A few weeks back, the photo shoot took place for my new cookbook, tentatively titled, “The Vintage Baker,” (Chronicle Books, April 2018). I was over the moon about the team Chronicle put together for the shoot: Alice Gao photographed all of the (delicious) sweets and treats and Diana Yen of The Jewels of New York was the stylist. 
I don’t think I need to tell you that the pictures are AMAZING (if you don’t know Alice and Diana’s work, check out their Instagram feeds). And although I wish I could share the photos with you RIGHT NOW, the powers that be require that I wait . . . But what I will share is a recipe for homemade cracker jacks from Diana Yen/The Jewels of New York’s cookbook, “A Simple Feast.” The book is beautiful and it is full of so many scrumptious-sounding recipes. However, I’m a candied popcorn fanatic from always, and so . . . homemade cracker jacks for the win. 
I tweaked the recipe just a tad: substituting Lyle’s Golden Syrup for the light corn syrup and peanuts for the almonds (like the boxed version, I love too much). I added extra salt and vanilla, a bit of baking soda, more popcorn, and I used a candy thermometer, to ensure I pulled the caramel at the right time (my first batch of caramel – made without the thermometer – was a tad overcooked). The recipe is easy and the finished corn, super yummy. Perfect for snacking on while binge watching “You Better Call Saul,” if you must know.
Homemade Cracker Jacks
Ingredients
- 12 cups of unsalted popcorn
- 1 cup salted peanuts preferably with the red skins . . .
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup Lyles Golden Syrup or light corn syrup
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 2 teaspoons flaky sea salt such as Maldon's
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 250-degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Place the popcorn and peanuts in a large heat-proof bowl, toss together, and set aside.
- Place the butter, sugar, syrup, molasses, and salt in a small heavy bottomed sauce pan and stir to combine with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, attach a candy thermometer to the side of the sauce pan, and bring the caramel to 240-245 degrees (I brought mine closer to soft-ball/ 240-degrees).
- Remove from the heat and add the vanilla and baking soda - the mixture will bubble up, so be careful. Stir to combine with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula, pour the caramel over the nuts and popcorn and then stir again until all of the corn and nuts are covered in caramel.
- Transfer to the two prepared sheets and bake for about 40 - 50 minutes, rotating the pan every 10 minutes or so, and gently stirring the popcorn with a heatproof metal spatula. I find this easier to do on the counter top, so I take my sheets out each time I stir.
- Let the corn cool until you can touch it without burning your self, and use your hands to toss the popcorn and separate any clumps - I like each kernel to be separate and loose, but if you're into clumpy, by all means skip this step.
Find more candy recipes here!