Food Recipes Gingerbread Pretzel Popcorn 5.0 (1) Add your rating & review Dress up two supermarket shortcuts for a deliciously spiced holiday food gift. By Lizzy Briskin Lizzy Briskin Website Lizzy is the food editor at Real Simple magazine. She received professional chef's training at Cambridge School of Culinary Arts in Cambridge Massachusetts and holds and BA in English from Amherst College. Previously, she worked as a freelance food writer, recipe developer, and food photographer for publications and food companies including Runner's World, Insider, and the Chicago Tribune. She also ran Earthen Food Co., a content production and personal chef business in Boston, Massachusetts. Real Simple's Editorial Guidelines Published on November 18, 2022 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Prep Time: 35 mins Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins Servings: 10 Jump to Nutrition Facts This is a holiday food gift with a made-from-scratch feel that's easy to pull together with store-bought popcorn and pretzels. Flavor a simple vanilla caramel sauce with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg for a flavor that's reminiscent of freshly baked gingerbread cookies. This gingerbread-spiced caramel hardens as it cools to make crunchy clusters for a snackable treat that will become your signature food gift. In fact, you might just have to make a batch of this holiday popcorn to keep on hand all season long. Ingredients 16 cups popped salted popcorn (from a 6.4-oz. bag) 10 oz. mini salted pretzel twists, roughly chopped 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 2 cups packed light brown sugar 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter 2/3 cup light corn syrup 2 teaspoons vanilla extract Directions Preheat oven to 350°F. Stir together popcorn and pretzels in a very large heatproof bowl. Combine cinnamon, salt, baking soda, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg in a small bowl. Place sugar, butter, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened and a candy thermometer reads255°F, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in spice mixture and vanilla. Immediately pour sugar mixture over popcorn mixture. Use a large spoon or rubber spatula to toss until fully coated. (Work quickly because sugar mixture will cool and harden.) Divide popcorn mixture between 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake until shiny and slightly darkened, about 10 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Break into pieces. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Rate it Print Nutrition Facts (per serving) 550 Calories 24g Fat 84g Carbs 4g Protein Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label Nutrition Facts Servings Per Recipe 10 Calories 550 % Daily Value * Total Fat 24g 30% Saturated Fat 13g 63% Cholesterol 49mg 16% Sodium 727mg 32% Total Carbohydrate 84g 30% Dietary Fiber 2g 9% Total Sugars 54g Protein 4g Vitamin C 1mg 3% Calcium 53mg 4% Iron 2mg 10% Potassium 154mg 3% *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.