(Recipe included below ⬇️)
These Cracker Jacks brought back such precious memories. I went to Food World yesterday, on Sunday, and they had a three pack of these on sale for $1.59. In today’s economy for a three pack, that seems like a good deal. Three kids can have a little taste of our childhood with the prize inside for 53 cents each plus tax. They cost more than that at Amazon. Cracker Jack is an American brand of snack food that consists of molasses flavored, caramel coated popcorn and peanuts. It is well known for being packaged with a little prize inside. The Cracker Jack name and slogan, "The More You Eat, The More You Want," were registered in 1896. It was named by an enthusiastic sampler who remarked: "That's a crackerjack!" (Crackerjack is a colloquialism meaning "of excellent quality"). Food author Andrew F. Smith called it the first junk food.
In Chicago, there are two legends of how Cracker Jack originated: The older attributes it to Charles Frederick Gunther (1837–1920), also known as "The Candy Man" and "Cracker-Jacks King"; the other attributes it to Frederick William Rueckheim, a German immigrant known informally as "Fritz".
The creator of the treat, (some say) Frederick William Rueckheim (1846-1934), emigrated from Germany in 1869. He was 23 when he arrived in the U.S., and he moved to the Midwest to work on an uncle's farm where he saved his money. The origin of Cracker Jack dates to 1871, when a German immigrant named Frederick William Rueckheim (1846–1934) began selling a popcorn snack on a Chicago street corner. Customers loved his confection (sweet treat), but they were bothered by the stickiness of the caramel.
That problem was resolved when Louis Rueckheim (1849–1927), Frederick's brother, invented a secret process that kept the caramel dry and crispy. Around that time, Louis offered his concoction to a salesman, who declared, "That's a crackerjack" (a popular slang term meaning very good). The brothers liked the salesman's pronouncement and named their product Cracker Jack. The new popcorn snack made its debut in 1893 at Chicago's Columbian Exposition, the city's first World's Fair.
U.S. Navy sailors began calling their service dress uniforms "cracker jacks" because of the mascot of the popular caramel-coated popcorn and peanut snack. Cracker Jack was introduced in 1896 and the mascot "Sailor Jack" made his debut in 1916.
Recipe to make Homemade Cracker Jack
~~INGREDIENTS~~
14 cups freshly-popped popcorn
2 cups roasted and salted Spanish peanuts
1/2 cup salted butter (1 stick)
3/4 cup firmly packed (dark) brown sugar
1/2 cup light Karo corn syrup
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
~~INSTRUCTIONS~~
Prepare your plain popcorn by popping it.
Preheat your oven to 250° degrees. Transfer the popped corn to a large stock pot and toss any kernels that didn’t pop. Add the peanuts to the popcorn and lightly toss to combine.
Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Using a wire whisk, whisk in the brown sugar, corn syrup, molasses, and salt. Then increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a slight gentle boil, stirring occasionally, until a candy temperature reads 250°F, normally takes about 6-8 minutes. Remove the sugar mixture from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract and baking soda. Then pour the hot caramel mixture over the popcorn and gently toss until everything is evenly coated.
Then divide the caramel popcorn mixture in half in thin layers between 2 greased baking sheets. Place in your preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool in the baking sheets for 15-20 minutes. It can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
#crackerjacks #yum #memories #tasty