Happy Halloween … Dried Cherry Cracker Jack

There is a well known store in Chicago, Garrett’s Popcorn, that you can smell blocks away. I’ve seen the look a million times, as tourists pop up their heads and look around trying to find the source of that magical scent, especially on a cold day. Garrett’s sell popcorn – buttered, cheese or caramel – but it is the caramel corn that draws you in. The buttery, caramelized scent will assault you in the best possible way. Caramel corn is like that; crunchy, darkly sweet, salty and completely addictive. For years I’ve been meaning to post a caramel corn recipe on Halloween and then it never seems to happen. Not this year. I was determined to do this. Maybe it’s all the post season baseball I’ve been watching and 7^th Inning stretches I’ve sung but I wanted my peanuts and Cracker Jack.

Years ago I worked with a pastry chef that had an excellent, but overly complicated dessert on the menu with a slew of components, one of which was a homemade cracker jack. Dark, caramelized and packed with peanuts and dried cherries, it was really tough not sneak a piece though you didn’t dare. She was not one to mess with. A word to the wise: nothing, and I mean nothing, pisses a pastry chef off more than when staff pinches things off our cooling racks. You just don’t do it.

So with that version in mind, I got to work. I dug up the recipe that chef gave me years ago and after doing some research noticed it was very similar to one on the Food52 site. Great minds think alike and I wouldn’t doubt if you traced back the origins of both recipes, they probably came from the same person. For this one, the caramel comes together really easily with butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and molasses to give that distinct color and toasty flavor. Tossed with popcorn, salty Spanish peanuts and yes, dried cherries, it is a damn delight and is actually better than the original. But the good news is it does something Cracker Jack has always been known for: the peanuts will fall to the bottom. If you were a smart kid, you always opened the box from the bottom.

There’s no prize but you can easily remedy that yourself if you like. It always was the best part, at least it was when the prizes were still cool. I don’t know that kids get all that excited these days over strange, badly illustrated stickers but I guess the little figures and plastic rings that I loved have since been determined to be choking hazards, hence the switch. I do remember the best prize I ever got: a red plastic whistle. Because what parents really want is a kid hopped up on sugar running around in circles blowing a whistle. It was genius I tell you. Genius.

STRESS THERAPY BAKING FACTOR: SWEET CARAMELIZED RELIEF. No joke, this one has been on my to-do list for at least 5 years. Maybe longer. More times than I care to admit, I look at my plans at the end of October with dread. Not this year! I whipped up a batch pretty quickly (yes, I may have bought prepopped popcorn so it was really easy.) Crunchy, darkly sweet and a little salty with pops of bright sour flavor from the cherries – it’s fantastic. This is what I wish those Cracker Jack boxes of my childhood were filled with. That AND a plastic red whistle? Too wonderful to fully comprehend.

Eight years ago: Cucumber Kimchi
Seven years ago: Chicken Pot Pie
Six years ago: Simple Apple Cake
Five years ago: Kale & Squash Salad
Four years ago: Pickled Green Cherry Tomatoes
Three years ago: Sherry Candied Walnut Salad
Two years ago: Thai Peanut Butter
Last year: Chocolate Malt Cookies

DRIED CHERRY CRACKER JACK – slightly adapted from this recipe
Makes about 5 cups
A note on the popcorn: however you get to 5 cups of popped popcorn is your call. Pop it on the stove, use the microwave or buy it already popped. Also, please note that the dried cherries are added toward the end of baking – do not add with the peanuts. My dried cherries were quite large for some reason so I cut them in half to be similar in size to the peanuts. Use your best judgment.

5 cups popped popcorn (1 ¾ ounces)
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup salted Spanish peanuts (3 ounces)
½ cup dried sour cherries, halved (2 ½ ounces)
6 Tablespoons brown sugar (3 ounces)
2 Tablespoons light corn syrup (1 ½ ounces)
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (1 ½ ounces)
2 teaspoons molasses
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

1. Preheat oven to 250°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat mat.
2. In a large bowl, place the popped popcorn. Have an extra rubber spatula nearby. Set aside until needed.
3. Measure out the baking soda, vanilla extract, peanuts and dried cherries in separate bowls and set each aside until needed.
4. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high.
5. Add the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, molasses, and salt; stir with a rubber spatula to combine.
6. Bring the mixture to a boil, over medium-high, and cook to 250°F (around 1-2 minutes after it begins to boil).
7. Remove from heat and immediately stir in the baking soda and vanilla until thoroughly combined.
8. Pour the caramel over the popcorn and gently but quickly stir the mixture to evenly coat all the kernels. It may help to use two spatulas to do this.
9. Add the peanuts and gently stir to evenly distribute.
10. Pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet.
11. With the back of a spatula, quickly spread into a single layer.
12. Bake for 30 minutes then remove from the oven and gently stir,
13. Bake for another 15 minutes.
14. Remove from the oven, sprinkle the dried cherries over the top and gently stir again.
15. Bake for another 15 minutes (for 1 hour total).
16. Remove from oven and gently stir once more.
17. Set on a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
18. Store in an airtight container for 3-5 days.