Saturday, 11 December 2010 by Irene Hoofs

Caramel Popcorn Lollipops by Damaris from Kitchen Corners

Thanksgiving transitions beautifully to Christmas in our home. Last week we jumped on the gratitude wagon and wrote letters to Santa. It started off like this, “Dear Santa I’m thankful for...” and then I had my 4 year old list all the toys he got last year. He only remembers his favorite like the Go Fish cards I got him at the dollar store on a whim. Then we wrote Santa about the things we need. This involves socks and underwear, boring stuff. Then we wrote Santa what we wanted. I for one want new cook books. My husband would like a new surf Board, Enzo tells me to write down jelly beans and quarters, and our baby just wants molars so she can actually chew. Being a young mother of two young children is physically exhausting but at the same time I’m thankful that things are somewhat simple right now. Jelly Beans, quarters, and baby teeth, how lucky am I? I’m glad my kids are content with simple things, for the time being. For example, who would of thought that caramel popcorn on a candy cane stick would of made a little boy so happy?

Caramel Popcorn Lollipop
1 cup popcorn kernels
⅓ cup brown sugar
⅓ cup butter
⅓ cup light corn syrup
⅓ cup sweetened condensed milk
12 candy cane sticks

1.    Pop the popcorn on medium heat over the stove top. If you want to use microwave popcorn you will need two bags.
2.    While the popcorn is popping mix the sugar, butter, light corn syrup, and sweetend condensed milk on a small sauce pan over medium heat until it is well incorporated and begins to bubble.
3.    Put the popcorn in a large bowl and pour the caramel mixture over the popcorn. Mix gently so as to not break the popcorn, making sure that the popcorn gets fully coated with caramel.
4.    Gently form popcorn balls around the tips of the peppermint sticks so as to create a lollipop shape.
5.    Place on top of a tray lined with wax paper to keep from sticking to each other.