Growing up, I lived next to an older dairy farmer, that also made some syrup for his own use. Every night he would make popcorn for his evening snack. The popcorn he would make in one of those air poppers. His maple coating he would make separate on the stove. His mixture was butter and maple syrup, to the best of my memory, he would heat it up and when it was "just right" he would pour it over the popcorn. It would turn out more like a hard crunchy caramelized popcorn. It was very tasty. The other thing I can remember is that he always used the same pan, and the same bowl, never cleaning either one, didn't want to waste any of the stuck on syrup. I can remember his wife trying to limit him to a gallon per month, she never had much luck.

Didn't know if anyone was familiar with this process or recipe.