Butter Pecan Popcorn

Well, mine is actually minus the pecan...

The absolute BEST popcorn treat I have ever made was this "Cinnabon" Popcorn - it was unholy good. Probably b/c it's made with a stick of butter, among other things.  So, when I found this recipe, claiming to be a caramel corn alternative that was much lower in fat/calories...I decided to give it a try.  It wasn't over-the-moon good, but it was a tasty, quick, sweet treat.  My kids and I crushed it one day after school.

Butter Pecan Popcorn from Recipes.com

8  cups  popped popcorn (about 1/3 to 1/2 cup unpopped)

Nonstick cooking spray

1/2  cup  broken pecans  **I omitted due to little man's allergies

2  tablespoons  butter or margarine **I used Smart Balance

1/3  cup  light corn syrup

1/4  cup  instant butterscotch (or butter pecan pudding mix) **I used sugar free/fat free butterscotch

3/4  teaspoon  vanilla

Discard unpopped popcorn kernels. Spray a 17x12x2-inch roasting pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place the popped corn and pecans in the pan. Keep popcorn warm in a 300 degree F oven while making coating.

In a small saucepan melt the margarine or butter. Remove saucepan from heat. Stir in the corn syrup, pudding mix, and vanilla. Pour syrup mixture over popcorn. With a large spoon, gently toss the popcorn with the syrup mixture to coat.

Bake popcorn, uncovered, in a 300 degree F oven for 16 minutes, stirring halfway through baking. Remove the pan from the oven. Turn mixture onto a large piece of foil. Cool popcorn completely. When cool, break into large pieces. Store leftover popcorn, tightly covered, in a cool, dry place for up to 1 week. Makes about 9 (1-cup) servings.

Verdict/Notes - I think I may have used more than 8 cups of popcorn.  I made a big bowl with my air popper and went with it - so, that may explain why I didn't have great coverage of my popcorn.  Therefore, I recommend measuring out 8 cups!  Also, I used sugar free/fat free instant pudding, so I don't know if that made a difference in the coating or not.  I may try it next time with regular instant pudding.  I think it would be really good with the pecans, but since my son loves popcorn, I wanted him to be able to eat it too.  Bottom line, it was a decent after school snack!  I will probably make it again, and play with the recipe and see what I come up with. 

Linking up with Eat at Home for Ingredient Spotlight: popcorn