Salted Caramel Popcorn Pretzel Bars
(recipe slightly altered from Everyday Food Magazine)
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 12 cups plain popped popcorn (from 1/2 cup kernels or 2 microwave packages)
- 4 cups coarsely chopped small salted pretzels
- 1 cup toasted almonds, chopped
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
- 2/3 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups miniature marshmallows
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!