The One With the Salted Caramel Popcorn

One of my favorite recipe blogs, Two Peas and Their Pod, put out a recipe for this Salted Caramel Easter Popcorn and I had to try it. What makes it Easter-y? The color of the M&Ms. So really, you could make this whenever you want. And I want to make some more right now.

Salted Caramel Popcorn

• 6 cups plain popped popcorn (1 bag microwave popcorn, if that's the way you're going)
• 2 cups salted pretzels, coarsely broken
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup mini marshmallows
• Sea salt for sprinkling
• Pretzel and regular M&Ms

In a large bowl, combine popcorn and pretzels. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, bring sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and water to boil over medium heat.  Boil, without stirring, for 8-12 minutes, until mixture is amber in color. Watch carefully! It will go from white to extremely burnt very quickly. So keep a close eye on it, especially after minute 8. Remove from heat and slow add the heavy cream, being careful as it bubbles up. Stir in mini marshmallows until melted and smooth.
Pour caramel over popcorn and pretzels, using a rubber spatula to stir until mixture is evenly coated. Spread over a baking pan covered in wax paper to cool. Sprinkle with sea salt. Once cooled, break apart and mix in M&Ms. Enjoy!

This was a big hit and was gone very quickly. Next time I'm just going to make a double batch so it lasts a little longer. The crunchy, sweet and salt is very satisfying. And it's great for game nights! Might I suggest eating this while playing Cranium's Party Playoff.

Check out my "Linked and Featured" tab to see where I linked this baby up!