Yummy, Gooey, Christmaseee, Goodness!

Crunchy? Gooey? Sticky? I have a serious weakness. Is it chocolate chip cookies? Sourdough bread? Lasagna? Salmon? Asparagus? A Good burger? Avocado? Cheese? Pears? Wine? YES, YES, YES! Food. Truly I love food! And as a food lover, there is no better time of year than Christmas. Deliciousness is everywhere.

The pinnacle of Christmas time treats for me recently (although asking me to settle on just one item is ridiculous) has been Moose Munch. Oh my, yum yum yum! Caramel popcorn drizzled with Dark Chocolate and Clustered with almonds, pecans, or pretzels. My husband and I decided last night to make it homemade and send some to his grandparents! It was such a fun project! Is there really anything more captivating than a mouth watering sweet treat? I think not.

Finding the right balance of healthy eating and keeping a lid on my gluttonous ways is something I am still working toward. :) But if there is one thing I continue to learn, it is that within reason food is a gift to us to be enjoyed, so here you go folks. The recipe is below (along with a picture I took). Happy Holidays!

Christmas Moose Munch:

1 heaping tablespoon solid coconut oil

1 cup unpopped white popcorn

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups light brown sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter

1 cup light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups chopped nuts (almonds or pecans)

6-8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Heat coconut oil in a large pot over high heat. Add 6 kernels to pan as testers; cover. When at least 3 of the kernels pop, add remaining kernels. Shake pan occasionally as corn pops. Keep over high heat until popping slows to a few pops per second, about 5 minutes. Empty popped corn into a large brown paper bag. Add 2 teaspoons salt. Shake bag to distribute salt and drain excess oil; discard unpopped kernels. Measure 13 cups of fully popped kernels; spread on Silpat (or parchment paper) in a large roasting pan or on two cookie sheets; set aside.

Combine brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and baking soda in medium heavy saucepan; heat to boiling over medium-high heat. Cook, without stirring, until mixture reaches 235 degrees F on a candy thermometer, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat. Be sure to heat the caramel completely or it will come out too chewy.

Carefully pour caramel mixture over popcorn. Stir mixture with heat-resistant spatula or buttered wooden spoon to evenly coat popcorn, working quickly to coat kernels.

Bake popcorn 1 hour, stirring every 10 minutes to continue coating uniformly (this is very important). While popcorn is baking, chop up 2 cups of desired nuts (almonds, pecans, etc.). Remove pan from oven at the end of the hour (caramel should be evenly dispersed over all the popcorn, with no puddles underneath it). While popcorn is still cooling, Break apart any clumps of popcorn with your hands. Sprinkle the nuts on top of the cooling popcorn. Melt semi-sweet chocolate morsels in small sauce pan over low heat. Drizzle over caramel corn and nuts. Refrigerate to harden the chocolate. Once cooled, break apart any remaining clumps. Eat. Enjoy.