A little unusual, I generally avoid processed food. But, it’s the holidays, and there are many parties to attend, and I wanted an unusual, but somewhat festive dish. A friend, Brenda Schuett (@brendajos on Twitter) shared this recipe, which at once had me thinking “oh, that’s gonna be weird”, and “humm….”

So, I tried it. I used flaming hot Cheetos, because when I do eat this crunchy bit of artificial flavor, that’s my favorite.

It was good. Actually, really good. And easy. And cheap.

I didn’t have the 15×10 pan in the original, so I’ll share my technique here.

Here’s the link to the original: http://www.plainchicken.com/2012/12/caramel-cheetos.html

Time:

  • Prep: 15 minutes
  • Cooking: 1 hours @ 250°F

Ingredients:

  • 20 Oz Flaming Hot Cheetos
  • 2 Cups Light Brown Sugar
  • 1 Cup Butter
  • 1/2 Cup Light Corn Syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda

Directions:

  • Pre-heat oven to 250°F
  • In a large pan melt butter, pour in corn syrup, then stir in sugar. Bring to a boil. Boil 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and add soda. Stir until light in color and foamy.
    • NOTE: boiling hot caramel will double in volume after adding baking soda and stirring, if you are not careful, your pot will overlow, and you don’t want hot caramel all over your stove. Be careful!
  • Pour Cheetos in a large bowl.  Pour caramel mixture over the Cheetos and stir, coating each piece as best you can
  • Here’s where I diverged from the original…
  • Put aluminum foil down on two cookie sheets (I didn’t have non-stick foil, so I sprayed it with a little PAM)
  • Spread Cheetos mixture onto one cookie sheet until full, then put the remainder on the other sheet
  • Every 15 minutes, stir mixture on both cookie sheets, and swap positions in the oven for even cooking
  • Cook for an hour total, or until caramel starts to get really brown, then turn off oven.
  • Now the trickiest part. Take one tray out of the oven, stir once more, then as it cools, keep taking the pieces apart. In about 30 seconds, you’ll be able to touch them, it’s much easier to do this with your hands, but don’t scald yourself! Repeat with the second tray.
  • After they’ve cooled to the touch, store them in a resealable bag.

2012-12-23 17:43:00 +0000 UTC
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