This Homemade Caramel Popcorn is stovetop popped popcorn folded into a buttery, caramel sauce and then baked to perfection.

What is it about the cool fall air that causes us to pull out all of our cozy recipes? The moment I feel that nip outside, I began to think nostalgically about football games (War Eagle!), pumpkin cookies, and pumpkin spice creamer.

This homemade caramel popcorn is part of my favorite fall treats. It is on up there with all of my fond autumn memories. I actually remember the first time I had it. I was a little girl and my mother had made this for us. It took sooo long to finish (or at least it seemed like it to a child who had to smell it for an hour!) But the wait was worth it. It was perfect. Completely perfect. I have yet to find any recipe that beats this one.

This is the REAL stuff! The caramel popcorn that fills the whole house with the fragrance of fall all in one delicious snack. This popcorn is really hard to stop eating, so make sure you have others around to share it with.

Store bought will never be good enough once you’ve had it. And when can you go wrong with a homemade caramel sauce? Never.

Homemade Caramel Popcorn Recipe

4 quarts popped popcorn
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

To start, pop some homemade popcorn on the stovetop. If you aren’t sure how to do this, check out this post for homemade popcorn. You want enough to fill a medium sized saucepan once popped. This makes two cookie sheets worth and in the end, a gallon size ziploc bag of caramel corn.

Caramel Sauce Recipe

In a medium saucepan, melt 1/2 cup of butter over medium heat. Add in 1 cup of brown sugar, and whisk until smooth. Add 1/4 cup light corn syrup, and a pinch of salt. Whisk until boiling. Turn to low heat, and continue to simmer for five minutes.

Ooooohhhh…looking pretty! While the sauce is simmering, whisk constantly. After five minutes of simmering and stirring, take the saucepan off of the heat. Add 1/2 tsp of baking soda and stir in. The sauce will be foamy. Pour half of the sauce over one cookie sheet of popcorn, and the other half on the other cookie sheet. It will be sticky and gooey!

Stir, stir, stir!! Stir the sauce into the popcorn until coated well. You will have to break apart pieces with your spoon as they try to stick together. Once all is stirred well (it doesn’t need to be perfect), put in the oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake this for one hour, stirring every fifteen minutes. Do not skip the stirring. It will continue to feel sticky until the end of the baking time, but at that one hour mark, it magically comes out as perfect, non-sticky caramel popcorn. Once cooled, store in a ziploc bag.