Crunchy Caramel Corn

I had nothing to do with creating this recipe, but Celia and I sure had fun making it with her friends (we liked it so much we made it 2 days in a row!) over the holiday break. It's not exactly light but not terrible either if you just eat a few handfuls, and we can assuage our guilt by knowing we're eating healthy whole grain popcorn. The original recipe calls for 1 cup coarsely chopped cashews to be mixed in with the popcorn, which I think sounds delicious, but none of the kids wanted their caramel corn to have nuts.

Crunchy Caramel Corn (adapted from Every Day Food magazine)
Prep (10 minutes) + Cook (40 minutes)

4 Tbsp. butter
10 cups plain unsalted popcorn (from 1/2 cup kernels)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/8 tsp. kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Spray a large rimmed baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray or brush it with butter. Cook the popcorn according to the package directions and place the cooked popcorn in a large bow.

In a small saucepan, bring the butter, sugar, salt and 2 Tbsp. water to a boil, stirring frequently. Working quickly, drizzle the popcorn with the mixture and toss it thoroughly.

Spread the popcorn on the baking sheet. Bake it until it is golden and shiny, about 40 minutes--it will get a little crisper after it cools. Let it cool and store it in an airtight container for up to 1 week (yeah, right!).