Cinnamon Maple Caramel Popcorn
Naturally sweetened, vegan caramel popcorn made with maple syrup and almond butter! Use any nut butter you'd like in this healthier caramel corn recipe.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 5, 2024
It’s been two days since I published my gift guide and I’ve made no progress on my holiday shopping list. I have, however, consumed lots and lots of this simple, maple-sweetened caramel corn. I can’t help myself!
This is the one time of year that I wish I worked at an office, just for the homemade, powdered sugar-dusted cookies and chocolate peanut butter buckeyes.
I’ve managed to appease my holiday cravings with my own homemade treats. Case in point? This popcorn. It’s dangerously easy to make and I’m powerless in the presence of its salty-sweet, cinnamon-flavored crunchiness.
Most caramel popcorn is made with corn syrup, which is an ingredient I’d rather avoid, plus a lot of butter. This healthier, dairy-free, homemade version is made simply with reduced maple syrup, nut butter, spices and the best stovetop popcorn. And it is delicious.
Feel free to change up your caramel popcorn! I added toasted, sliced almonds to match the almond butter, but you could leave out extra nuts or substitute your favorite (I bet pecans would be great). Once you’ve mixed the maple syrup mixture into the popcorn, you could add in some mini chocolate chips, cranberries, toasted coconut, sprinkles… anything that sounds good.
Some notes on alternative sweeteners: If you don’t have maple syrup at home, it is possible to make this caramel corn with honey. I tried it and, as usual, the honey browned too quickly in the oven. I would suggest reducing your oven temperature to 325 if you want to try honey-sweetened caramel corn. You might need to bake it a minute or two longer, but keep a careful eye on it so it doesn’t start to burn.
Also noteworthy, the original recipe called for brown rice syrup, which you could use, but I don’t recommend it because I’m concerned about the level of arsenic in concentrated brown rice syrup. (Actually, I’m concerned about arsenic in all rice products, but especially in concentrated forms.) Maple syrup to the rescue!
Cinnamon Maple Caramel Popcorn
Naturally sweetened caramel popcorn made with maple syrup and almond butter! This healthier, vegan caramel corn is really easy to make. Feel free to use any nut butter you’d like. Recipe yields about 6 cups caramel popcorn.
Ingredients
Popped popcorn, yields about 6 cups
- ⅓ cup popcorn kernels
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil
Cinnamon maple caramel corn
- 6 cups popped popcorn
- ¾ cup sliced almonds or other nuts (optional)
- ½ cup real maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons almond butter or nut butter of choice (peanut butter and cashew butter work, too)
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Toast the nuts: Once the oven has preheated, arrange the almonds (or other nuts) in a single layer on the parchment paper. Roast the nuts in the oven for 7 to 10 minutes, until fragrant. Keep an eye on them so they don’t burn. If you’re using whole nuts, chop the toasted nuts into small pieces on a cutting board.
- Meanwhile, pop the popcorn: First, place a large mixing bowl near the stove. Pour the oil into a large, heavy-bottomed pan with a lid. Turn the heat up to medium, add 2 kernels of corn, and cover. Once the kernels pop, remove the lid and pour in the remaining popcorn kernels. Cover the pot and give the pot a little shimmy to distribute the kernels evenly.
- Cook over medium heat, shaking the pot occasionally. Crack the lid just a smidge so the popcorn stays crisp, and cook until the popping sound slows to about one pop per every few seconds. Remove the pan from heat and dump the popcorn your bowl, taking care not to pour in any unpopped kernels at the bottom of the pot. If necessary, pick out any unpopped kernels that made it into the bowl with a spoon.
- To make the caramel sauce: In a small, heavy bottomed pot, bring the maple syrup to a boil over medium heat. Keep a watchful eye on the syrup and continue boiling for 2 minutes and 30 seconds, reducing heat only if necessary to prevent overflow. Remove the pot from heat.
- Add the nut butter, vanilla extract, salt and cinnamon to the pot of maple syrup. Whisk until well blended. Add the nuts to the popcorn, then drizzle the maple mixture over the popcorn and nuts. Toss with a rubber spatula or big spoon until well mixed. Pour the popcorn onto the parchment-covered baking sheet and arrange it in a single layer.
- Bake the popcorn for 6 minutes, then rotate the pan and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with additional cinnamon and salt, to taste. The popcorn will continue to crisp up as it cools. Once it’s cool, break the popcorn into pieces (or leave them in chunks!) and serve.
Notes
Recipe adapted from At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen by Amy Chaplin.
Make it nut free: I think sunflower butter would work in place of the almond butter, but I haven’t tried. You’ll also want to skip the toasted nuts or use toasted pepitas or sunflower seeds instead.
Storage suggestions: This popcorn is best when fresh, but it keeps well in a sealed plastic bag (squeeze out as much air as possible) for a few days.
Change it up: You can do so many things with this recipe! Use a different nut butter and different nuts. Toss in dried cranberries, tiny chocolate chips and/or toasted shredded/flaked coconut while the mixture is wet. Use different spices (I think spicy curry powder could be great!)
If you love this recipe: You’ll also love my Peppermint Bark Popcorn, Lemon, Parmesan and Black Pepper Popcorn and Stovetop Popcorn with Chili Powder and Dark Chocolate.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Absolutely fantastic, easy, and addictive. We use the still-hot pot used to make the popcorn to make the topping (the maple syrup will start to boil right away). Didn’t even get around to baking it…. just gobbled it up after adding the topping. Wonderful recipe!
It’s so addictive and a great treat. Thanks for sharing, C. Michele.
Make this the other day and it was so good! I want to give it as Christmas gifts. Is a plastic bag better than a glass mason jar for packaging for gifts? What would you say the shelf life is? Thank you.
What a fun idea! I think a mason jar is a great idea! Adds an additional element and keeps the popcorn more intact. Thanks for your review, Christine!
This popcorn is soooooo goood! The only thing I would change next time is a bit less maple syrup, it was too sweet. I think it would still be really yummy with 1/8 cup less syrup… Anyway, way healthier than regular caramel corn! Thanks for the great recipe!
I’m glad you loved it!
I’m the only vegan in my family but they all love this recipe. It is devoured within minutes of coming out of the oven! I could eat the caramel topping straight it’s soooo good! I think it would make a nice drizzle on a cake as well. mmmmm Thank You
You’re welcome! Let me know what you think of it on a cake. I would be interested!
I made this with sunflower butter and it was next level delicious. I needed to reduce the time to about 6 minutes total as mine started to burn. Maybe it has something to do with the sunflower butter.
That could be. Thanks for sharing, Stephanie!
I keep making this exactly as it says and it keeps coming out gooey? Could it be Im not getting enough popcorn in the mix?
This is perfectly sweetened with the right amount of spice! First time making caramel corn for my girls (2 and 4yrs), so I omitted the nuts just in case they got too picky… although it wouldn’t have gone to waste…. it’s insanely addictive.
I used half honey half maple syrup because I have a lot of honey in my pantry that needed to be used. I think I will double this recipe next time I make it and add nuts, or M&M’s or coconut… this is such a great treat.
Surprised it’s vegan actually, since I ran out of butter (gasp) and this was one of the more promising recipes I found. Thanks a lot. Yum.
Thank you for sharing, Ashley! I’m happy you enjoyed it.
I made this tonight for our D&D party and it was devoured in a blink. Awesome recipe.
You’re welcome, Danielle!
This is such a delicious recipe for a sweet tooth like me. Healthy is a bonus point :)
Could you use air popped popcorn for this recipe?
Sure, that will work too.
Okay.. I made this for my sons care package and used the Date Ladies date syrup Instead of maple syrup. The recipe turned out so good I ended up eating the entire care package.. guess it was fine for me to start dating again;)
I’ve made this maybe half a dozen times now, using Adam’s natural creamy peanut butter. It hasn’t worked every time for me.
Once, I tried doubling the recipe (I use an air popper, so it makes more than 6 cups at a time). But I don’t think 2 1/2 minutes was long enough to properly reduce twice the amount of maple syrup. It ended up being too thin, even with nut butter, and shriveling up the popcorn. Still tasty, but not something I’d serve at a party.
Recently I did a regular batch, and I don’t think the maple reduced enough, because when I added the nut butter, it just looked like maple syrup with whisps of unincorporated nut butter (maybe my pot was the wrong size). I added it back to the heat and simmered it for another minute or two, until it looked homogenous. It turned out well.
Is there a way to tell when the syrup is reduced enough, other than 2 1/2 minutes?
Note: Don’t try to make the caramel two times in a row re-using the same pot; it seized up and made a crunchy, hard, candy-like substance.
This is absolutely delicious. We made it for the first time tonight and the recipe is a definite keeper!
I’m glad you loved it, Natalie!
Made this!! DELICIOUS!!!! the maple, the cinnamon, the almond butter… yum!!!! so comforting and so amazing to know that it’s still healthy! thank you!!
Just made a batch of this popcorn. It is soooo delicious. I normally don’t like popcorn but this recipe made me change my mind. I am a big fan of your blog and have already tasted many of your recipes. Thank you!
Wowww… just got inspired to make this after not having any good snacks in the house for A few days. And it’s soooo good. I accidentally swapped the vanilla and cinnamon measurements so it was very cinnamony and I used pecans as the bits which was an excellent call. Very satisfied !
Thank you for sharing, Mariah!
Thank you Kate! I absolutely love this recipe! I was skeptical at first because of how healthy it is, but it is so so delicious. The almond butter only makes it better and I love the addition of the chopped almonds.
Yesterday I made this & your pizza recipe. Both so good. I always know your recipes are going to work out, be easy enough for this basic cook, healthy and delicious . Thanks so much for sharing them
So delish! I made it with butterscotch extract for more of a caramel flavor. My family fought over the little bits at the bottom of the bowl. Definitely going to have to make more.
I’m so glad I came upon this recipe! YUM! Perfect for the fall & holiday season. It’s still pretty light, but deliciously packed with flavor. I added pecans, sprouted pumpkin seeds & flaked coconut & had to walk away to stop eating it. Will definitely be making this again!!
Great to hear, Ariel! I appreciate your review.
Followed the recipe as written and they turned out well. I’ve read all the comments and encountered a slightly thick caramel sauce, but still able to mix in the popcorn. I much prefer these to traditional corn caramel as the ingredients are way cleaner. And I love the taste of almond butter.
Used kirkland almond butter which had kinda separated and it was not runny as I wasn’t able to mix it and didn’t use that much oil. Not sure it that made a difference.
Hi! Can I substitute coconut butter do you think?
I’m not sure without trying it for this one.
Delicious! We have a tradition for New Year’s Eve, I make Caramel popcorn for the family. Myself WFPB Vegan, I have not had any for many years. I finished the batch for this year and found this recipe. Tried it and loved it. I microwaved the popcorn (no oil) and left the sliced almonds out. Thanks for posting.
Thank you so much! As someone suffering from a milk allergy is been impossible to eat the caramel popcorn we have available here in Europe for the last 10 years. Absolutely delicious!
P.S Works really well with white almond butter (unroasted).
I realize this is an older post but I’m curious. Do you think we could use cookie butter in place of nut butters so the popcorn doesn’t take so…nut buttery?
Thanks Kate!
Hi Amy, I’m not sure without trying it. Sorry!
AMAZING! The best caramel corn ever! Bonus…it makes your house smell wonderful while it is baking:)
Sooo addictive! Thanks so much for the five pounds I’ll be putting on because I can’t keep my hands off this salty/sweet treat.
Easy and delicious! It evens tastes healthy lol
This is one of the most delicious things ever, and pretty much guilt free. Thanks for this amazing recipe!
You’re welcome, Renee!
Made it with peanut butter and it’s wonderful. The cinnamon really adds something special to it. Easy to made and very tasty!
Hi there I love this recipe I have a lot left over because I doubled it! It got soggy. Can I put it in the oven to get it to crisp up again?
Hi Abbe, what did you try?
I have a question. I have not tried the recipe yet.
Doesn’t the weight of the nut butter and maple syrup, shrivel the popcorn into wet-nothing? How do you avoid this? Every time I have tried to make home made popcorn with butter, this happens,& it’s less than appealing:-/I know that’s one of the reasons why they use oils, on movie theater popcorn, but that oil stuff is pretty unnatural,& terrible for you.
Hi Jill, I would recommend trying this recipe and let me know what you think! That’s not an issue here.
Would I be able to use coconut butter and agave? Looks so yummy :)
Hi Abby, I recommend this recipe as written.
This recipe looks amazing and I would love to try it. But I am unable to get maple syrup where I live. What can I replace it with? Would honey work? Or a pancake syrup (though that’s full of sugar…)?
Hi SR, See the blog post for details – I tried it and, as usual, the honey browned too quickly in the oven. I would suggest reducing your oven temperature to 325 if you want to try honey-sweetened caramel corn. You might need to bake it a minute or two longer, but keep a careful eye on it so it doesn’t start to burn.
Did anyone make this that reviewed it? I followed the recipe and the pb turned it all into a paste.
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t love this recipe.
I used 1/2 almond butter and 1/2 Trader Joe’s cookie butter. So simple and delicious! Will make again for a quick and festive snack. Would package well for a gift, too.
I made a double batch and it was easy and delicious.
hat’s great to hear, Sandra!