I made my first batch of Caramel Corn several months ago for Girls’ Night. Then I made some again for the holidays. Then I got hooked and have made several more batches. I can’t help myself its delicious. I’ve tried trimming this recipe down several times with less butter and sugar but its never as good and frequently results in the popcorn getting a bit burnt due the lack of buttery goodness; dry popcorn pieces in the oven for 45 minutes = not tasty.  So after much testing, this is what I arrived at. Its tasty! I typically use 94% Fat Free Butter Popcorn since there’s extra buttery sugary goodness that gets poured all over it. Makes me feel not so guilty

The super bowl is coming up which is the perfect excuse to whip up a batch of this popcorn! So go get busy!

Caramel Popcorn

1/2 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 bags microwave popped popcorn (~12 cups)

Preheat oven to 250°F . Place freshly popped popcorn in a very large bowl.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil without stirring 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla. Pour in a thin stream over popcorn, stirring to coat.

Place in two large shallow baking dishes and bake in preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely before breaking into pieces.

Source: Adapted from Good Things Catered

When it comes to fixing food treats for care packages going to friends. I always end up sending nothing but cookies and/or other sweets. I rarely make snacks that aren’t sweet, primarily because I’ve never put much thought into making non-sweet homemade snacks! If I’m in the mood for something I go for some goldfish. I could live off goldfish. But I recently sent a package to a friend and wanted to do something other than sugar so some quick searching and I decided to try these crackers out from Amber’s blog. Simple, quick to throw together, inexpensive and tasty.

Ranch Style Oyster Crackers

14 oz oyster crackers
3 Tbsp dry Ranch seasoning mix
1/3 c canola oil
1/2 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the dressing mix, dill, canola oil, and garlic powder. Add oyster crackers, and toss to coat. Spread crackers out evenly on a baking sheet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, stirring gently after 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and allow to cool before serving.

Source: Amber’s Delectable Delights

Our close friends recently made the decision to switch to a vegan lifestyle after struggling with food allergies with their 2.5 year old son. They’re our most frequent dinner guests, so I’ve been doing a lot of research and searching for recipes/meals that our guests will enjoy as well as dearest hubby. For a snack for the superbowl yesterday I decided to make some homemade crackers and roasted red pepper dip. These crackers were AMAZING. They were easy to make and delicious. I’m never buying crackers again (with the exception of goldfish cause you can’t beat goldfish!)

Some flavor combinations I chose: Sea salt, Crushed Black Pepper & Sea Salt, Seasame Seeds, Cajun seasoning & Italian Parmesan. The cajun ones were actually probably my favorite (and hubby’s), followed by the Seasame. It was fun playing with the different flavor combinations and shapes!

Pop over to Heidi’s website for some suggestions regarding flours and some other tips!

Olive Oil Crackers

1 1/2 c semolina flour
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 c warm water
1/3 c extra virgin olive oil

Whisk together the flours and salt. Add the water and olive oil. Using a mixer with a dough hook attachment mix the dough at medium speed for about 5 – 7 minutes. Alternately, feel free to mix and then knead by hand on a floured counter top. The dough should be just a bit tacky – not too dry, not too sticky to work with. If you need to add a bit more water (or flour) do so.

When you are done mixing, shape the dough into a large ball. Now cut into twelve equal-sized pieces. Gently rub each piece with a bit of olive oil, shape into a small ball and place on a plate. Cover with a clean dishtowel or plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 30 – 60 minutes.

While the dough is resting, preheat your oven to 450°F degrees. Insert a pizza stone if you have one.

When the dough is done resting, flatten one dough ball. Using a rolling pin or a pasta machine, shape into a flat strip of dough – I can usually get down to the 4 setting on my pasta machine w/o trouble. Pull the dough out a bit thinner by hand (the way you might pull pizza dough). You can also cut the dough into whatever shape you like at this point. Set dough on a floured (or cornmeal dusted) baking sheet, add any extra toppings, and slide into the oven (onto the pizza stone). Repeat the process for the remaining dough balls, baking in small batches. If you don’t have a pizza stone, bake crackers a few at a time on baking sheets.

Source: Heidi Swanson, 101cookbooks.com

If I had to chose one snack to eat the rest of my life, it’d probably be soft pretzels (well maybe goldfish)… but point is, I absolutely love soft pretzels. I’ve been wanting to try making them for months and I decided today was the day! I had several recipes saved but decided to try Candace’s over at I Shot the Chef. I tweaked it a little bit by adding a little more brown sugar and I portioned the recipe different. I’ve posted the recipe as I made it below.

They turned out wonderfully! Thanks Candace!

Soft Pretzels

1 c warm water (110 degrees)
1 package (or 2 1/4 tsp) dry active yeast
2 Tbsp brown sugar
3 c flour
2 Tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp salt
8 c water
4 tbsp baking soda
1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water
2 Tbsp kosher salt

1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let stand for 10 minutes to bloom. Add the water/yeast along with the melted butter, brown sugar, salt and 2 3/4 cups of the flour to your heavy-duty mixer and knead dough for about 8 minutes, adding the last 1/4 cup of flour if necessary. You can also do this by hand. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky, but very uniform and smooth. Place dough in a large oiled bowl, and let rise for 1 hour, until doubled.

2. Punch down, and divide the dough into 18 equal shapes and form them into small balls. Cover with plastic wrap and let them rest for 15 minutes. Roll them into 10-12″ lengths. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow the pretzels to rise for 1/2 hour. Pull lengths longer to approximately 18″ & shape into pretzel shape. Preheat oven to 475 degrees.

3. In a medium pot, bring the baking soda and water to a boil. Add the pretzels one at a time to the boiling water for 1 minute. Press down into the boiling water with a spatula. Remove and place on a cooling rack. When cooled, transfer to a parchment lined sheet pan. Brush with egg wash, sprinkle generously with kosher salt and bake for 10-12 minutes, until dark brown.

Candace’s Note: To ensure the dough is thoroughly kneaded, take a small piece and roll it into a ball. With your thumbs, stretch the dough until either it tears or becomes transparent in the center, also known as a window. If you cannot stretch the dough to form a window, knead a little longer.

Yields 18 3″ pretzels