Turtle Corn

1. Preheat oven to 200 F. Melt butter, sugar, corn syrup and sea salt in a large pot over medium heat. Allow the sugar mixture to come to a gentle boil. Once the syrup begins to boil set the kitchen timer for 5 minutes. During this time, do not stir the mixture. Allow it to boil and foam on its own.
2. While the caramel is boiling, line a roasting pan or cookie sheet with wax paper. Place the popped corn in the pan. Sprinkle with cashews.
3. After 5 minutes, remove the pot of caramel from the heat and carefully stir the baking soda into the pot.
4. Immediately pour over the popcorn and cashews. Stir to coat.
5. Place pan in the oven and bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. After 45 minutes, sprinkle the chocolate chips over the caramel corn. Return to the oven for the final 15 minutes. Note: If you want a crisper finished product, add an additional 15 minutes to the baking for a total of 75 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and gently stir.
7. Pour onto another wax paper-lined pan and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes.
8. Store any leftover Turtle Corn in an airtight container at room temperature.

Note: I made this using old-fashioned popping corn, popped on the stove top. For the 6 cups of popped corn, I used 1 cup of kernels in 1/4 cup oil. You can make it with plain microwave corn or air-popped corn as well. All that matters is that the popcorn is fresh and plain.