Homemade Caramel Popcorn Recipe (without Corn Syrup) (2024)

FAQs

Why do you need corn syrup in caramel? ›

Why do I add corn syrup? Corn syrup acts as an "interfering agent" in this and many other candy recipes. It contains long chains of glucose molecules that tend to keep the sucrose molecules in the candy syrup from crystallizing. Lots of sucrose crystals would results in grainy caramels.

These days, I prefer using honey to sugar or corn syrup whenever I make my caramel corn. In our house, we've been working through a gallon of local raw raspberry honey, which definitely has a stronger flavor than a mild clover honey, but still works perfectly in this recipe.

Because corn syrup plays an important role in developing texture for many recipes, it's best not to leave it out. Instead of omitting it altogether, choose an alternative as a worthy swap.

You can replace 1 cup of corn syrup with one of these simple substitutes: 1 cup sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water. 1 cup honey. 1 cup light molasses.

Wet caramel is made by combining sugar and a liquid and cooking them together, while dry caramel is made from just sugar, heated in a dry pan until it liquefies and browns.

If one wants to substitute another liquid sweetener, such as corn syrup, honey, or golden syrup, for granulated sugar, what proportion can one use? In general, liquid sweeteners should be used in a 3/4s proportion to granulated sugar if substituting.

Corn syrup and honey are equal replacements (meaning you can substitute 1 cup honey for 1 cup corn syrup). But similar to sugar, honey won't prevent crystallization, so it's not the best choice for making caramel or candy. That said, it can work well in other recipes as long as you don't mind its distinct flavor.

Popular substitutes for corn syrup include maple syrup, honey, and molasses, among others. You may need to adjust the amount with some substitutes.

Wrong. Not all honey is the same, or even real for that matter. In fact, a large percentage of honey is adulterated – meaning it's been diluted with other ingredients like corn syrup, glucose or beet syrup. Some brands may even contain chemically modified sugars to make their product look like honey when it's not.

Here's the good news about honey. Unlike table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup (the most commonly used sweeteners in the U.S.), honey contains other nutrients that studies show to be beneficial to health. The biggest health boost comes from the antioxidants in honey.

Why put a whole egg in caramel popcorn? ›

While some people said that she added the egg to absorb extra heat, others had different views. "Whole eggs absorb excess heat so it's an easy way to regulate the temperature balance of the other ingredients," a user wrote.

Caramel corn will taste soft and chewy right out of the oven. Give it some time to cool. If it's still tasting soggy after 1–2 hours of cooling at room temperature, you may have under-baked the caramel corn. 1 hour in the oven is usually plenty.

In a small saucepan, bring butter, sugar, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons water to a boil, stirring constantly. Working quickly, drizzle popcorn with sugar syrup, and toss. Spread popcorn evenly on prepared baking sheet. Bake, tossing occasionally, until golden and shiny, about 40 minutes.

Maple syrup fits the bill. A generous half cup infused my caramels with pure, sweet, fall flavor. Each bite is salty, chewy, and full of maple sugar.

Whether you're making brittle or butterscotch, adding corn syrup along with the sugar results in smooth, never-grainy caramel. It serves a similar role in recipes for meringue or marshmallows, preventing the hot sugar syrup from going clumpy, and gives the topping on this sweet potato-pecan pie a glossy sheen.