Red Hot Cinnamon Glazed Popcorn

I saw this recipe and I knew that I had to make it.  Juggling Act Mama has a lot of great recipes but this one called to me immediately.  Who can resist cinnamon flavored anything?

We had some leftover red hots in the cupboard and we had a snow day so it seemed like fate because I had the time to make it.  It needed a whole cup of red hots so I was a little worried but we had them!

The first step was to make the popcorn on the stove top.  I heated up 2 tablespoons of oil in the pot and put in my few test kernels.

 When they popped, I put 1/3 cup of kernels in and shook them around.  I got a big pot of popcorn.

Then, I poured them in a bowl and made a second batch.

At this point my son came running because he wanted some of "his popcorn".  His has salt on it that goes in the pot with the popcorn and I didn't make any yet so I told him to wait just a little bit.  At the same time I was also melting the red hots on the other burner so I added the water and red hots into the pot and kept them a little low because I was making the popcorn at the same time.

Over a little bit of time, they melted down and I had this slightly goopy mess.

Since the popcorn was popped, I turned up the heat and continued to melt the red hots down.  They turned into a clear liquid which I may or may not of splashed on the stove...oops!

 I measured 12 cups of the popcorn into a big plastic container.  The original recipe called for putting it in a paper bag and I didn't have one so I was looking around the kitchen for alternates.  I used the cake holder and it was plenty big enough to give everything a swish in the container.  I poured half of the red hot mixture on the popcorn.  I was afraid it was going to shrivel the popcorn but it didn't at all.

I put the top on and swished it around.  The popcorn was totally covered when I opened it up.

I added some more popcorn and then topped it with the rest of the red hot mixture.  Closed the top and swish it again which covered all of the popcorn again.  I probably should have even more popcorn but I didn't want to mess it up.  I spread it on to two cookie sheets with silpats.

I baked and brought them out of the oven to stir.  I put them back and baked for the rest of the time.  The container still had a little bit of the red hot mixture in the container but it was easy to clean out the container.

 I took the popcorn out of the oven to cool.  The popcorn candy coating got hard and baked to a mostly solid coating.  With a little bit of drying, it was nice and crispy.

It looked like fancy store bought popcorn so I was pretty excited.  We ate so much of it off of the cookie sheets that we only needed a small bowl to store it.  If you would like, you can toss with additional red hots but we didn't want the strange texture different.  We ate it plain and it was wonderful!!  With the added benefit that it was not as hot as the red hots usually are.

If you would like to make your own, check out this recipe because it is easy and yummy.

Red Hot Cinnamon Glazed Popcorn

12-16 cups popped popcorn
1 cup of red hot cinnamon candy
1/2 cup of water
4-6 tbsp oil

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.  Line two large baking sheets with silpat (or parchment paper). 

In a small saucepan, combine water and candies. Bring to a boil, stirring often until the candy melts.

In a large pot, heat 2 tbsps of oil of medium-high heat and add three kernels of popcorn to the oil and cover.  Wait until the kernels have popped and add 1/3 cup of popcorn kernels.  Swish the pot around on the stove so that the kernels aren't sitting in the same place to long or they may burn.  When the popping stops, pour the popcorn in a bowl.  Add 2 tbsps of oil and three kernels to make a second batch.  I should make 12 cups but in case it doesn't, make sure to follow the same process and make another batch.  On the second and third batch, you might have to lower the temperature of the burner so that the popcorn has enough time to cook.

Measure 12 cups of popcorn into a large plastic bowl that has a cover. Pour half the red hot mixture over the popcorn and shake.  Add additional popcorn if fully covered and then pour the remaining liquid and shake vigorously. 

Pour the popcorn out onto the silpat baking sheets. Be very careful with this step as the melted candy if very hot.  

Bake the popcorn for 10 minutes, then stir.  Bake for another 10-15 minutes until it’s almost dry.  Let cool and store in a sealed container.

Shared at SNF Recipe Link Party