Critters in the Hay
Critters in the Hay is a Halloween popcorn treat with pumpkin pie spice caramel corn, candy corn, licorice spiders, and gummy worms. A spooky party snack kids love.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
5 minREADY
20 minThis is the Halloween party snack that doubles as a craft project. Popcorn gets coated in a pumpkin-spiced caramel (tinted green if you’re feeling spooky), then mixed with candy corn and topped with handmade licorice spiders and gummy worms crawling through the “hay."
The caramel coating is a real sugar boil, not a fake candy melt. Sugar, corn syrup, and butter get brought to a boil for exactly 2 ½ minutes. That timing matters. Too short and the coating stays sticky. Too long and it hardens into something that could crack a tooth.
The spiders are where kids can take over. Black licorice gets cut into pieces with legs sliced from each end, a gumdrop body pushed onto a toothpick, and tiny candy eyes dotted on with icing. They look creepy and they’re fun to make.
Kitchen Tips
- Remove every unpopped kernel from the popcorn before coating. Biting into one hidden in caramel is no fun.
- Work fast when tossing the popcorn. The caramel sets quickly and you need even coverage before it hardens.
- Spread the coated popcorn in a single layer on greased foil. Piling it up creates clumps that are hard to break apart.
- Remove all toothpicks before serving to kids. Easy to forget, important not to.
Variations
- Orange caramel: Use orange food coloring instead of green for a more traditional Halloween look.
- Peanut butter drizzle: Drizzle melted peanut butter over the cooled caramel corn for an extra layer of flavor before adding the candy.
Ingredients
Directions
In Dutch oven, bring sugar, corn syrup and butter to a boil; boil 2½ minutes.
Stir in pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, salt and food coloring (if desired) mix until evenly colored.
Add popcorn and toss until evenly coated.
Spread popcorn mixture in a single layer on greased sheets of foil and allow to cool and harden.
Break into bite-size pieces and mix with candy corn in a wide shallow bowl; set aside.
To make spiders, cut licorice into 2 inch lengths.
To make legs, starting at one end, make three ½ inch to ¾ inch cuts to make four legs.
Repeat cuts at opposite end.
Leave about ½ inch in center uncut.
Gently pull legs apart and curl down.
Push wooden pick through center of body, leaving about ¼ inch exposed on top.
Push one gumdrop onto exposed pick to make a body.
Using writing tip of decorating icing, squeeze two small dots of icing into gumbrops.
Press jaw-breakers into icing to make eyes.
Place spiders and worm-shaped candies in popcorn.
Remove wooden picks before eating.
Makes 4 quarts.
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