Easy Caramel Croutons

Caramel popcorn is my all-time favorite snack. I can munch it all day, every day. However in Japan, there are not many microwave popcorn available, and even if they have some caramel popcorn, it’s not really… caramel.

So I always make my own at home. But a little warning: this is a fat, full of carbs, sugary snacks, so try to limit yourself by making this only once a week. And it’s not really popcorn, but croutons! Popcorn always have that leftover corn that didn’t pop properly, but croutons, never!

I normally start by cutting (I use scissors, never a knife—too annoying!) the bread into cubes, roughly 1 x 1 cm. Spread them nicely on the pan layered with a cooking sheet. Then I start the oven using the grill option, not bake option, for 15 minutes, take them out a little and flip, and pop it back in for 5 minutes for extra crisp and nice brown color. My oven is a middle-range oven, but it’s enough for making anything, really. It was a clever gift from my husband for my 25th birthday. He gave me that because I like to experiment in the kitchen, and he can eat whatever I make after. Ha!

While waiting for the 5 minutes extra in the oven, I started making the caramel on a frying pan.

How to make the caramel :

• 120 gr sugar
• 20 ml water
• 10~15 gr butter, salted or unsalted doesn’t matter
• 30 ml milk, or more

Put the sugar and water on high heat, then adding the butter and wait a little more until the color is turning brown a little, change the heat to medium, then adding some milk slowly until it smells and looks just perfect. Here’s the step-by-step look of my caramel making :

Be extra careful when you start seeing brown color among the sugar. My stove is a cheap electric stove so the heat spread isn’t that good, so the brown color of my caramel always starts from the middle top as it is the hottest area. When you see the brown color here and there, you can start using your spatula to mix everything, and when the whole thing has turned into a nice brown color, add the milk slowly. It might splash a little, but don’t worry, it’s not going to be as bad as deep fry oil splash. I started with 30 ml, then slowly added more when I feel like the consistency isn’t like what I want.

Then, with low heat, pour the warm croutons to the frying pan and start mixing until there’s no more caramel on the frying pan. Move the crouton back to the cooking sheet and separate them if you are not too lazy.

One last thing before you start enjoying your sweet snack though, while the frying pan is still hot, pour some water and boil it. When the water is hot enough, start cleaning the leftover caramel on your spatula and the side of the frying pan. It’s going to be so much easier to wash later on.

A little extra info about the caramel here: the measurement above is only for this caramel croutons or other caramel-coated snacks. If you want to make caramel for dipping or jam, use 1:1 ratio for sugar and milk, and use heavy cream instead of normal milk. And you can skip the butter too.

There’s no exact measurement for how long you should put the sugar on the stove before putting butter and milk. Everything is by feeling, and practice makes perfect! Making caramel requires patience and good observation. Once I missed the brown color changes and boom, suddenly everything is brown and my caramel is burnt. I hope you don’t have to experience that after looking at the step-by-step photos above. Now enjoy your creation and share it with your family and friends too!