made it. its delicious!
My family and I are going on a picnic today and I made this recipe as a salty-sweet snack. It turned out great! I used an air popper for the popcorn and nice, thick sliced bacon. the caramel is just spicy enough and cools extra crunchy. Definitely a repeat recipe and a real crowd pleaser! I’d love a caramel variation with maple syrup in it!
YES! So glad you enjoyed.
Not to disagree with Lauren– but do NOT store that bacon grease.
Why? As a full-time bacon-loving dude, I suggest the following:
Cook the bacon first. Put the grease in the pot you’re going to make popcorn in and use it in lieu of the cooking oil. Trust me, with absolutely no other preparation, your popcorn is going to be approximately 150% more awesome. Seriously, try it. Just try the popcorn before you put the caramel over it. It’s still AMAZING.
Also, as the aforementioned fully-qualified bacon dude…thanks. This recipe just made my weekend.