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.
Caramel Popcorn is one of my favorite ways dress up ordinary popcorn – love the maple and cinnamon additions – sounds amazing!
I’ve always wanted to try brown rice syrup as an alternative sweetener but thanks for the heads up! Will definitely do more research about it before I decide if its worth buying.
I was literally researching brown rice syrup while I was standing in the sweeteners aisle at Whole Foods. I think the syrup really crisps up well, so it’s good for granola and caramel popcorn, but it’s like 20 times more concentrated than plain brown rice so the arsenic content is cause for concern.
My boyfriend loves popcorns, he always eats a big portion when we go to the movie theater. A simple kind, just salt and I-don’t-know-which-fat. But this vegan healthy sweet version makes me want to try them!
This sounds so awesome! If I made it I probably wouldn’t be able to keep myself from adding some chocolate in there. :-)
That’s not a bad idea! ;)
I haven’t had real Maple Syrup is so long, this will be perfect reason.
Gorgeous! Homemade pop corn is my husband’s favorite snacks. Will have to make this version for him soon. :)
Thanks, Robyn! I bet he’ll love it.
Popcorn with maple and cinnamon sounds so delicious! I would love to try this.
Maple syrup is my go to sweetener and your popcorn sounds fantastic!
Kate! My Mum is going to love this! Here in Australia we have a caramel popcorn called ‘Lolly Gobble Bliss Bombs’, quite self-explanatory really, they are bliss bombs, and you totally gobble them up!
I love the idea of a healthier version I can make at home with extra cinnamon-y goodness. And the suggestion of adding chocolate chips – noted! Thanks Kate and happy Christmas snacking :)
I love caramel popcorn and I love that this is a healthier version! Sounds so delicious!
YUM!!! Thank you. It is stormy in California here today and I made this as we all snuggled up for family movie night to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas and everyone inhaled it. Perfect warm treat, even my husband who doesn’t care for popcorn liked it :)
Looks delicious! Cannot wait to try this recipe…
This recipe is unbelievable! First off, I LOVE that you use real ingredients like maple syrup and almond butter! That combination is simply amazing!! Secondly, your pictures our out-of-this-world. I want to double-fist handfuls of this into my mouth…because who doesn’t do that with popcorn?!? Great job!!
Oh dear… I must try this recipe now!
The pictures look gorgeous!!
i love this idea so much! i was actually thinking about making caramel the other day, but then realized how much stuff was in there that i didn’t want to eat. this is so perfect, kate! happy holiday season to you! xo
Hi Kate! This looks amazing – I’m going to make a big batch and give it out with Christmas gifts. I was just wondering how long you think it would stay good in mason jars or other containers?
Thanks!
I need this with a movie tonight!!
Ohh, it’s looking delicious again… I love that you not only provide us with healthy recipes, but when holidays are calling, you occasionally give sweet-toothed recipes as well (but with a more healthy twist than most original recipes).
Apart from that, I was wondering where Cookie is in most of your posts. In my memory, your older recipes tended to be loaded with sweet pictures of Cookie, and the newer ones less. My housemate gets exceptionally enthusiast for Cookie-dense posts, which means I mostly make your older recipes (which is no problem, since they are as delicious as the newer ones).
This is one heck of a tasty looking snack. I absolutely love the almonds in there!
Hooray for caramel corn! Ordinary buttered popcorn is a staple snack at our house, so you know I am all about this for a festive alternative. Love the idea of mixing it up with nut butter!
I never would have thought to make popcorn with nut butter! You are a genius Kate, seriously… healthy and absolutely delish xx
First, let me say I’m a huge fan of cookie + Kate. But I tried this recipe and personally, I found the flavour of the nut butter “muddied” the taste of the caramel corn. I used the almonds, almond butter, and maple surple…I’m sorry, I was disappointed. I think if I were to make it again, I’d cut the nut butter completely and simply use the syrup and cinnamon to coat the popcorn.
Hi Rose, I’m so sorry you were disappointed with this one. I understand where you’re coming from, although I thoroughly enjoyed the nut butter and maple combination. Before your go through another 1/2 cup of maple syrup, I thought I’d mention that I tried a batch without nut butter and it didn’t work for me. The boiled maple syrup was still far too liquid-y and drowned the popcorn. The kernels just shriveled up on contact, so I do believe the nut butter is necessary in this recipe as written. You might be able to cook the maple syrup longer to condense it, but it would might be tricky to get it just right. Another idea would be to use cashew butter instead of almond butter—it has a more neutral, creamy taste that you might enjoy better with the maple. Apologies again that this recipe didn’t meet your expectations!
Wow, Kate, thanks for posting a reply – and so quickly, too! You might just be right about using cashew butter instead of almond butter, never considered that, but it makes sense. (I guess having good ideas like this are why you have a blog and I don’t!) Definitely worth a shot! Happy holidays to you and everyone you love and hold dear.
Thank you, Rose! Happy holidays.
Hi! I just made this recipe and instead of nut butter, I added a small dollop of vegan butter in the beginning and baking soda when I took the mixture off the stove. The baking soda still puffed up the caramel like it would with butter/sugar! This extra volume made it much easier to pour and spread and there was no need for the nut butter
It didn’t work for me…I followed this recipe to a tee but the caramel sauce wasn’t close to “drizzle mode”. After I put in the 3 tablespoons of nut butter, it came to the consistency of the almond butter, which was challenging to cover the popcorn. I like the concept and the taste is very satisfying but my version would not be suitable for guests. Any suggestions?
Cate, I’m so bummed to hear that! I’ve made this popcorn four times, with almond butter and peanut butter, and that never happened to me. I tried a version without any nut butter at all, but the maple syrup mixture was too thin and just drenched the popcorn. So I’d say that some nut butter is necessary. In your case, I think you might have better luck whisking in one to two tablespoons nut butter, until it’s nice and creamy but still plenty spreadable. Please let me know if that works better for you—I’m so sorry the first batch didn’t work out like mine!
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but wanted to share my thought on the nut butter. I always buy the fresh grind almond/peanut butter at Whole Foods, which is THICK. But the all natural almond/peanut butter from Trader Joe’s is much thinner and free flowing and favored by many food bloggers. I know I’ve run into problems using the fresh grind nut butters in recipes that were tested with something else (not necessarily C&K recipes, but recipes from across the interwebs). I would suggest trying a different variety of nut butter.
That makes sense, Mandy! I used Trader Joe’s almond butter and some natural peanut butter (it was also pretty drizzly) during recipe testing. Actually, though, I also used freshly ground cashew butter from Whole Foods and it worked fine. Maybe cashew butter is the exception.
I love that you used nut butters and maple syrup! genius! I can’t wait to try this. I hope your having a great holiday season.
Feeling pretty pleased that I always keep popcorn kernels and maple syrup on hand. Guess what I’ll be snacking on after work tomorrow night!
I’ve been looking for a recipe like this for a long long time. The nut butter is amazing. Thank you so much for posting and have a great holiday!
Hi Kate, I tried this recipe and it didn’t work for me, but I think I know the problem. I didn’t perfectly measure out the peanut butter, so I added more than 3 TBSP. The liquid mixture didn’t drizzle over the popcorn but fell out in clumps and wouldn’t incorporate. Even so, my family couldn’t stop eating it exclaiming how delicious it was. I am going to try this again with less peanut butter.
Hi Lisa, I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work perfectly for you! I hope your suspicion is correct. If your peanut butter is particularly thick rather than gooey, you might want to use just a little less than three tablespoons.
Hi Kate,
I love your recipes and this one sounds great…I was wondering if I could air pop the popcorn instead of popping it on the stovetop with coconut oil.
I’m so sorry for the belated reply, Carol. Yes, that should be just fine!
So glad I came across this recipe. I made it for my sister who’s vegan and she loved it. I didn’t even need any oil since I air pop my popcorn. Will definitely make it again!
Awesome! Thanks, Nancy!
YUM! Finally got round to trying this today and it is delicious- Imy kids have proclaimed that I am officially not a mean mum today- makes up for feeding them broccoli last night! Thanks Kate.
Haha! Glad to hear it, Rachel!
WOW. This stuff is like crack (not that I would know, but…)! I used peanut butter and pecans, and I added just a few mini chocolate chips. It was super easy and will definitely be added to the rotation!
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Jackie! I appreciate you sharing.
I made this tonight for a girls night in. We loved it!! So good!!
Awesome, glad you all enjoyed it!
Just made this for my kids while we watch Narnia. My youngest has been dairy free for a bit over a week, so very new to dairy fee cooking. I wasn’t expecting much of this recipe, but the kids and I love it!!! It’s perfect balance between sweet, salt and nut. I didn’t quite have enough maple syrup so made up the difference with raw honey. So good!!!!
Thank you, Paula! I’m so glad you found this recipe and enjoyed it. I don’t know if you’ve seen my dairy-free recipe page already, but here it is: https://sooka.info/dairy-free-vegetarian-recipes/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Hi Kate,
On a whim and an invite to go mountain biking for the day with some new friends, I made a batch of this for ‘energy’, as we all joked. It was perfect – I used almond butter, and added toasted pecans and toasted coconut. The light texture and moderate sweetness made this batch disappear. Thank you for all your excellent recipes and details. I look forward to each blog post for inspiration and new ideas!
Haha, love it! I’m glad this popcorn kept you all fueled on your mountain excursion. ;)
I am munching on this popcorn now. Yeah it is pretty yummy. I made it using organic pure peanut butter. Thank you yum yum yum!
So glad you enjoyed the popcorn, Shelley!
Oh My Goodness! I just made this and it is wonderful! Thanks for another great recipe.
Yay! Thank you, Judy!
Oh my goodness, I want to make this and eat it all right now! I will have to wait to make it until I can share with others, or else I WILL eat it all :)
That is a very real risk. :) Hope you love it!
I made this recipe using sunflower oil instead of the nut butter and it turned out absolutely delicious. Same ratios, just used 3 Tbsp of the sunflower oil instead. Thanks for the great recipe. :)
PS – My kids gobbled it up. So I think next time we’ll have to double it!
Thank you, Alexa! That’s great to know!
Hi Kate,
What a delicious recipe!! I used almond-hazelnut butter and added a handful of mini chocolate chips to the mix … it melted into a delicious “Nutella-like” sauce – yum!!!
In place of the toasted almonds, I’ll have try it with toasted hazelnuts next time!
Thanks so much for another great recipe – with some added dried cranberries and coconut, this will make for a perfect Christmas treat! :)
Thank you, Susan! Your chocolate hazelnut version sounds amazing. Happy holidays!
I’ve been refined-sugar free for almost a year and the treat I’ve missed most is caramel corn. Thank you for this recipe using maple syrup! I can’t wait to try it!
This is one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. I was craving caramel popcorn and as maple syrup is the main sweetener we use, I Googled for a recipe that uses it. Yours was exactly what I was hoping for and tasted better than I could’ve imagined! My husband made it the first time with peanut butter and it was awesome, but last night with almond butter and it’s just incredible. I’m planning to give it for teacher gifts. Thank you…I think (because I’m eating way too much of it!)
Thank you, Laura! I’m so glad you all are enjoying it (even if you’re enjoying it too much ;) ).
Kate – this is so yummy and my kids love it! It is so nice to find a recipe without corn syrup. I use our air popper (so minus the oil for popping) and it works fabulous. Thank you :)
Angela – Upstate New York
Hi Kate! Is there anything that I could use instead of the maple syrup?(homemade syrup?) BTW….this recipe looks so delishious!! Can’t wait to try it!
Hi Ana! Honey might work. Otherwise, I’m not sure.
Made it. Tried it. Loved it. Finished it before the movie started.
Made this tonight and it turned out perfectly! The cinnamon added a little extra flavor and even more yummy!
Will definitely be making it again!
Yum.
Agreed!
This caramel popcorn is the BEST ever!! I make it at least once a week for our family’s movie night. It’s a favorite. Thanks!
By the way, I always use a mixture of either maple syrup, honey, and/or molasses. Never fails!
Sounds like a great tradition! I’m so glad everyone loves it.
This recipe was absolutely perfect! Popcorn was crispy and I added natural peanut butter which was such an amazing touch! Sooo good!
Thank you, Lisa for sharing and for your review! :)
This was amazing. Came out perfectly! My children love it!
That’s great! Thank you, Tara. I am happy it was a hit with your kids.
Excellent snack for preschooler!
Thank you, Wendy!
Absolutely AMAZING! The flavors and textures are perfectly balanced between sweet, salty, crunchy, and chewy. I just made half a recipe (using 1/4 cup popcorn kernels) and it was great. I’m not even vegan, and I gobbled this up with glee. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome, C.Michele!