You're never going to look at those giant tins the same way again!

Caramel corn is pretty awesome. I think that’s one thing we can all agree upon. I mean, what’s not to love? It’s sweet, crunchy, sticky and just plain delicious. What’s especially awesome is that making it at home is so much cheaper and more flavorful than buying it bagged or in those massive tins you get around the holidays.

We thought we'd throw our hat into the ring and try making caramel corn ourselves. The brainstorming began when we realized that we couldn't just settle on the conventional. We decided to incorporate our Maple Chipotle Mashup Blend into the recipe to see what would happen (shameless self-promotion.) After many trials and errors we finally figured out the right ratios for our "Maple Chipotle Caramel Corn!" It may be blasphemous to say but our recipe came out even better than the stuff you get at carnivals!  The light maple flavor comes through just enough and the heat from the chipotle chilies is incredible. It's anything but conventional which is precisely why we love it!

So here it is. This recipe yields about 8 cups so you can give it as a gift or eat it all yourself (we prefer the latter.) Just a warning, it’s going to be hard going back to regular caramel corn after making this!

Here’s what you need:

• 12 cups freshly popped popcorn (There are 13 cups in a standard bag of microwavable popcorn, or if you have a machine, 1 cup yields approximately 12 cups)
• 1/2 cup salted butter (1 entire stick)
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed (we used light, but dark shouldn't be a problem)
• 2-3 tbsp Wayward Gourmet Maple Chipotle Mashup Spice Blend
• 1/4 cups corn syrup (light or dark, doesn't matter)
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• Cookie sheet
• Stockpot or large saucepan
• Cooking spray
• Aluminum foil
• Willpower to not eat the ingredients before recipe is made

Here's what you do:

1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
3. Melt butter in the stockpot over medium-high heat.
4. Slowly stir in brown sugar and corn syrup.
5. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until mixture is a dark, golden color.
6. Remove from heat and whisk in Maple Chipotle Mashup, baking soda, and vanilla.
7. Pour in popcorn and mix gently until it's all evenly coated.
8. Spread everything onto your cookie sheet in one even layer. You may need 2 sheets depending on the size of the sheets.
9. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring around every 5 minutes or so, until the caramel corn is a dark amber color. 
10. Transfer to a cool place to allow to, well, cool (duh).
11. Once cooled, break up caramel corn and put in an airtight container, bag or just right in your mouth!

Let us know how it turned out, we love to see your creations on Instagram #WaywardGourmet and Twitter @WaywardGourmet. We'll post your deliciousness on our site. 

Cheers!