The Only Caramel Snack Mix You'll Ever Need

For the past few years, I've been throwing together some kind of snack mix for my friends' annual Halloween party. My thinking is that it's always good to have something to snack on before the drinking begins. I've tried a variety of different mixes and coatings, but I think I've finally tried the last recipe I'll ever need. Is there proof for this? Well, the bowl was completely empty by the end of the night (which has never happened before), so I'm pretty sure this one's a keeper.

As with most snack mixes, feel free to play with the ingredients. This year I opted for popcorn, corn Chex, Fritos, and (after the baking) M&Ms. You could easily add nuts (pre-baking), other cereals (pre-baking), dried fruit (pre- or post-baking), tortilla or potato chips (pre-baking), pretzels (pre-baking), or any other kind of candy (post-baking). You can also vary the amount you add - I like all my ingredients to get some of the caramel, but not to be drenched, but if you prefer a more uniform covering of caramel, use 2-4 cups less of ingredients.

The Only Caramel Snack Mix You'll Ever Need
12 cups salted popcorn
6 cups rice or corn Chex
3 cups Fritos
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup M&Ms

Preheat oven to 250°. Combine popcorn, Chex, and Fritos (or whatever other ingredients you are using that will not melt) in one or two roasting pans.

In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Stir occasionally until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep the temperature as low as possible, as the caramel can burn easily. Once it starts to boil, this may be a very low temperature - you just want to keep it at that state.

After 5 minutes of boiling, remove the caramel from the heat. Stir in the vanilla, then stir in the baking soda. This will cause the caramel to expand.

Pour the caramel over the popcorn mix, and toss the mix to make sure the caramel gets on everything.

Bake for about 20 minutes, stirring everything and scraping up the extra caramel halfway through.

Remove from pan(s) into a large bowl to cool. You may need to break apart some of the pieces as they cool. Once the mix is not warm to the touch, add in any candies and toss to distribute.

If there's any left after you serve it (and there won't be), store it in an air-tight container.

Corn & Co, Burlington

I can't quite remember how I heard about Corn & Co a few months ago, but from the moment that I did, I was super excited. Popcorn is one of my favorite snacks, and flavored popcorn? Even better! And then I learned that they would be opening in the Burlington Mall, not too far from my house - what more could I ask for?

I've chatted with the owners a few times online since then. They've sent me samples of flavors, and I bugged them about when exactly they'd be opening. Every sample I received was AWESOME, but it left me wanting more! Finally, they told me that they'd be opening up on Black Friday. Ugh. No way I was going to the mall then.

But since I have mondays off and everyone was busy buying goods online and not in stores, I managed to make my way into the mall. Corn & Co has set up shop upstairs in the food court wing, where the newsstand used to be (for those of you who are as intimate with the Burlington Mall as I am. Yes, I was a bit of a mall rat in my day.).

When the corn is popping, you can smell Corn & Co from a ways away. The store is still a little bare right now, but they're clearly on their way to getting all set up for the holiday season. Flavors are listed on signs throughout the store, as well as in bowls behind the counter (above). There are pre-packaged flavors if you just want to grab and go, or you can get one of three sizes (small comes with one flavor, medium with two, and large with up to four). Feel free to ask for samples, because they clearly want you to find the flavor that you love.

Case in point: I am a savory girl when it comes to popcorn. I sampled the Corn & Co cheese, and it was AWESOME! Seriously, all-caps awesome. In fact, writing about it, I want more right now. But I was intrigued by the mixes they have on their menu also. I asked for a sample of the caramel apple (green apple and caramel mix, natch) and was equally blown away. Caramel is caramel, fine, but the green apple? Tart and sweet like the real thing. Mix them together and I am one happy girl. I bought some of this one and it was gone in no time.

I would much prefer to grab a snack of popcorn at the mall than a greasy pretzel. I am quite happy that Corn & Co is in town now. And I can only start to imagine the gift-giving opportunities here...

Friday I'm in Love... with Little Lad's Herbal Popcorn

I first stumbled across this stuff a few years ago in a slow wander through Whole Foods. I was intrigued - unlike almost all the packages around it, it only had a small label. The clear bag let you really see what was inside (a novelty for junk food), and it certainly didn't look like any popcorn I had seen before.

Little Lad's is apparently a restaurant in New York City and Maine (2 locations there) (The Phoenix has an interesting article that talks about the restaurants). And they're famous for their popcorn. Luckily, I don't have to make a trip up to Maine when I get a craving (and yes, I crave this popcorn like it's my job). (My, there were a lot of asides in this little paragraph.)

What makes this popcorn so amazing? It's not like anything else out there - it's tossed in a mixture of nutritional yeast and dried dill. Deliciously savory... and did I mention addictive? It sounds weird, and the name certainly doesn't help. The only problem is that you invariably end up with little flecks of dill under your nails - those can be a bitch to get out. It's messier than most popcorn too, so you may want to eat it was a Dustbuster nearby.

I used to find this at a bunch of different Whole Foods, but lately I've only seen it at my local Woburn shop. If your Whole Foods doesn't have it, ask if they can get a box. If you can't find Little Lad's, you can try making your own at home.