Bacon Caramel Popcorn Balls Recipes

Steps:

• Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• Arrange bacon slices close together and slightly overlapping onto the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle bacon slices evenly with maple syrup.
• Place the baking sheet in the cold oven; set temperature to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Bake until bacon is crisp, about 20 minutes.
• Transfer bacon slices to a paper towel-lined plate to cool. Crumble cooled bacon.
• Reduce oven temperature to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil.
• Lightly mix popcorn, rice cereal, wheat cereal, peanuts, pretzels, and crumbled bacon together in a large bowl. Transfer to the prepared baking sheets.
• Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat; mix brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt into the melted butter. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to boil. Boil mixture, without stirring, for 4 minutes.
• Place popcorn mixture in the preheated oven to warm.
• Remove the butter mixture from heat and mix in vanilla extract and baking soda until caramel begins to foam. Drizzle caramel in a thin stream over popcorn mixture, tossing to evenly coat.
• Bake caramel corn in the oven, stirring every 15 minutes, until caramel coating is set, 1 hour. Let caramel corn cool completely before breaking into pieces.

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 250º.
• Melt 1 cup of butter over medium heat. Mix in brown sugar, corn syrup and sea salt and then stir until boiling at the edges. Lower the heat slightly and let boil until the caramel is 250º. Remove from heat and add the baking soda and bourbon. Once fully incorporated, stir in the bacon.
• Divide the popcorn into two very lightly greased roasting pans and coat with the caramel. Mix well and then put the popcorn into the preheated oven for about 45 minutes to an hour, mixing every 10-15 minutes so the kernels of popped corn is coated in bourbon bacon coating.
• Once done, pour onto either parchment paper or wax paper to cool and break into pieces.
• Refrigerate.

Steps:

• Add 1 tablespoon of the oil to a 4 quart saucepan, and heat over high heat. When oil is hot, add 1/2 cup of popping corn. Keep pan moving constantly. When corn stops popping, remove from heat. Place popped corn in oven to keep warm. Repeat until all corn has been popped. Set aside.
• In a medium saucepan with a candy thermometer inserted, combine butter, sugar, and corn syrup. Stir well and bring to boiling over medium heat. Stir in condensed milk; simmer, stirring constantly, until thermometer reads 238 degrees F (114 degrees C). Stir in vanilla.
• Pour caramel over popped corn and stir to coat. Butter hands lightly; shape popcorn into balls about 3 1/2 inches in diameter.

Steps:

• Pour popcorn into a large bowl.
• Combine brown sugar, condensed milk, corn syrup, butter, and vanilla extract in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until a candy thermometer reads 234 degrees F (112 degrees C), about 5 minutes. Pour over popcorn; stir to coat evenly.
• Scoop some of the popcorn mixture onto a piece of plastic wrap. Gather and twist the plastic wrap to shape into a ball. Place popcorn ball on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper; repeat with remaining mixture. Let cool until set, about 5 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
• Place popped popcorn in a very large bowl. Prepare 2 sheet pans with nonstick spray and line with aluminum foil.
• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, par-cook the bacon and render the bacon fat. Once the bacon has cooked, strain the bacon fat from the bacon pieces and reserve the fat. Transfer the cooked bacon pieces to paper towels and continue to drain the excess fat. Then add to popcorn.
• In the saucepan already used, add the butter and bacon fat (add more bacon fat as needed). Heat until the butter has fully melted.
• Add the brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to a boil and stir constantly. Continue to boil without stirring for 4 minutes.
• Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla.
• Pour in a thin stream over popcorn, stirring to coat evenly.
• Divide the mixture evenly between sheet pans and bake, stirring every 15 minutes for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool completely before breaking into pieces.
• Store in an airtight container for up to one week.