Mixed Fruit & Toffee Corn
Toffee-coated popcorn with pecans and mixed dried fruit, baked until crunchy. A homemade caramel corn snack mix cooked to hard-ball stage for a crispy, buttery shell.
YIELD
22 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
45 minREADY
60 minThis is caramel corn taken to toffee territory. A buttery sugar syrup gets cooked to hard-ball stage (255°F / 124°C) before being poured over warm popcorn with pecans and vanilla, then baked with mixed dried fruit stirred in at the end.
Cooking the syrup to hard-ball stage is what separates this from regular sticky caramel corn. At that temperature, the sugar crystallizes into a crispy, crunchy toffee shell around each kernel instead of a soft, chewy coating. It shatters when you bite down.
Keeping the popcorn warm in the oven while you make the syrup is a smart step. Warm popcorn absorbs the hot toffee more evenly than cold popcorn, giving you a thinner, crispier coat.
Kitchen Tips
- Use a candy thermometer. There’s no reliable way to judge 255°F (124°C) by eye, and the difference between soft-ball and hard-ball is only a few degrees.
- Stir constantly while the sugar cooks. The butter can separate and burn if you stop paying attention.
- Remove every unpopped kernel before coating. Biting into a hidden one coated in rock-hard toffee is no fun.
- The dried fruit goes in during the last 5 minutes so it softens slightly without burning or turning rock hard.
Variations
- Use cashews or almonds instead of pecans.
- Swap dried fruit bits for dried cranberries or chopped dried apricots.
- Drizzle melted chocolate over the cooled toffee corn for a chocolate-toffee version.
Ingredients
Directions
Remove all unpopped kernels from popped corn.
Place popcorn in a buttered 17×12×2-inch baking pan.
Keep popcorn warm in a 300 degree oven while making syrup mixture.
Butter the sides of a heavy 2-quart saucepan.
In the saucepan combine the butter or margarine, sugar, water, and corn syrup.
Bring mixture to boiling over medium heat.
Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar.
Avoid splashing mixture on sides of pan.
Carefully clip candy thermometer to side of pan.
Cook and stir mixture over medium heat until thermometer registers 255 degrees, hard-ball stage (10 to 15 minutes).
The mixture should boil at a moderate, steady rate over the entire surface.
Remove saucepan from heat; remove candy thermometer.
Quickly add pecans and vanilla; stir until combined.
Pour mixture over the popcorn, toss gently to coat.
Bake, uncovered, in a 300 degree oven for 15 minutes.
Remove popcorn from oven; stir in fruit bits.
Bake, uncovered, for 5 minutes more.
Turn popcorn mixture onto a large piece of foil.
Cool mixture completely.
Serve immediately or store, tightly covered, in a cool, dry place.
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