Cream Cheese-Chile Powder Caramel Popcorn

The guiltiest of my guilty pleasures has to be caramel popcorn. Whenever I make a batch, the hubacious (!) and I devour it instantly. I have put many things in caramel popcorn over the years, including:

1. Molasses
2. Peanut butter
3. Honey

All were successfully, particularly the peanut butter caramel popcorn, which I talked about previously on Everyday Creations. Almost immediately after making (and instantly consuming) the honey popcorn, it occurred to me that I needed to really break out of the box and try something with more zest. Naturally, I settled on a sweet-and-spicy combination: Honey and Chile Caramel Popcorn with Cream Cheese Glaze.

Caramel Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup light corn syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup creamed honey
3-4 tablespoons of New Mexican Chile Hatch Mild Powder (to taste!)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Glaze Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup cream cheese (I used low fat)
2-3 cups of powdered sugar, to taste
Milk to thin if desired

Steps:
1. Pop 1 bag of popcorn as per the usual.
2. Mix caramel ingredients, except baking soda, in large microwaveable bowl.
3. Microwave mixture for 2.5 minutes, until very bubbly.
4. Mix baking soda into mixture, toss/mix with popcorn. I usually get a spoon in there to really make sure all of the popcorn gets well-coated.



You can eat it now if you like things spicy, or if you want to make it creamier and cool it down a little, whip up the glaze:

1. Beat butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar until creamy -- like making icing.
2. Add milk and thin to desired consistency. If you want it like icing, use little to no milk. If you want to glaze the popcorn, thin that out with more milk.
3. Toss glaze/icing with popcorn and inhale. Seriously, inhale. This is ridiculously delicious and totally irresitable.

Ease: 9.5
Taste: 10
Comfort: 9

Let me know how you like it, if you try it! How about you guys? What kinds of caramel popcorn do you love, or would like to try?