Butter Toffee Popcorn Recipe

There are many different kinds of caramel based popcorn and this butter toffee popcorn recipe is one of the best. The butter toffee coats the popcorn in a crunchy, sweet shell that is just wonderful.

Like most of our recipes, this butter toffee popcorn recipe is also pretty easy to follow. The only unusual part is making your own butter toffee, but it's worth it!

First pop your popcorn. Then make the butter toffee. Combine them together and bake them until the toffee sets and you're all done! That's all there is to it!

For more variety with this butter toffee popcorn recipe you can also add nuts to the mixture when you are mixing it. I've found that salted, roasted peanuts are great. Pecans or cashews are also really good. Another interesting variety is to add crushed peppermint candies or pumpkin seeds, or even drizzle melted chocolate over the top.

You are going to love this butter toffee popcorn recipe!

Butter Toffee Popcorn Recipe

By Jason Logsdon
Published: February 27, 2012
Prep time: 15 Minutes
Cooking Time: 90 Minutes
Makes: 4 Cups

Butter Toffee Popcorn Ingredients

For the Butter Toffee

1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon water
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

For the Butter Toffee Popcorn

4 cups popped popcorn
½-1 cup butter toffee
Nuts, seeds, or other garnishes, optional
Salt, preferably kosher or sea salt

Butter Toffee Popcorn Instructions

For the Butter Toffee

Warning: Melted sugar is *very* hot and can cause burns, only an adult should do this. Be sure to use a large enough pot because the butter will boil and expand when it is added to the heated sugar. If you have any concerns please use a bottled caramel sauce.

Mix the sugar and 1 tablespoon water together, it should resemble wet sand. Add the sugar to a large pot and heat over medium heat without stirring until it melts. Once it starts to brown stir it gently until it turns a dark amber color. If clumps form, cook for longer until they melt, almost all clumps should eventually melt out.

Once the sugar is a dark amber color, about 10 to 20 minutes total cooking cooking time, stir in the butter then add the 1/4 cup water, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and baking soda. Mix well until the mixture stops bubbling. Remove from the heat and set aside but do not let it cool too much or it can set.

This butter toffee is adapted from Michael Ruhlman's recipe in his great book Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking, if you are interesting in baking or cooking sweet foods I highly recommend it.

For the Butter Toffee Popcorn

Preheat your oven to 250°.

To finish the butter toffee popcorn, mix together the butter toffee, the popcorn, and any nuts or seeds you are using. I usually put some popcorn in a bowl then drizzle some of the butter toffee over top. I sprinkle a little salt then add more popcorn and butter toffee. Repeating until the bowl is filled with butter toffee popcorn.

Use a spoon to finish mixing the butter toffee popcorn then spread out on a sheet pan. Bake the butter toffee popcorn for about an hour, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes, until the popcorn has hardened. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

You can usually store the butter toffee popcorn for a couple of weeks in an airtight container.

Now you can make great butter toffee popcorn at home whenever you get a craving for it!