Christmas Cookies (And Popcorn)!

Last week, I posted  a recipe for my grandmother's caramel popcorn.  She made it every single year she was alive during the holidays.  Obviously, it's near and dear to my heart.  It's labor intensive, but well worth your efforts.  I haven't made the popcorn in several years (my husband hasn't even tried it)!  He tried it last night - and loved it!  In case you missed it last week - here's the recipe again -

Caramel Popcorn

2 sticks of butter

2 cups brown sugar (light or dark)

1/2 cup corn syrup (light or dark)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract (pure)

6 quarts popped popcorn

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (95 degrees C).

Place 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 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in soda and vanilla.  Important to remove the pan from the heat.

Pour in a thin stream over popcorn, stirring to coat.

Place in two large shallow baking dishes (I used shallow cookie sheets) and bake in preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, for 1 hour.

Remove from oven and let cool completely before breaking into pieces.

Store the popcorn in an air-tight container.  My grandmother always added red & green M&M's and Hershey Kisses, which is exactly what I have done.  Enjoy!

I also baked up some peanut butter cookies for my husband - his favorite combination is peanut butter and chocolate, so these cookies are perfect!

Happy Holidays!!