Tag: Side

BETTER THAN CARAMEL POPCORN – Butter with a Side of Bread by Gordon Ramsay

Better Than Caramel Popcorn is gooey, deliciously sweet and so easy to make! The coating in this caramel popcorn is made with butter, sugar and whipping cream - that


Better Than Caramel Popcorn is gooey, deliciously sweet and so easy to make! The coating in this caramel popcorn is made with butter, sugar and whipping cream – that’s it!

Better Than Caramel Popcorn is one of my absolutely favorite treats and I really do love it more than traditional caramel popcorn. Not only is the recipe delicious, but it only requires a few very basic ingredients which I usually always have on hand. Actually, maybe that’s not a good thing – it’s almost too easy to make this a little too frequently!

I got this recipe from one of my college roommates way back when.  We made this popcorn at least once a week in college and it was always gone within minutes!  My kids call it “yummy” popcorn and it is a family favorite around my house.

Better Than Caramel Popcorn is gooey, deliciously sweet and so easy to make! The coating in this caramel popcorn is made with butter, sugar and whipping cream - that's it!

What kind of popcorn do you use to make caramel popcorn?

You can use microwave popcorn, air-popped popcorn, or you can use my favorite stove-popped popcorn that is made with coconut oil. I haven’t used microwave popcorn in quite a while. At first it was because of the fact that I kept reading things about how it was so bad for you, but then once I started making my own popcorn on the stove, I realized how much better fresh popcorn tastes! If you haven’t tried it yet, it’s so easy and it’s so much yummier too.

How do you make popcorn on the stove?

I used to just use a large stockpot to make popcorn on the stove (which works great!), but I recently got this popcorn maker and it makes the whole process even easier. The popcorn cooks perfectly every time. To make popcorn on the stove:

  1. Put 1-2 Tbsp of coconut oil in the stovetop popcorn maker or in your stockpot. If you are using a stockpot, make sure you have a lid!
  2. Turn the heat on medium high and add about 6-7 “test” kernels to the pot. Put the lid on and wait for the kernels to start popping.
  3. As soon as the test kernels start popping, you can add the rest of the popcorn kernels. 1/8 cup of popcorn kernels will yield about 4 cups of popped popcorn, so you will want about 1/4 cup of kernels to make 8 cups of popped popcorn. I usually do a little bit extra though, it doesn’t have to be exact!
  4. Replace the lid and either continuously stir the handle on the stovetop popcorn maker or periodically shake your stockpot to prevent the kernels from settling in one spot and burning. As soon as the popping starts to slow down significantly, remove the pan from heat. That’s it!

Better Than Caramel Popcorn is gooey, deliciously sweet and so easy to make! The coating in this caramel popcorn is made with butter, sugar and whipping cream - that's it!

Is caramel popcorn gluten free?

Yes, caramel popcorn is gluten free which makes this a great snack for those who can’t eat gluten. Most popcorn recipes are perfect for those with gluten sensitivities because there is no gluten in popcorn! There are only 3 ingredients in the sauce so it is very easy to identify other potential allergies as well – all gluten free as well!

What are the ingredients in Better than Caramel Popcorn?

  • 2 bags microwave popcorn (make sure to use a more “natural” kind – no butter or salt so that you can taste the sauce better!) or about 8 cups of popped popcorn
  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup whipping cream

Better Than Caramel Popcorn is gooey, deliciously sweet and so easy to make! The coating in this caramel popcorn is made with butter, sugar and whipping cream - that's it!

How do you make Better than Caramel Popcorn?

  1. Place popped popcorn in a large bowl and set aside while preparing the sauce.
  2. Combine the butter, sugar and whipping cream and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Within a couple of minutes the sauce should be boiling, continue boiling until mixture reaches the soft ball stage (235-240 degrees Fahrenheit)*.
  3. Remove the mixture from heat and pour over the popcorn, stirring until all of the popcorn is well coated.  Make sure to serve immediately – this recipe is soooo much better warm!  Enjoy!

Better Than Caramel Popcorn is gooey, deliciously sweet and so easy to make! The coating in this caramel popcorn is made with butter, sugar and whipping cream - that's it!

*You can use a thermometer to get the mixture to the right temperature, but I never used one in college and I usually don’t use one now for this recipe. The mixture will just get to a point where it is thicker and starts to get a tiny bit darker and that’s when it is ready. Since this isn’t candy, you don’t have to be quite as exact with the temperature but you definitely don’t want to undercook since you will have soggy popcorn and you don’t want to overcook or it will be too hard.

Better Than Caramel Popcorn is gooey, deliciously sweet and so easy to make! The coating in this caramel popcorn is made with butter, sugar and whipping cream - that's it!

Better Than Caramel Popcorn

Better Than Caramel Popcorn is gooey and deliciously sweet! The coating for the popcorn is made with butter, sugar and whipping cream – that’s it!

Ingredients

  • 2 bags microwave popcorn make sure to use a more “natural” kind – no butter or salt so that you can taste the sauce better! or about 8 cups of popped popcorn
  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup whipping cream

Instructions

  1. Place popped popcorn in a large bowl and set aside while preparing the sauce.

  2. Combine the butter, sugar and whipping cream and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Within a couple of minutes the sauce should be boiling, continue boiling until mixture reaches the soft ball stage (235-240 degrees Fahrenheit).

  3. Remove the mixture from heat and pour over the popcorn, stirring until all of the popcorn is well coated.  Make sure to serve immediately – this recipe is soooo much better warm!  Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

NOTE: You can use a thermometer to get the mixture to the right temperature, but I never used one in college and I usually don’t use one now for this recipe. The mixture will just get to a point where it is thicker and starts to get a tiny bit darker and that’s when it is ready. Since this isn’t candy, you don’t have to be quite as exact with the temperature but you definitely don’t want to undercook since you will have soggy popcorn and you don’t want to overcook or it will be too hard. 

Can you use margarine instead of butter in this caramel popcorn recipe?

Butter is definitely a better choice in this recipe because it is made with heavy cream. To be honest, I always use real butter in recipes because the taste and consistency just seems to be so much better. I know there is a lot of controversy about the “healthiness” of butter vs. margarine and I’m not going to claim to be an expert on that, but I feel like the taste difference between butter that is made with cream and margarine that is made with vegetable oils is very noticeable!

What type of candy can you you add to caramel popcorn?

Caramel popcorn is easy to change up a little bit with pretty much any type of candy you like. The girl who gave me the recipe told me that her family always put both Hot Tamales and Milk Duds in this popcorn after coating the popcorn with the mixture. I know it sounds absolutely crazy but the combination of those two candies with this recipe is amazing! Any type of small candy is great to add into caramel popcorn – try M&Ms, chocolate chips, Junior Mints, Reeses Pieces… or whatever your favorite candy is!

How do you store caramel popcorn?

Caramel popcorn can be stored in an airtight container for several days. This particular caramel popcorn recipe is a little bit different because the sauce is not actually a traditional caramel. This Better than Caramel Popcorn tastes a million times better when the sauce is hot and fresh so I would plan on eating it immediately after making it.You can save this popcorn and eat it later, but the topping will harden at that point and it’s just not as yummy. This recipe is one that is about a million times tastier if you eat it immediately after making it while it is still warm and gooey.

Better Than Caramel Popcorn is gooey, deliciously sweet and so easy to make! The coating in this caramel popcorn is made with butter, sugar and whipping cream - that's it!

If you enjoyed our Better Than Caramel Popcorn, you may also enjoy the following popcorn recipes: 

Better Than Caramel Popcorn is gooey, deliciously sweet and so easy to make! The coating in this caramel popcorn is made with butter, sugar and whipping cream - that's it!

Better Than Caramel Popcorn is gooey, deliciously sweet and so easy to make! The coating in this caramel popcorn is made with butter, sugar and whipping cream - that's it!Better Than Caramel Popcorn is gooey and deliciously sweet! The coating for the popcorn is made with butter, sugar and whipping cream - that's it!

Roasted Lemon Pepper Potatoes – The Side Dish That Doesn’t Play Second Fiddle by Gordon Ramsay

Roasted Lemon Pepper Potatoes – The Side Dish That Doesn’t Play Second Fiddle


If you’ve made and loved our Greek Lemon Chicken, and
Fondant Potatoes, then you will absolutely adore these lemon pepper potatoes,
since it’s basically the best of those two recipes put together, minus the
chicken. The only problem is, whatever main course you decide to go with is in serious danger of being upstaged.

Speaking of chicken, if you happen to be roasting one,
besides keeping the bones for stock, be sure to save the rendered fat as well,
since that will elevate this dish to even greater heights. Also, feel free to
add some garlic here, but if you do, I’d go with whole cloves, since minced
garlic may burn onto the bottom of the dish towards the end of the roasting
time.

These are incredible eaten hot and fresh, but if for some
reason you don’t finish them all, they make the best homefries you’ll ever eat.
Just cut them up, and fry in some olive oil until crispy. They’re so good,
you’ll be tempted to make them just for that purpose, although that will take
way more willpower than I possess. Regardless, I really do hope you give these
Lemon Pepper Potatoes a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 8 Portions Lemon Pepper Potatoes:

4 large russet potatoes

salt, freshly ground black pepper and cayenne to taste

1/4 cup olive oil, or enough to cover bottom of baking dish

fresh oregano springs, optional

1 cup chicken broth

2 teaspoons lemon zest

juice from 1 or 2 lemons

– Roast at 400 F. for 20 minutes, flip and cook another 15
min., then flip again, and continue roasting until very tender and crusty.

CHOCOLATE CARAMELS – Butter with a Side of Bread by Gordon Ramsay

Chocolate Caramels are soft, chewy 4-ingredient homemade caramels with the amazing addition of chocolate! Perfect holiday treats that are easy to make!


Chocolate Caramels are soft, chewy 4-ingredient homemade caramels with the amazing addition of chocolate! Perfect holiday treats that are easy to make!

Chocolate Caramels are the perfect holiday treat to give to family and friends and neighbors. I have always loved homemade caramels and make them every year, but I recently found this recipe and was excited to see if this variation was equally delicious. It is! These Chocolate Caramels will be a huge hit with any chocolate lovers in your life – just make sure to save some for yourself before you give them all away!

Chocolate Caramels are soft, chewy 4-ingredient homemade caramels with the amazing addition of chocolate! Perfect holiday treats that are easy to make!This Chocolate Caramels recipe has only 4 ingredients and it’s pretty simple to make. It does require some stirring, and you’ll need to plan about 30 minutes to make the caramels. I like to wrap mine in the precut pieces of wax paper– they cost under $10 for 250, which generally lasts me at least a few years! So worth it to not have to cut small squares of wax paper each year!

Do you need a candy thermometer to make homemade caramels?

A thermometer is a necessity when making homemade candy, especially when making caramels. Unless you have made a caramel recipe hundreds of times and know exactly what the mixture looks like at exactly the right point, you will have a hard time getting perfect results without a thermometer. You can test the candy mixture by placing a little bit of it in water when you think that it’s close, but having a thermometer will help you to know if you are even getting close to the testing stage so you don’t have to waste a bunch of your mixture!

You can use a classic candy thermometer like this one, but I prefer to use a digital thermometer like this one. The classic candy thermometers work fine, but I find that the glass often gets fogged up in the candy making process, and you don’t want it to be fogged up at the critical point when you are trying to see what the temperature is!  The other benefit to using a digital one is that it can be used for meat and other things too so you don’t need to buy more than one for your kitchen.

How does altitude affect homemade caramels?

Homemade Caramels cook for different time depending on where you live. The soft ball stage (required for caramel making) is somewhere between 234°-240°at sea level. As a general rule of thumb, you will need to reduce that temperature by about 2° for every 1,000 feet above sea level you are.

Test your candy at 235° by taking a small dollop and placing it in an ice cold bowl of water. If the candy dissolves, it’s not done cooking. But if the candy hardens and when you press it, it’s soft, it’s likely done. (I prefer my caramels to be slightly soft!) I’m at a higher elevation and cook my caramels to about 237°, rather than 240°.

Sometimes it’s a little tricky to find the right temperature to achieve the perfect consistency in homemade caramels (and other homemade candy too), but once you figure out the correct temperature for your particular altitude, you should be able to get consistent results every time!

What are the ingredients in Chocolate Caramels?

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup light corn syrup
  • 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, broken into small pieces
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided

How to make Chocolate Caramels:

  1. Line an 8X8 pan with foil and grease the foil with butter.
  2. In a large saucepan, bring the sugar, corn syrup and chocolate to a boil over medium heat and stir until smooth.
  3. Add 1/2 cup cream and stir constantly until a candy thermometer reads 234 degrees.  Add another 1/2 cup cream and return mixture to 234 degrees, stirring constantly.  Add the remaining 1/2 cup of cream and cook until the temperature reaches 240°. Test candy. (If you are at a high altitude, you may want to begin testing when the mixture reaches 234°.) If the mixture dissolves in the water, you need to keep cooking until the temperature goes up 2 more degrees, then test again. If mixture hardens when a small dollop is placed in ice cold water, then remove from heat and pour into prepared pan.*
  4. Immediately pour the mixture into the prepared pan and let stand until firm – about 5 hours or overnight.
  5. Using the foil, lift the candy out of the pan.  Remove foil and cut into 1 inch squares.  If desired, you can wrap the individual pieces in waxed paper, twisting the ends.  These make great gifts for neighbors and friends!

*You may find that your mixture is not at the right consistency until it reaches closer to 246°. That’s ok! Many caramel recipes require a final temperature of about 246-248° but just keep testing to make sure that isn’t too high of a temp. If the candy cooks too long, your caramels will be too hard. Just remember that the higher your elevation, the LOWER the temperature will be when the candy is done.

Chocolate Caramels are soft, chewy 4-ingredient homemade caramels with the amazing addition of chocolate! Perfect holiday treats that are easy to make!

Chocolate Caramels

Chocolate Caramels are soft, chewy 4-ingredient homemade caramels with the amazing addition of chocolate! Easy to make & perfect holiday treats.

Author: Butter With A Side of Bread

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup light corn syrup
  • 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate broken into small pieces
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream divided

Instructions

  1. Line an 8X8 pan with foil and grease the foil with butter.

  2. In a large saucepan, bring the sugar, corn syrup and chocolate to a boil over medium heat and stir until smooth.

  3. Add 1/2 cup cream and stir constantly until a candy thermometer reads 234 degrees.  Add another 1/2 cup cream and return mixture to 234 degrees, stirring constantly.  Add the remaining 1/2 cup of cream and cook until the temperature reaches 240°. Test candy. (If you are at a high altitude, you may want to begin testing when the mixture reaches 234°.) If the mixture dissolves in the water, you need to keep cooking until the temperature goes up 2 more degrees, then test again. If mixture hardens when a small dollop is placed in ice cold water, then remove from heat and pour into prepared pan.*

  4. Immediately pour the mixture into the prepared pan and let stand until firm – about 5 hours or overnight.

  5. Using the foil, lift the candy out of the pan.  Remove foil and cut into 1 inch squares.  If desired, you can wrap the individual pieces in waxed paper, twisting the ends.  These make great gifts for neighbors and friends!

Recipe Notes

*You may find that your mixture is not at the right consistency until it reaches closer to 246°. That’s ok! Many caramel recipes require a final temperature of about 246-248° but just keep testing to make sure that isn’t too high of a temp. If the candy cooks too long, your caramels will be too hard. Just remember that the higher your elevation, the LOWER the temperature will be when the candy is done.

How long do homemade caramels last?

If your caramels are wrapped individually and then stored in an airtight plastic bag or container, they should stay good at room temperature for about 2-3 weeks. Just make sure they are not exposed to any moisture! And if you can make them last 3 weeks without eating all of them, you deserve a prize for self-restraint! They’ve never lasted more than a few days at my house!

Do homemade caramels need to be refrigerated?

Homemade caramels do not need to be refrigerated, but you can store them in the refrigerator to make them easier to cut and it also prolongs the shelf life. I prefer to eat them soft, so just make sure to take them out of the fridge about 30 minutes before you plan to eat them – as long as they are cut into small pieces, they will get to room temperature pretty quickly. If you do refrigerate the caramel before cutting, just make sure to cover it with waxed paper and foil to protect your candy from absorbing other odors/flavors from your refrigerator.

Can you freeze homemade caramels?

Caramels freeze very well – just place the individually wrapped caramels in an airtight freezer bag. If they are wrapped properly, they should be good for up to 6 months!

Chocolate Caramels are soft, chewy 4-ingredient homemade caramels with the amazing addition of chocolate! Perfect holiday treats that are delicious & easy to make. Incredible #homemade #caramel #recipe with #chocolate from Butter With A Side of Bread #Christmas #candy #holidaysIf you love these Chocolate Caramels, be sure to try some of our other favorite chocolate treats!

Chocolate Caramels are soft, chewy 4-ingredient homemade caramels with the amazing addition of chocolate! Easy to make & perfect holiday treats. Incredible #homemade #caramel #recipe with #chocolate from Butter With A Side of Bread #Christmas #candy #holidays

 

Proudly powered by WordPress

By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. Click here to read more information about data collection for ads personalisation

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Read more about data collection for ads personalisation our in our Cookies Policy page

Close