Ingredients
- 8 cups popped plain popcorn (from ½ cup kernels)
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup Frank's Red Hot Original sauce
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Nonstick vegetable oil spray
Preparation
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly coat parchment and a large bowl with nonstick spray. Add popcorn to bowl. Set baking sheet aside.
Bring sugar and ¼ cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil, swirling pan occasionally, until caramel is a deep amber color, 10-12 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in hot sauce and butter (mixture will bubble vigorously). Return to a boil and cook another 3 minutes.
Remove from heat. Stir in salt, baking soda and cayenne. Working quickly (and carefully-caramel will be very hot), pour caramel mixture over popcorn and toss to coat. Spread out popcorn on prepared baking sheet and bake, tossing once, until dry, 15-20 minutes. Let cool.
