Yummy S’mores (without the campfire)

Since it’s soooo freakin’ hot around here, who wants to sit out around a roaring campfire roasting marshmallows to make s’mores?!? Count me out! And we all know how much I love camping anyway…

So, a few weeks back I discovered this website called Thirty Handmade Days on Pinterest-this week’s High Five For Friday. Loaded with all kinds of great DIY and cooking ideas from various sources, there is so much there to repin and enjoy! On this particular day, she was featuring the S’Mores Popcorn recipe from Your Home Based Mom.

Your Home Based Mom S’Mores Popcorn

You won’t believe the photography on this website-all of the food offerings literally jump off the page- makes you want to go and try every darn recipe.

But the S’Mores Popcorn recipe caught my eye because I was looking to make something easy, sweet and plentiful for a wedding shower we were planning. See how yummy it looks in a nice big bowl next to the Ooey Gooey Life Changing Caramel Cupcakes?!

So we followed the microwave recipe she had posted for the caramel corn.  Sounded perfect- no oven to turn on. But, because we were on Cape Cod and it was pretty hot and steamy outside and in, the resultant corn was a bit soggy, especially once we added the chocolate and marshmallows. (it was devoured anyway…never let a sweet treat go uneaten…). So we made the second batch using my old tried and true oven recipe (the beauty of living in an air conditioned society). First, you pop two bags of popcorn. We used this Smart Balance low-cal popcorn, figuring that it wouldn’t be quite so decadent-ha! Then we drizzled it with caramel (recipe below) and melted chocolate…

Caramel Popcorn Recipe

1/2 Cup Light Corn Syrup

2 Cups Lightly Packed Light Brown Sugar

1 Cup Margarine or Butter

1 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

In medium saucepan, melt butter, then stir in brown sugar. Bring to boil over med/high heat. Continue to boil, stirring constantly, for five minutes. Remove from heat, stir in remaining ingredients. Allow to cool for 2-3 minutes. Pour over popped popcorn that’s spread evenly on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake @ 250 degrees for 30-45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to allow even coating of caramel and the popcorn is lightly browned. DO NOT OVERBAKE!! Pour the still warm popcorn onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.

Sprinkle the mini-marshmallows and Golden Grahams evenly over the warm caramel corn. Watch out for the mini-minions-they’re hiding in the box!

Drizzle the melted chocolate all over-as much as you like-but with all things chocolate-more is better!

I found this melting chocolate stuff at Hannafords and it was actually quite good. Melted easily and smoothly, poured well from the pan or drizzled with a spoon, tasted delish! We used 1/2 package for each batch we made.

So this recipe ended up making three sheet pans filled with the golden goodness!

Which we broke apart and placed in the large bowl (did you know that you can turn a covered glass domed cake dish into an elevated serving bowl? No? Me neither! You just simply flip the stand upside down

 and the ball of the top goes into the hole-who knew!?  For the shower, we packaged some of the caramel corn into clear plastic bags

and tied pink and blue ribbons with a little tag I made from the Avery.com website. Super easy and cute little gift bags for guests to take home and munch on later.

So I hope you have S’More fun this coming weekend. It’s Friday, and the hot weather is supposed to clear out soon!! In the meantime, keep your ovens off and stay cool, everyone! Susan