Chocolate Almond Caramel Popcorn

Everyone loves caramel popcorn this time of year, right? Here's a delicious caramel popcorn recipe with a twist. I love, love, love the chocolate. The caramel's just an added bonus! I'm not one to add any kind of nut to any kind of dessert, but it's an option for all you nut-lovers out there!

Chocolate Almond Caramel Popcorn

12 cups popcorn, popped

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 tsp. Baking soda

1/2 tsp. Vanilla

1/2 cup almonds, slivered and broiled (toasted) *optional

2 cups milk chocolate chips

Heat oven to 250. Spray two 9x13 pans with non-stick spray. Divide popcorn between pans. In a saucepan, combine brown sugar, sugar, butter, and corn syrup. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until full boil (7-9 minutes). Reduce heat to medium-low. Continue cooking without stirring until thermometer reaches 234 degrees (about 4-6 minutes). Remove from heat, stir in baking soda and vanilla. Pour over popcorn. Sprinkle almonds evenly over top, sprinkle 1/2 cup chocolate chips over each pan (I accidently

left out this step

, so the picture above shows less chocolate than it should). Stir it all to coat popcorn. Bake 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread popcorn out on wax paper and sprinkle evenly with remaining chocolate chips. Cool.