Apple Cinnamon Caramel Popcorn

Apple Cinnamon Caramel Popcorn! Caramel corn is always great... but apples & cinnamon elevate it to something special, with seasonal warmth!

Originally published November 19, 2013. Updated on 6/29/2021

Wow, has it really been 3 weeks since I last posted? Do I really still have Halloween stuff up as the featured content? I'll get right on that..

Yikes. My apologies!

It's been a wild month. Lemme tell you a bit about it, and punctuate it with a really easy, tasty recipe: apple cinnamon caramel popcorn!

First off, as that last blog entry was posted, I was away in Chicago at a convention.

It was WeeM, Chicago Mensa's Halloween gathering. A great time, on its own... but it's also the anniversary of my husband and I dating, AND I usually get hired to go and bake a bunch of delicious goodies for the event.

MasterChef Reunion

This year was a bit different.

Still great on it's own, but with the added benefit of being able to hang out with a couple of my Chicago based "prison buddies" from my reality show adventure - Duckie & Rim.

It was so great to be able to catch up with them - they're both wonderful people, and it had been a while since I'd seen anyone from that whole experience!

Catering the Party

Back on the subject of cooking for WeeM, after a one year hiatus on the baking front, they had me back...with a twist.

For the first time ever, they hired me to make SAVORIES! Yes!

The whole "just a baker" thing has always been a minor sore point for me, so I welcomed the chance to flex some additional culinary muscle.

I kept the menu fairly simple, aiming to appeal to a wide range of tastes. For the savory part of the spread, I included almost 300 of my famous Mushroom Turnovers, and a couple gallons of Jalapeno Artichoke "Backfire" Dip, both of which went over stunningly well.

Just for the event, I made "beet salad" tarts - buttery pastry mini tarts filled with a creamy goat cheese/ricotta mousse, topped with pickled beets, pears, walnuts, and ribbons of fresh basil... they were the first thing to go!

The most "controversial" item on my menu, funny enough... was a gorgeous veggie tray with my Ginger-Wasabi Dip.

A couple of well-meaning individuals raised an eyebrow at the suggestion, telling me that Mensans would NOT touch the veggies.

Well, I'm happy to say that my veggie tray was picked clean by the end of the night! Mission accomplished!

Iron Chef, Mensan Style

It was also the 4th year that I helped organize and judge our "Iron Chef: Hospitality Suite" competition, which is always a great time.

It was the first time participating since MasterChef. I promise, I was nice to all our competitors!

The Gluten-Free Cookbook

Throughout all of this, I've been working on administering and promoting our ongoing Kickstarter campaign, "Beyond Flour: A New Kind of Gluten-Free Cookbook".

It's been a wild experience! The book reached its first goal about halfway through the campaign, and we're working on stretch goals now! 402 backers, as I write this... amazing.

So grateful for all of the support from those of you who have backed, shared links, etc - thank you!

The Thranduil Costume

If all of THAT wasn't enough, I decided - about a week ago, with less than 1 month until the deadline - that I would be dressing my husband up for the premiere of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

I've been feeling kinda overlooked / underrated in the local costuming "game", and decided that I would do a replica of the craziest elf costume in the movie - Thranduil. I KNOW!

The costume is coming along wonderfully, though - the coat has over 166 pieces of fabric in it, alone! - and I can't wait to show you photos of the finished garment.

In the meantime, here's a sneak peek at the jewelry I made for it:

So... yeah. It's been a very FULL few weeks. Add a crappy, miserable, STUBBORN cold on top of all that? That's my excuse for not blogging all this time. Forgive me? I have a recipe!

Apple Cinnamon Caramel Popcorn

Caramel corn is great on its own, but I love it even more when it's loaded with other goodies too - in this case, crisp dried apple slices, the warmth of cinnamon, and nuts!

We used walnut pieces, as that's what we had on hand.. but this recipe is also great with almonds, pecans, or cashews.