Instructions

1. For the Popcorn:
2. Put a large pot over a medium heat, and add the oil and popcorn.
3.  Put a lid on the pot, with a small gap so that steam can escape.
4.  Pop the corn until there are a few seconds between pops, and it sounds like they are mostly cooked.
5.  Dump the popped corn into a large roasting pan (like one you would use for your thanksgiving turkey!) and sprinkle with kosher salt.
6.  Add the honey roasted peanuts and toss well with the popcorn.
7. For the Bourbon Caramel:
8.  Preheat the oven to 250*F
9. In the same pot that you made the popcorn, melt the butter, sugar, corn syrup, Bourbon and salt together.
10. Let them boil, and continue to stir them for about 5 minutes.
11. In a tiny bowl, mix the baking soda and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract together so that the soda is mostly dissolved.
12. When the caramel has cooked 5 to 6 minutes, pull the pot off of the heat, and stir in the vanilla and baking soda. The caramel should get very light and frothy.
13. Immediately pour the caramel over the popcorn and sprinkle the honey roasted peanuts in, and gently fold the caramel into the corn and peanuts to try to coat it. At this point you will probably think that you have not made enough caramel for the corn, as there will be globs of caramel, and a lot of the popcorn will not seem well coated. But don’t worry! This is where the oven comes in.
14. Put the roasting pan in the preheated oven and bake the popcorn at 250*F for 15 minutes.
15. Gently stir the popcorn into the melting caramel until the popcorn is better coated. Repeat this again after another 15 minutes in the oven after which the popcorn should be quite evenly coated.
16. Stir again and bake for another 15 minutes.
17. Remove the caramel corn from the oven and give the corn one final stir to coat the popcorn and then leave it to cool. When the popcorn is totally cool, it will have a nice, thin, crispy coating. Break it apart and store in airtight containers.