Cracker Jack has enjoyed an all-American reputation as the signature snack of the national pastime for more than a century.
“Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack/I don’t care if I ever get back,” is one of the refrains of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”
The iconic tune, written in 1908, is traditionally sung during the seventh-inning stretch at baseball games. It is beloved by generations of Americans.
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But the appeal of baseball and ballpark Cracker Jack are international.
“You got salty, sweet and crunchy all in one bite,” French-Canadian recipe maven Francine Lizotte enthused to Fox News Digital, describing the mix of popcorn and peanuts baked with molasses.
The Cracker Jack is a sweet, salty and crunchy snack popular with children and easy to make at home, says Francine Lizotte, publisher of Club Foody. (Francine Lizotte/ClubFoody.com)
Lizotte is the publisher of ClubFoody.com. She was born in Montreal, Quebec and now lives 3,000 miles away in Vancouver, British Columbia.
She counts baseball as her favorite sport and Cracker Jack as her favorite snack both at the ballpark and at home.
The Toronto Blue Jays – Canada’s only Major League Baseball club – are Lizotte’s favorite baseball team.
“You should see whenever the Blue Jays play in Seattle,” she said. “It’s an ocean of blue inside the stadium because people from Vancouver head down to support them.”
Cooper Hertz, 3, digs into a package of Cracker Jack at a Colorado Rockies baseball game, 2007. (Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
America’s signature ballpark snack boasts its own international heritage.
The salty-sweet munchable was created in Chicago by German immigrant Frederick William Rueckheim sometime in the late 1800s.
It earned its famous Cracker Jack name in 1896.
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“The phrase ‘cracker jack,’ meaning excellent, was applied to ballplayers long before the invention of the candy confection,” John Thorn, the official historian of Major League Baseball, told Fox News Digital.
Baseball player cards were often buried as prizes inside the boxes of candied peanuts and popcorn.
Marjorie Adams is the great-granddaughter of Daniel “Doc” Adams, dubbed by some the “true father of baseball.” (Roger Ratzenberger/DocAdamsBaseball.org)
Why Cracker Jack became a ballpark sensation is largely unknown, however, said Thorn.
Whatever the reason, Cracker Jack gained enough popularity by 1908 to earn mention in the ballpark anthem “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” penned in New York City by Tin Pan Alley songwriters Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer.
Lizotte dreams of somebody retiring with her husband and touring every Major League Baseball park.
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But for now, she’s content making Cracker Jack at home whenever she needs a fix of ballpark flavor and tradition.
“It’s perfect at movie night and with kids,” said Lizotte.
Advertisement for baseball cards included in boxes of Cracker Jack, “the famous popcorn confection,” 1914. (Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images)
Recipe for Cracker Jack to make at home
Ingredients (serves 8)
14 cups popcorn, with unpopped kernels discarded
2½ cups roasted peanuts
1/4 cup flavorless oil (canola, grapeseed)
11 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1½ cups brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
3 tablespoons molasses
1/2 tablespoon ground sea salt, divided and to taste
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Francine Lizotte of Vancouver, British Columbia, is the publisher of ClubFoody.com and an avid fan of baseball and Cracker Jack. (Francine Lizotte/ClubFoody.com)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Combine popcorn and peanuts in large bowl (or two). Stir and set aside.
Grease two large baking sheets with oil. Set aside.
Stir butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, molasses and ⅓ teaspoon salt in medium saucepan over medium heat, until butter and sugar are melted.
Attach candy thermometer. Simmer over low heat, undisturbed, until temperature reaches 250 degrees F, about 5 to 6 minutes.
Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and baking soda.
Immediately pour over popcorn-peanut mixture. Stir to coat evenly.
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Divide the popcorn mixture between the two prepared baking sheets and spread evenly into a single layer. Sprinkle salt on top.
Bake until mixture starts to dry, about 30 minutes.
Remove from oven and let popcorn and peanuts cool completely, about 2 minutes.
Pour into bowl or bucket and serve.
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