1. Preheat oven to 250 and grease both 9×13 baking sheets.
2. Pop the popcorn (or simply open package if pre-bought) and place in large bowl. Set to one side.
3. Mix brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, and salt in saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until mixture comes to a boil. Let it boil for 5 minutes, then remove from heat.
4. Stir in baking soda and vanilla; mix well.
5. Pour caramel mixture over the popcorn, stirring well to coat the pieces.
6. Poured coated popcorn onto the baking pans.
7. Place in oven and bake for 45 minutes, stirring occassionaly (roughly every 15 minutes).
8. Remove from oven and let caramel corn cool completely. Enjoy and/or store in airtight containers.

Maple Corn Variation

1. Line baking sheets with wax paper and set aside.
2. Pop popcorn (or open pre-packaged popcorn) and place in large bowl. Set aside.
3. In a saucepan, mix brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, maple syrup, and salt. Stir constantly until mixture comes to a boil. Let it boil for 5 minutes, then remove from heat.
4. Stir in baking soda and maple flavoring. (Flavoring can be found in baking sections of grocery stores but is not required. It just gives an extra kick of maple).
5. Pour over popcorn and mix well.
6. Pour popcorn onto baking sheets and let it cool completely. Enjoy and/or store in airtight containers.
7. Note: You can add toasted pecans to the maple popcorn for added crunch and flavor!