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Friday, July 15, 2011

Take Me Out to the Ball Game: Chocolate Cracker Jacks

I'm lucky to live in the home of the World Series Champions. Go Giants!! With tickets to the game next weekend, I was trying to decide what to make/what to take. AT&T Park is known for its great food such as garlic fries, local beer, sausage, and other San Francisco treats--no Rice-a-Roni!  But what's classic for me at a game? Cracker Jacks! Being a Chocolate Maven that would mean chocolate cracker jacks.

O.K. if you make this recipe at home to take to the game, you're going to have to bag it with a prize. Everyone covets the prize, and I've put a list of possible prizes at the end of this post. Feel free to comment on what you would include and what you'd want to find in your Cracker Jacks. Of course, the real prize is that you're going to have Chocolate Cracker Jacks.

CHOCOLATE CRACKER JACKS

Ingredients
9+ cups popped popcorn ( 1-3.5 microwave popcorn package)
1 cup salted roasted peanuts (Spanish peanuts are great!)
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup DARK cocoa powder
1/2 cup sweet butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp Madagascar vanilla extract

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees
2. Use non-stick cooking spray to coat the inside of a large baking pan with sides.
3. Combine popcorn and peanuts in large bowl. Set aside.
4. Stir together sugar, corn syrup, cocoa powder, salt and butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Stir in vanilla.
5. Pour over popcorn and peanuts until well coated (gently folding with rubber spatula)
6. Spread popcorn into prepared baking pan.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
6. Remove from oven. Cool to room temperature.
7/ Break into pieces.
8. Store in airtight container or put into waxed bag and take to ballpark.
9. Be sure you add a prize.

Possible Prizes: Chocolate Ring (wrapped), Hershey's Kisses, Chocolate Toy Baseball Bat, Chocolate Baseballs

What prize would you put in your box or bag?

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