Salted Caramel Popcorn Pretzel Bars

(recipe slightly altered from Everyday Food Magazine)

Coat a 9 x 13″ baking dish with cooking spray.  In a large bowl, toss together popcorn, almonds and pretzels.  In a medium saucepan, bring sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 cup water to a boil over medium high.  Boil, undisturbed, until mixture is amber in color–8-12 minutes.  Remove pan from heat
and slowly pour in cream (mixture will sputter).  Immediately add marshmallows; stir until melted.

Pour caramel mixture over popcorn and pretzels and quickly stir with a rubber spatula to coat.  Transfer mixture to dish and use a dampened hands to press the mixture into the pan.  Sprinkle with a heavy dose of kosher salt.  Let cool completely before cutting into bars.


***Shutterbean notes***
-I used two bags of Orville Redenbacher’s 94% Fat Free Smart Pop microwave popcorn for this
-I might be fun to add a little cayenne pepper to the mix
-Salt is the key to this recipe! Make sure you put a heavy dose on the top. It balances out the sweet!