LANTERN CRACKER JACK

Lantern Cracker Jack image

Provided by Monica Segovia-Welsh

Time 1h20m

Yield Serves 6

Number Of Ingredients 12

Ingredients

8 cups freshly popped popcorn (from about 1/3 cup raw kernels)
2 cups plain puffed rice
2 cups roasted, salted peanuts
1/3 cup raw corn kernels
1/4 cup black sesame seeds
1 teaspoon five-spice powder (recipe follows)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda, sifted
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup light-brown sugar, firmly packed
1/3 cup sorghum (see note)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the popcorn, rice and peanuts evenly on the sheet pan and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the sesame seeds, five-spice powder and baking soda and set aside.
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, sorghum and salt and stir to dissolve. Bring the mixture to a boil and continue to cook until the syrup reaches 250 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 5 minutes. Immediately remove from the heat and add the vanilla extract and sesame-seed mixture. Stir quickly with a wooden spoon to combine.
Pour the hot syrup evenly over the popcorn and nuts.
Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes to coat evenly. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature.

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 713, UnsaturatedFat 27 grams, Carbohydrate 68 grams, Fat 46 grams, Fiber 7 grams, Protein 16 grams, SaturatedFat 14 grams, Sodium 336 milligrams, Sugar 39 grams, TransFat 1 gram