HOLIDAY CARAMEL TRAIL MIX
EVERYONE THAT READS THIS HAS TO TRY THIS DELICIOUS TREAT! I gave these out to friends and family as Thanksgiving treats and they were a hit. You can really mix and match with ingredients and alter this recipe anyway you want. be careful though... it is addicting. In the pictures below I doubled the caramel recipe and did 20 cups of popcorn because I gave away so much. You could even double the caramel recipe if you wanted to because it's so good and doesn't cover enough for a caramel lover like myself. Enjoy!
WHAT I USED:
trail mix
10 cups popped popcorn
8 oz bag of almonds
8 oz bag of lightly salted cashews
1 bag of candy corn
1 bag of harvest m&ms
1 bag of Nestle Toll House holiday semi-sweet chocolate chips
half a bag of pretzels
caramel sauce
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter
4 tsps vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
WHAT I DID:
Pop your popcorn. I popped mine using my stir crazy (I recommend it. As a popcorn lover it is an awesome product) with olive oil. After it finishes popping, salt it liberally. I use popcorn salt because it is so fine and sticks to the popcorn well. Grab a cookie sheet, cover it with wax paper and spray with cooking spray. Add your popcorn and spread it evenly across the sheet (or two in my case).
Make your caramel sauce. Melt 1 cup of butter in sauce pan over medium heat. Add 2 cups of packed brown sugar and bring to a boil WHILE continuously stirring. Put on medium heat and stir for another 2 minutes. Add vanilla and stir one more minute. Then add baking soda and watch the magic! The chemical reaction makes the caramel mixture rise and become frothy - you want that! Pour 3/4 mixture over popcorn and fold in with a spatula.
Now- add all your other trail mix ingredients. In my case I dumped in m&ms, chocolate chips, almonds, cashews, and pretzels over the caramel popcorn. I mixed in and poured the rest of the caramel sauce over it, to get it all to stick together.
You can serve immediately, or pack up for gifts like me! My dog was pretty curious too! ;) Cheers!
