When I was a kid, one of my favorite treats was when Dad came home with some Cracker Jacks. Nowadays, we are eating a lot healthier but look forward to that big can of caramel corn that someone inevitably drops off at Christmas time. Once you get the taste, though, it is tough to only eat this treat once a year.

Well, now you don’t have to. With a few tweaks to the recipe, we can lower the fat content and use a natural sweetener that makes this dish quite a bit healthier than the caramel corn you would buy at the store. We can use a butter substitute and sugar substitute as well as using Manuka honey to make this sweet treat about as healthy as any sweet treat can be.

Not-So-Unhealthy Cracked Corn Recipe

Ingredients:

12 cups plain popped popcorn
1/2c I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter
1 cup Swerve brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4c Manuka honey
1c salted mix nuts

To Make:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit
Place popcorn in a large roasting pan
Using a 2-quart saucepan, melt butter substitute
When butter substitute is melted, add brown sugar and honey
Continue to stir until well combined
Cook mixture over medium heat for about eight to ten minutes while occasionally stirring
Once the mixture comes to a boil, cook for an additional five minutes
Remove from heat and pour mixture over popcorn in roasting pan
Stir corn to ensure all pieces are covered in the honey/sugar mixture
Add mixed nuts, and stir again
Place roasting pan in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes (continue to stir mixture about every 10 minutes)
While popcorn is cooking, lay out a large sheet of wax paper on a flat surface
When popcorn is done cooking, remove from oven and spread out evenly on wax paper
Allow popcorn to cool before placing in an airtight container