Salted Beer Caramel Corn with Almonds is the perfect treat this holiday season! We made ours with Honey Elixir Brown Ale!
This recipe is almost more of a toffee than a caramel because it doesn’t include any cream or milk. On the other hand, you have some flexibility in whether you decide to let the sugar and butter get to the “hard crack” stage of 300 degrees or opt to take it off before that which is a little less stressful.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup of popcorn kernels (approximately 6 cups popped corn)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups of almonds (or a combination of nuts)
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Honey Elixir Brown Ale divided
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla
Directions
- Preheat oven to 250 degree F (120 degrees C) , line baking sheets with parchment paper
- In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan or pot over medium high heat, heat the oil. Add three popcorn kernels. When all three have popped add the rest of the kernels and make sure to coat them all in the hot oil
- Gentle shake the pot until the popcorn starts to pop. Then shake vigorously to make sure the kernels that are being thrown up into the popcorn by the popping have a chance to to fall and to prevent any burning
- When you can count a couple of seconds between popping, immediately empty the popcorn into a large bowl
- Separate out any unpopped kernels. Mix almonds and popped corn and spread out on pans lined with the parchment paper and put into the oven to keep warm.
- Wipe out the pot and add brown sugar, light corn syrup, 1/2 cup of Honey Elixir brown ale and butter
- Stir until the sugar crystals are completely dissolved (be patient!)
- Allow it to boil for without stirring approximately 7 minutes and when it becomes a dark amber colour. If you have a candy thermometer, make sure it doesn’t go over 300. As it approaches this temperature, it seems like the temperature rises rapidly and you can burn it. Unlike toffee you don’t need to get the sauce to the hard crack stage.
- Mix brown ale and vanilla together
- Remove from heat and immediately stir in the rest of the brown ale mixture in slowly with the salt and baking soda. Be careful! It may splash up!
- Pour the caramel as evenly as possible over the popcorn and nuts, stirring to coat as well as possible
- Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, stirring the mixture every 10 to 15 minutes to cover well.
- In the last 15 minutes try to flatten as best as possible so that you can break it up into pieces after it’s cooled.
- Sprinkle with salt
- Allow to cool before breaking up
- Store in airtight containers
TIPS
Parchment paper! Don’t skip it. The caramel is sooooo sticky and difficult to clean. The parchment is a miracle worker and makes cleaning up easy!
Don’t avoid the baking soda, as it makes the candy a little easier to crunch
About the Beer
Railway City Brewing’s Honey Elixir is a Brown Ale brewed with Ontario Honey. The aroma is of fresh honey and a hint of raisin. Tasting notes: Honey, taffy, subtle espresso, with sweet fruit notes.
5% abv. – 29 IBU
Available at the brewery.