Pop 16 cups of popcorn and place in a large brown grocery bag
Cook sugar, syrup and butter in a medium to large glass bowl in microwave on high for one minute
Stir and repeat for a total of five minutes, should be hot and bubbly
Add baking soda, vanilla and mix until foamy
Pour mixture over popcorn in brown paper bag, stir to coat
Fold bag over and place in microwave.
Microwave for one minute and shake, repeat.
Microwave 30 seconds and shake, repeat
Pour popcorn out onto parchment paper to cool.
Notes
Snickerdoodle Caramel Corn: add a 1-2 teaspoons of cinnamon sugar into the brown bag when you pull it out of the microwave for the last time. Be sure and give it a good couple of shakes to get it evenly distributed. Do it quickly as the caramel sets up quickly and the sugar will not stick to the kernels if it is too dry.
White Chocolate Caramel Corn: While the caramel corn is cooling on the wax paper, just drizzle melted white chocolate on top. Allow chocolate to set up.