Salted Peanut Butter Caramel Corn with Bacon

Preheat oven to 250ºF. Prepare a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silpat.

For the popcorn, in a large pot over medium-high heat, add the oil, popcorn kernels and kosher salt. Place a lid on the pot and pop the corn until there are a few seconds between pops and popcorn is cooked. Empty popcorn into a large bowl.

Rinse pot out and dry it. For the caramel, add oil, corn syrup, peanut butter, sugar and kosher salt. Bring to a simmer and stir to combine. Let caramel simmer for 6–7 minutes over medium heat.

In a tiny bowl, mix together baking soda and vanilla until smooth. Add mixture to the caramel and stir to combine until it foams up. Turn heat off and pour caramel over the popcorn and stir to mix and coat the popcorn.

Transfer popcorn to the prepared sheet pan and spread it out evenly. Bake popcorn for 15 minutes at 250ºF and then, using a spatula, mix it around. Bake it another 15 minutes until golden and crispy. Let the popcorn cool completely and then break up into chunks. Mix in the honey-roasted peanuts and bacon pieces.