Candy Corn Caramel Popcorn

Candy corn caramel popcorn is the fall popcorn mix you've been dreaming of! Homemade caramel corn and colorful candy corn are a perfect match in this sweet snack.

If you've ever walked by the Target dollar section, you know this scenario.

I went in looking for something very specific. I can't remember what it was now but I can tell you what it definitely wasn't: candy corn.

But as I got distracted by the super fun fall and Halloween-themed decor pieces in the dollar section, I also stumbled upon a big bag of candy corn and of course it was only a dollar. So I had to get it.

As I finished the rest of my shopping trip, the reason for the candy corn became much more apparent:

I decided that the combination of caramel-coated popcorn and candy corn was something I definitely needed in my life. So this homemade recipe for Candy Corn Caramel Popcorn was born!

In our house, popcorn is pretty sacred. My mom loves her popcorn especially if it comes straight from the movie theatre. It's also a staple for every movie date night at home.

However, call me a dessert person, but sometimes I have a craving for something sweet! Trust me, I love salty, buttery, movie theatre popcorn as much as the next girl, but there's nothing like caramel popcorn.

That's why this candy popcorn mix is the perfect solution to satisfy my mom's constant craving for popcorn and my desire for dessert.

Candy Corn Caramel Popcorn recipe

This recipe combines just two ingredients:

• Candy corn — The triangle-shaped candy of yellow, orange and white stripes. The kind you can only get in the fall, right before Halloween.
• Caramel popcorn — Popcorn with a sweet, crunchy caramel coating. You can buy your caramel corn, but you guys know that from-scratch recipes are my go-to around here.

The best part about this popcorn recipe is it's so easy to make.

This popcorn recipe takes a little over an hour to make from start to finish, but it's a recipe you can drop in the oven and forget about for an hour or so while you work on something else.

I served it in black & white popcorn boxes for a Halloween party, but feel free to throw it into a big bowl with a scoop for people to serve themselves.

Halloween popcorn mix

This mix is so fun for fall. You could serve this Halloween popcorn at a costume party, or you could turn it into Thanksgiving popcorn to serve as munchies while watching the parade or some football.

When I was a kid, my mom used to serve "popcorn hands" for Halloween. She would stuff popcorn into plastic gloves and used candy corn as the "fingernails." So silly but so fun for kiddos — this caramel corn would be perfect for that!

You can easily sub out your favorite holiday candy to make this a seasonal favorite!

I recently learned that candy corn can come in all kinds of colors and flavors, so you can make this candy corn popcorn for any holiday.

Red & green Christmas candy corn? Mix it with popcorn. Pastel-colored Easter candy corn? Mix it with popcorn.

You could also form the whole mixture into Halloween popcorn balls! The possibilities for this popcorn mix are really endless.

Popcorn mix-in ingredients

While I keep my recipe pretty simple, there are tons more mix-ins you could add to your Halloween popcorn mix. Here are a few ideas:

• orange & black sprinkles
• chocolate sprinkles
• mini chocolate chips
• sea salt
• Halloween-colored M&Ms
• pieces of Halloween candy like Snickers or Reese's Cups
• a drizzle of dark, milk or white chocolate

You could have a lot of fun with this recipe to make it your own! Who doesn't love a popcorn mix?

How to make caramel corn

To start this Candy Corn Caramel Popcorn recipe, you'll need to make popcorn and let it cool. (That is, if you're not buying caramel popcorn at the store — which is a totally great shortcut!)

Then tart up the oven while you make caramel on the stove. We will coat the popcorn in caramel, and then bake it to set it, and it will be ready to eat!

To make caramel corn, you will need:

• popped popcorn — you can buy it, make it on the stove, in the microwave, in an air popper or however you like! (You will need about 10 cups of popped popcorn, which is what you'll get from ⅓ cup unpopped kernels.)
• light brown sugar
• light corn syrup
• unsalted butter
• cream of tartar
• kosher salt
• baking soda

You will mix it together on the stove. I promise it's not too difficult! Once you put it in the oven, it will cook a while so that it hardens onto the popcorn pieces, and then you will have perfect, homemade caramel popcorn!

I love making it myself because you can salt the caramel popcorn to taste because I don't mind it a little on the sweet & salty side!

This spooky popcorn is a part of Fall Welcome Week with A Savory Feast! Be sure to pop on over and see the other fun posts welcoming the first week of fall.

What is your favorite way to use candy corn?