Critters in the Hay Recipe

Makes 4 quarts

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 cup light corn syrup
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp green food color (optional)
  • 3 1/2 qt popped popcorn, remove any unpopped kernals
  • 1 cup candy corn, licorice ropes, small black gum drops or other small black candies, red decorating icing, tiny red jaw-breakers candy, wormshape candies

    • Instructions:

    1. In Dutch oven, bring sugar, corn syrup and butter to a boil; boil for 2 1/2 minutes.
    2. Stir in pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, salt and food coloring (if desired) mix until evenly colored.
    3. Add popcorn and toss until evenly coated.
    4. Spread popcorn mixture in a single layer on greased sheets of foil and allow to cool and harden.
    5. Break into bite-size pieces and mix with candy corn in a wide shallow bowl; set aside.
    6. To make spiders, cut licorice into 2-inch lengths.
    7. To make legs, starting at one end, make three 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch cuts to make four legs.
    8. Repeat cuts at opposite end.
    9. Leave about 1/2 inch in center uncut.
    10. Gently pull legs apart and curl down.
    11. Push wooden pick through center of body, leaving about 1/4 inch exposed on top.
    12. Push one gumdrop onto exposed pick to make a body.
    13. Using writing tip of decorating icing, squeeze two small dots of icing into gumdrops.
    14. Press jaw-breakers into icing to make eyes.
    15. Place 'spiders' and worm-shaped candies in popcorn.
    16. Remove wooden picks before eating.