My neighbor asked me for a Poppycock recipe last year and I said I had never made it before. She nearly fell over!!! Never made poppycock??!!! We had made caramel popcorn before but not poppycock.
No, for some reason I hadn’t. My first kick at the cat was not very successful last Christmas, so I put Ken on the job now to do his best. He likes to try out new and different recipes; I was helping out with my two cents; in the end, the results were fantastic!
We love making treats here like Garlic Rosemary Olive Oil Popcorn, Almond Roca, Easy Chocolate Walnut Fudge, Microwave Peanut Brittle, and Peanut Butter Popcorn or Popcorn Balls with Peanuts. Also check out our 37 DIY Homemade Christmas Gifts for a lot more ideas!!
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How to Make Poppycock
Obviously, you have to start with popcorn. The best popcorn for this is made the old fashion way with a popcorn popper; microwave popcorn is not what you are going to want to use. Using 2 large baking sheet pans divide the popcorn and nuts between them. We use a mixture of nuts, like almonds, peanuts, pecans, and cashew.
In a large saucepan over medium heat bring the brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup to a boil while stirring. Continue to boil the mixture, cook for 5 minutes without stirring.
You don’t even need a candy thermometer for this recipe. Then just remove from heat, stir in vanilla and baking soda. Some recipes use cream of tartar but we stuck with baking soda.
Pour the caramel sauce over the popcorn and nuts and mix well to make sure everything is coated. Bake them in a 225 degree F oven for an hour, stirring every 10 minutes.
Allow the popcorn mixture to cool completely before storing it in an airtight container or ziplock bag for up to a few weeks but as if it would last that long, never would in this household.
You and I both now have an easy poppycock recipe for any occasion!!! It makes a lot, but if you are going to the trouble might as well make double.
What Does Poppycock Really Mean?
Today the definition of Poppycock is senseless chatter; nonsense. Kind of a fun term for this fun treat!!
It is believed that Poppycock, the treat you see here, was invented by Howard Vair in the 1950s as a snack to accompany him on road trips.
In 1960, Wander, a Swiss company, bought the rights to Poppycock and moved production to their Villa Park, Illinois, facility.
It has been a family favorite of ours for years but we had never made it before. I am glad we were prompted by our neighbor to come up with this delicious recipe for ourselves and for you!!
Enjoy this over the holiday season but also it makes a great treat for long car rides, picnics and other gatherings at any time of the year. Also makes a great present to bring to a hostess or as a treat to a potluck! Everyone loves Poppycock!!
Old picture of our recipe in case you have this already pinned.
Poppycock Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 24 cups popped popcorn
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup of corn syrup
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 4-5 cups mixed roasted unsalted nuts
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 225F.
- Place popped popcorn on two large baking sheets or roasting pans and divided nuts among the two pans.
- Salt the popcorn.
- In a large saucepan bring butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup to a boil, stirring constantly.
- Let boil for 5 min. on medium heat without stirring.
- Remove the saucepan from heat and stir in vanilla and baking soda.
- Pour over the popcorn and stir to coat.
- Place the pans in the oven. If they both don’t fit you will have to bake one and then the other or you can halve the recipe.
- Stir every 10 min. so that the mixture does not burn. Bake for 1 hour. Let cool completely and then store in Ziploc bags or sealed containers. Yum!!
Comments & Reviews
narcissist test says
I totally get the ‘first kick at the cat’ struggle – it’s great Ken helped perfect it. Sometimes when things don’t go right, I wonder if I’m being too critical or if my expectations are off.
online protractor says
This sounds like a fun and delicious challenge! I love that Ken took over after the first attempt wasn’t great and that you both ended up with fantastic results. Your list of other treats like Almond Roca and Peanut Butter Popcorn also sounds amazing. Good tip about using old-fashioned popcorn!
Stephanie L Bartocetti says
So far so good! I basically doubled the recipe because we are going camping and I’m sure it will be a huge hit. I followed the directions perfectly which were very simple and well spelled out. I used the vanilla extract. However I did add a little bit of almond extract and butter extract. And for my spice, I chose a churro seasoning with many assorted mixed nuts. Doubling the recipe gave me the perfect amount of caramel sauce, and I spaced mine out in three sheets with silpats underneath. I did mix everything all together in 2 very large trays before transferring them on to the 3 silpat trays that were going in the oven. I stirred them every 15 to 20 minutes. I think as long as you have patience this will be very successful.
Tara Noland says
That will be a great camping snack!! We make this all year round and love it!! I hope everyone enjoys it too!