Easy Homemade Caramel Corn
Our Easy Homemade Caramel Corn is a family favorite. It is super yummy and super easy. And you don’t need Corn Syrup for this recipe.
We’ve tried a lot of recipes looking for good, Easy Homemade Caramel Corn that doesn’t use corn syrup. We’ve finally found one that we love. This popcorn tastes amazing … buttery and caramel-y just the way it should. And no corn syrup required! And it could not be easier to make. It has quickly risen up the list of most requested family treats!
Start with approximately 10 cups of popcorn. Make sure you get out all of the un-popped kernels. You don’t want to bite down on one of those! We pop our popcorn on the stove (you can find our directions on How to Make Perfect Popcorn here) but you can use air-popped or microwave.
Melt 1 cup of butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Add 1 cup of light brown sugar and stir until thoroughly mixed.
Stirring continuously, bring the butter and sugar mixture up to a boil on medium heat. When it reaches a boil allow it to cook for 5 minutes without stirring on medium heat. Add the 2 tsp. of vanilla at the 4 minute mark and mix.
At the 5 minute mark, add the 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. This will cause the caramel to change colors and foam up a bit. This is the chemical reaction that you want. The bubbling effect of the baking soda will aerate the caramel and make it lighter and smoother and therefore easier to coat the popcorn.
Drizzle the caramel mixture over the popcorn. Use a spoon to gently fold the popcorn with the mixture until the kernels are all covered.
Pour the popcorn out onto a cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil or a silpat liner.
Allow the Easy Homemade Caramel Corn to cool prior to serving.
Our family loves this popcorn so it has never lasted longer than a day at our house. This popcorn definitely tastes best right after it is made but will keep for a few days in an airtight container.
This Easy Homemade Caramel Corn is super delicious – buttery with a distinct yummy caramel taste. And it could not be easier to make. Make up a batch for your family, you won’t be sorry!
Our Easy Homemade Caramel Corn is a family favorite. It is super yummy and super easy. And you don't need Corn Syrup for this recipe.
Did you Make this Recipe? Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @twosisterscrafting on Instagram so we can see it! 
Easy Homemade Caramel Corn
Ingredients
Instructions
this stuff is so good! and not hard to make, my husband would not stop eating it. will be making it again.
Just made this for my kiddos teachers! So yummy and super easy!! I had to stop my kids from eating it so we could give it to their teachers lol! So I have to get more butter and made a double batch for the kids thanks so much for recipe,we all made it together
This tastes much better if you bake it for 5 mins after adding the sauce at 350. It makes it really crunchy and it keeps longer if your making it for gifts
This recipe is incredible. I was wanting to make caramel popcorn without using cream of tartar or corn syrup and found this one. My sister was skeptical that it would turn out because it wasn’t baked, but OH MY! That you can make it in less than 10 minutes and eat it right away is amazing. We have been snacking on it all morning. Followed the recipe exactly using microwave popcorn.
Hi Susie – so glad you liked it!
Fabulous recipe, tastes so authentic. We loved it!!
Thanks!
Have made this many times…….YUM. Tonight however, I only had 1/2 cup butter so I put in 1/2 cup coconut oil……..YUCK!! It separated and the end was like concrete. Won’t try that again.
I add molasses in place of kero syrup and peanuts normally which turns out like Cracker Jacks………wonderful.
I have tried using Becel margarine and it worked good recipe
We love this popcorn, We make it on Family-gamesnight
Us too!
Great popcorn!!! Followed the carmel recipe perfectly and did a batch of stove top popcorn. Nice and crispy
Fantastic! Addictive!
Thank for the simple receipe for caramel corn, I am going to try it
I am unable to eat butter. Has anybody had success using margarine instead?
We have never tried it but I’m sure it would work.
I tried it with margarine. Still super tasty. 🙂
Good to know! Thanks!
This is truly an easy,delicious Caramel popcorn!!
I’ve been wanting to make carmel corn for years now but kept putting it off because in my mind it was a difficult and messy task!
This recipe was super easy to follow and not messy at all. It is a new favorite in our household. Began with your directions for “perfect popcorn” which resulted in a light and crispy and sweet and buttery carmel corn treat!
Definitely keeping this in my repertoire!!!
I make this all the time for my aunt she said it’s the only way she will eat popcorn. Although I do dry it in the oven for about 15 mins.
At what temp do you set the oven for the carmel corn?
Great recipe! My family love this popcorn. Thank you!
I made this 4 times. First 2 were great. Last 2 were oily. Can’t think of even one thing I did different. I used the exact same ingredients. The syrup seemed thicker in the last two batches and didn’t spread as evenly. I wonder if the humidity in the house effects this. We live in Florida and we had the heat on when I made the last batches because it was cold out. Any thoughts? Absolutely LOVED the first 2 batches.
Hi Connie – I found this article (https://www.thespruce.com/why-did-my-butter-separate-when-making-toffee-or-caramel-520448) and it looks like the humidity could be the culprit.
Hmm…but it would seem like if you had all the doors/windows closed and the heat on that would actually result in a DRIER environment than normal for that area…no?
An interesting idea. However this appears to be a standard caramel corn recipe that merely omits the corn syrup. You can do that, however the purpose of the corn syrup is to help prevent crystallization. (Gritty, or grainy). A better choice is to add 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar to the original ingredients. This also helps against crystallization although not as well.
Without any acid or syrup, you at the mercy of nature. Your caramel could be smooth once, grainy the next time. A few careful steps will improve your odds.
Make sure there is no sugar on the sides of the pan once the sugar boils. Wash the sides down with a warm wet brush.
Do not stir the boiling sugar
Do not insert any cold ingredients or utensils after the sugar boils. Warm your vanilla and spoon.
Do not use a metal utensil
Thank you for this! Was looking for an easy and simple way to make caramel popcorn for the kiddos. We loved it! Perfect!
Great recipe! I will probably make it many, many more times, although when I put the vanilla in, some of the caramel splashed out of the pot… Why did it do this? Is there a way to avoid it?
Hi Elizabeth – it is the alcohol in the vanilla hitting the heat of the caramel mixture. It has happened to me. Maybe a bigger pan next time?
There is alcohol in vanilla?!
Hi – Pure Vanilla Extract does contain alcohol but if it says Vanilla Flavoring, it does not.
Have you added peanuts to this? And if so what did you do to the peanuts before you added them? Thanks.
Hi Kim – we haven’t done that yet. But I would add the peanuts before you pour on the caramel mixture so that everything is covered with caramel. And I would use salted peanuts and just add them in as is. Hope that helps! Let us know how it turns out if you try it.
Whats the best way to store the leftover carmel popcorn?
Hi! We store it in an air-tight container. No need to refrigerate it.
Way too dangerous
Proceed with caution.
Best dam Carmel corn I ever made
The best caramel corn I’ve ever tasted! Crunchy when cooled, but the caramel is still sticky when you eat it. You won’t regret making this recipe!
This recipe was very easy to make and so delicious. The only problem was trying not to eat the entire batch in one sitting!
Came out perfectly started out with low heat first then I turned the heat up, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon.
Omg. This tastes soooo good! We took the kids to see the new Star Wars movie last night and came home with two half-eaten bags of popcorn. This morning I tried this recipe to use up the leftover popcorn. I’m glad I read some of the reviews before making it, so that I knew to turn the stove right down as the recipe doesn’t explicitly state that. Otherwise I can see the sauce burning in the pot if it’s left to boil at a high heat. It was so easy and quick to make, and best part was the pot was easy to clean as well.
I can’t stop eating it! It’s the perfect caramel flavour and the popcorn is coated in this velvety caramel sauce. So glad I found your recipe. Every other recipe I found online used corn syrup which is a big no-no for me.
I can see myself making bags of microwave popcorn just so I can make this again!
is it crispy when cooled?
Hi Melanie – it does harden up. It is not sticky if that is what you mean.
Yes!
This may be the best caramel corn ever! I followed the recipe to a “T” except I made 20 cups of popcorn by accident. So, I stretched the recipe amount of caramel across twice the called for popcorn and it was still delicious and coated well without being too coated. I loved it!
Delicious and easy! Made as per instructions but added some pecans. New favourite for me
We madde your recipe for Carmel corn. It came out really good. It’s going to be a family favorite with us also. Thank you for sharing it.
Very good, and easy, 2 bags of microwave popcorn. Brown sugar, butter. & WHITE VANILLA!!
Perfect!
OK – This was definitely the easiest and best tasting caramel recipe for popcorn! I did end up with flambe at one point because my vanilla extract is made with alcohol. When it hit the pan, it totally caught on fire! Put the fire out and continued to cook. All was good! Thanks for a great and easy recipe!
Oh no! That must have been scary! We’re glad it turned out in the end. Thanks for visiting!
Is this caramel popcorn crunchy or chewy?
Hi Ana – I’d all it chewy.
Halved the recipe for the Mrs. and myself.. Buttery deliciousness, first time i tried making caramel and it turned out great! Super easy snacking, thank you!
This is so easy and simple!
my popcorn turned out super grainy. what did I do wrong?????
Hi Connie – Next time … in the beginning, when you are stirring the melted butter and the brown sugar, try working the brown sugar with a spoon or spatula to get it all broken down before the mixture starts boiling.
Thank you for explaining Why it gets grainy…I had my favorite one do that to me several times I finally gave up, but I will try this recipe…
Thank you,
Rexanna
Ohh, maybe this will help me also. I did it twice and both times it was grainy and looked like coffee ♀️
Made this last night for a party. everyone loved it! My hubby said it was the BEST popcorn he has ever had!
This one in going in my ‘Mom’s favourite recipes’ notebook.
Thanks!
My family and I LOVE this recipe! The only thing I did differently was bake the popcorn on 350 for about 5 – 10 mins until it was a dark gold colour! It added an awesome crunch, and i found it stayed fresh longer!
Thanks for the great recipe!!
can i use caramel syrup instead of going through all the trouble of mixing the ingredients?
Hi Albertina – we’ve never tried that. You might want to do a search and see if you can find a recipe that uses caramel syrup as an ingredient. Good luck!
I tried making this and some how the Carmel mixture ended up burning after I added the baking soda to it. I am not sure what I did wrong 🙁 Is there any advice for what to do next time so it does not burn?
HI Krystian – I would suggest turning down the heat a bit. And try Light Brown Sugar instead of Dark Brown Sugar.
The hardest part of this recipe is waiting for it to ccool! The first time I made it, I made a mistake in adding the ingredients and did not boil for the required 5 min. But it was still good, though a bit grainy. The 2nd batch I made as per the recipe. So good and so easy. I did double the recipe because one recipe is not enough! No problem with doubling. Thank you for this recipe.
This was incredible. I made one batch with nuts one batch without. Soooooooo delicious. I took it to small group and everybody raved. They asked me to bring it again next time I am in charge of snacks.
Do you need to bake the caramel corn once you’ve coated the popped corn? if so, what temp and how long?>
Hi! Nope. You don’t need to back this version of caramel corn.
This was the most delicious recipe we ever made! It will become a family tradition for sure! I tried making it a second time and for some reason it had a “grainy” texture instead if the smooth chewy texture of the first batch. The only difference I can think of was that I used dark brown sugar the second time rather than light. Any ideas as to what I may have done wrong?
Hi Summer – It might have been the Dark Brown Sugar. I’m going to try that myself and see what happens.
Hi I have recently found out that there are two kinds of popcorn. The most common popcorn like is sold in stores and movie theaters is butterfly popcorn. The popcorn most often used to make caramel corn is called mushroom popcorn. Mushroom popcorn is supposed to pop up bigger and rounder. I bought some mushroom popcorn on line and will be trying this recipe on it.
We’ve never heard of Mushroom popcorn. We’d love to hear how it turns out!
Love caramel popcorn
Just made this! So good! Thank you! I’ll be trying more soon!
Hi Tracy, isn’t it delcisous? So glad you like it.
Wow, that worked out perfectly…….. thank you! Yum!
Yay! We’re so glad you like it!!!
if i am going to use microwave popcorn, do you know how many bags 10 cups is?
Hi Chloe – you’ll probably need two bags of microwave popcorn depending on what brand you use.
Can I use white instead?
Hi, I have seen recipes that use white sugar instead of brown, but I don’t think that would in this recipe.
Mine isn’t shiny.
Hmmm … I wonder what happened. How did it taste?
What do u do with the 1/4 of caramel mixture after u pour 3/4 of it on the popcorn?
Hi Sheri – that was a typo. Thanks for catching that. You just mix all of the caramel mixture with the popcorn.
Drizzle 3/4 of the Carmel? What do you do with the rest? Confusing.