Miso Kelp Caramel Corn

Searching for a great, homemade gift for friends and family this season? Give our miso kelp caramel corn a try!

Bringing together the best of sweet and savoury, our kelp caramel corn is coated in a sticky miso caramel sauce and showered with a generous helping of Kombu. The popcorn then gets transferred to a prepared sheet and baked in the oven until golden. Once completely cooled, the mixture can be transferred to an airtight jar, ready for gifting (if it lasts that long!).

Servings: Approx. 10 cups

Prep Time: ~30 mins | Cook Time: ~25 mins

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons neutral cooking oil (avocado, vegetable, or canola oil)
• ½ cup popcorn kernels
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup light brown sugar (packed)
• 1 ½ tablespoons of white miso paste
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 ½ tablespoons Kombu mini flakes

Directions

Prepare The Popcorn:

1. Preheat the oven to 250°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a small high-speed blender, blitz your Kombu mini flakes until a rough powder begins to form (this step is completely optional, see notes).
3. Combine the oil and popcorn kernels in the bottom of a large pot or Dutch oven. Place the lid on the pot and cook over medium heat.
4. Once the popping of the popcorn begins to slow with a couple of seconds between each pop, remove it from the heat. Give the pot a shake to pop any remaining kernels, then leave to sit covered for another 30 seconds. 

Make The Miso Caramel Sauce:

1. To a saucepan, add the butter, brown sugar and miso paste. Cook on low heat, stirring to break down the miso paste and incorporate all ingredients.
2. Once combined, increase the heat to medium and cook, untouched, until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is smooth, approximately 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and mix in the vanilla extract and baking soda. The mixture will bubble and turn light brown in colour. Set aside.

Make The Caramel Popcorn:

1. Transfer the popcorn into a large mixing bowl. Pour half of the caramel mixture over the popcorn, using a spatula to gently fold and disperse. Sprinkle half of the kombu mini flakes and stir to distribute. Repeat with the remaining caramel and kombu, folding until the popcorn is evenly coated.
2. Transfer the popcorn mixture to the prepared baking sheet and spread it out to form a single layer. Place the baking sheet on the middle rack of your oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes or so to prevent burning.
3. Once the caramel corn is golden and crisp, remove from the oven and leave to cool. You can then break the pieces apart and enjoy them as is, or package them into airtight jars to gift to friends and family!

Notes

• We chose to blend our Kombu mini flakes into a rough powder to add a subtle hint of kelp to each bite. You could easily skip this step and sprinkle your mini flakes directly over the popcorn. This will result in a more prominent flavour and appearance.
• We love to double this recipe and make a batch for gifting and a batch for eating. 

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