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“Take me out to the ball game. Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks. I don’t care if I ever come back…”

Do you like those Cracker Jack things that come in a box with a little prize? Or how about Fiddle Faddle? If those are something you enjoy, you will love this!


This is another adaptation from The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn. The original recipe calls for corn syrup and brown sugar. This adaption uses honey, molasses and sucanat.  Sucant is an unrefined sweetener.  Another brand name would be Rapadura.  You could use regular brown sugar if you don’t have either the Sucanat or the Rapadura.

I pop my corn on the stove top in coconut oil. If you have not yet tried stove top pop corn, you must! It is wonderful. The first time I tried it I was a little intimidated by the heat and oil and popping but after the first time, it is easy. Need some guidance? Take a look at this video from GNOWFGLINS.  Wardeh’s son Mikah demonstrates the popping process. They use red palm oil which makes a lovely popcorn. You could certainly use the red palm oil for the Cracker Jack popcorn if you wish. No need to salt the popcorn for this recipe.  To make 8 cups of popcorn I used 1 cup unpopped kernals.  Update: a comment below states that 1 cup yielded almost 15 cups popped. Perhaps my corn doesn’t pop like it should. Maybe start with 1/2 cup and pop more if needed.

 

Cracker Jacks

1/2 cup Sucanat
1/4 cup butter
4 Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon molasses
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
8 cups popped popcorn
1/2 cup peanuts (optional)
1/2 cup almonds (optional)

In a large bowl, combine popcorn and optional nuts (you could use 1 full cup of either nut instead of 1/2 cup of each).

In a deep sauce pan, combine Sucanat, butter, honey and molasses over low heat. Stir until butter and, if needed, honey are both melted.  When melted, set your timer for 3 minutes and allow to cook over low heat without stirring.  When time is up, remove from heat. Add baking soda and then vanilla stirring to mix. Pour the hot mixture over the popcorn and stir to evenly coat. Put the wonderfully gooey popcorn in 2 9×13 baking dishes. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit until cool. Break popcorn into pieces and enjoy!

I’m sharing this recipe at Traditional Tuesdays , Simple Lives Thursday and Homestead Barn Hop.

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