5-Minute Easy Microwave Caramel Corn will be on everyone’s list this Christmas! It’s perfect for neighbor gifts and munching on during holiday movies! 
Easy Microwave Caramel Corn
Soft Caramel Corn is maybe the best part of the holiday season. And this Easy Microwave Caramel Corn recipe only takes 5 minutes and is so good you won’t stop making it! Trust me, I made it 3 times in the same week! So I knew I needed to share it on the blog after making it that much.
Keeping it in the Family
I grew up eating caramel corn during the Christmas season, but my mother never had a recipe for it. She just sort of cooked it for however long she wanted and sometimes is was incredible and sometimes we just pretended it was incredible 🙂 (Sorry Mom!) So I really wanted to find a recipe for a soft version that I could make over and over again and have it be perfect every time. But I also know the hassles of candy thermometers, not everyone has one and sometimes I can’t even find my own. So I found this recipe made in the microwave! Magic! The first time I made it according to the directions mine turned out rock solid, so I changed it up a bit to make it softer.
Doesn’t it just look perfect? It tastes even better, I promise. It’s so fun to make a big batch and give to friends or watch Christmas movies and nibble on it.
You can use an air popper to pop my corn because I like starting with a blank slate and it’s how my mother did it. But you can pop 2 bags of regular microwave popcorn instead if you want! Just omit the salt in the recipe!
Put your ingredients in something that will be microwave proof. You don’t want your bowl or whatever to get screeching hot when its in there. I love using Pyrex measuring cups or bowls because they’re always safe to use with the heat. And remember, the caramel sauce will bubble up so don’t use a bowl thats too small!
The first little zap in the microwave is just to get everything melted together, so stir well!
The bubbles… it’s like a hot tub from candy heaven.
After you add the baking soda it will fizz up some more and then turn this golden color.
Pour and just keep stirring until it’s all coated!
Yup, it’s that easy! Enjoy my Easy Microwave Caramel Corn recipe this Christmas!
Easy Microwave Caramel Corn
Ingredients
- 12 C. popped popcorn 1/2 C. unpopped kernels
- 1 C. brown sugar
- 1/4 C. white Karo syrup
- 1/2 C. butter
- 1/2 tsp. salt if you use microwave popcorn, then omit this salt
- 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
Instructions
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1. Pop your popcorn kernels (or pop 2 microwave bags of popcorn) and place in a large bowl.
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2. In a microwave proof bowl, I prefer Pyrex bowls, place your brown sugar, Karo syrup, butter and salt. Make sure your bowl have room for the mixture to triple in size because it will bubble up.
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2. Microwave for 45 seconds, then remove and stir. This just gets the butter melted and everything combined.
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3. Microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds, remove and stir.
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4. Microwave for an additional 1 minute and 30 seconds and stir again.
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5. Add vanilla extract and baking soda and stir until it stops fizzing and bubbling.
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6. Pour over popcorn and gently fold until well coated. Let cool in bowl or on parchments paper. Enjoy!
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NOTE: Every microwave is a little different. After your popcorn cools, determine if you want the caramel a little softer (less microwave time) or a little harder (more microwave time). This way, the next time you make it, your can perfect this recipe for your specific microwave!
Adapted from Our Best Bites! When I cooked mine as long as their recipe said mine turned rock solid, I like a soft caramel corn.
Looks amazing – thanks Lizzy!!
Mary
this caramel corn sis beautiful, every thing you make it, you do it easely Lizzy!
This looks amazing! I only have dark Karo. Can that be substituted, or does it need to be white? I want to make this so bad.
would this last/stay fresh if it were wrapped or packaged for gifts? thanks!
Really liked this recipe. Thank you. This will be my “go-to” recipe from now on. I did happen to notice something…in your ingredient list you refer to “baking soda”, but in your instructions it says, “baking powder” (step 5). I assume you meant we should use the soda, as that is what most recipes call for with caramel corn, but I just about added the baking powder by mistake! Thought you might want to know!
Oh my, I am so sorry! I’m updating my christmas recipes and saw this! It’s fixed now!
I made this exactly like the recipe and it turned out perfect. Only problem was I couldn’t wait for it to cool. SO GOOD. Thank you!
YES! I know that struggle! This really is one of my favorite recipes for fall!
On your recipe instructions you have “baking powder.” I’m pretty sure you meant to write baking soda. The recipe sounds great. We are going to try it.
Oh my! Thank you!
Is margarine ok or is real butter a must?
I haven’t used margarine with this recipe, so I can’t say for sure that it will work!
You describe this as “soft”, I’m just wondering what that means. Is it sticky? I’ve always either baked it or microwaved it in in a paper bag after coating it with the carmel, and it becomes crispy but not “hard”. How different is this from typical Carmel Corn?
Well, call me impatient. Instead of waiting for your reply I just made the recipe and saw for myself (Gee, there’s an idea). Boy, am I glad I did. It’s easy peasy and so good! It is a little sticky, but not messy sticky, it’s more, rice crispy treat, sticky. I’m glad you mentioned using a large Pyrex measuring cup to microwave the caramel in, because it bubbles up A LOT and it’s lava hot but the handle stayed nice and cool. Great recipe! Thanks for sharing
I’m so sorry for my delay! But i’m so happy you went ahead and made the caramel corn anyway! Yes, I love using the large pyrex bowl for this! If you want it less sticky next time all you have to do is keep it in the microwave a tad longer. Every microwave is different so these microwave recipes can be tricky sometimes. I hope you like the softeness!
I put my popcorn in a paper bag and put the sauce in then shake the bag vigorously.close the top of bag when shaking!
What wattage isn’t your microwave?
The color of my batch is perfect, but the caramel is still a little “wet” and not “crunchy.” This is my second batch (for gifts) and I am running out of ingredients as well as energy for making a third batch today. Can I bake it in the oven for a bit to try to make it crunchy? Do you have any time and temperature recommendations? Thank you!
If you’re wanting a more exact consistency with your caramel corn, use an instant read thermometer 237 is soft ball (soft caramel)
309F is hard crack (crunchy caramel). Lots of stirring will also help the consistency.
If I make a half batch do I cook the Carmel half as long? I want to try this before I make a big batch because I’m the only one eating this
Perfect!!!!!! Just made this, was really craving something sweet and didn’t want to have to run out to get something. Found this recipe and it was a hit. Keeping this recipe in my favorites. Thank you.
Didn’t really harden. But, the hubby liked it anyway. Any reason it didn’t get crunchy?