I must admit, I was a little intimidated to make homemade caramel apples. I heard caramel can be a bit of a diva in the kitchen but I figured the worst thing that could happen is I would have to clean up a really sticky situation and start over. A few of my people love them but complain when they buy them from the grocery store as they aren’t always fresh and they can even tend to be a little mushy, which is not a nice surprise. So, I decided to get out my candy thermometer and just go for it. It turned out to be surprisingly simple and delicious.
Picking The Apples
When you head to the produce isle, you might find yourself staring down a sea of overwhelming apple choices. Have no fear, stick with firm and crisp apples and keep in mind that sweet and/or tart apples are a great pairing with gooey decadent caramel. Of course it comes down to personal preference but my best suggestions are:
Pink Lady: sweet apple with a hint of tart
Honeycrisp: good balance of sweet and tart
Granny Smith: tops the charts of the tart scale
Making The Caramel
If you can throw measured ingredients into a saucepan and you can stir, you can make this caramel. It just takes a little patience to heat up. A couple things to be mindful of:
Be sure to use a heavy duty saucepan.
This is a STICKY molten substance so take care while boiling and stirring
Use a candy thermometer and be patient while it heats to 240 F
Dipping The Apples
Once the caramel is made, let it sit for 10-15 minutes to thicken. If it’s still too runny, give it 5-10 more minutes and then try again, slow and steady wins the race. Even if they don’t look prefect, the person eating it really just wants it to taste good.
Add Toppings
You can either roll your apple in the topping or put candies on by hand but do it soon after the apple is dipped. If you’re doing this with a few people or some kiddos, you could have a few options available. I experimented with 3. Rolling the apples in fall sprinkles was the easiest. I put some Reece’s Pieces on by hand, this turned out the tastiest. The candy corn test was a fail, they were too heavy and slid down the apple after a few minutes. There is no wrong answer here. Just pick a topping you think sounds good and give it a whirl.
There are a few other options out there. You can buy caramel apple kits, wraps or you can melt caramel candies and dip your apples. I did enjoy making these at home and after all was cooled, set and done I took my first bite and was glad I gave it a try. One of my taste testers said I’m hired as the Official Caramel Apple Maker. I suppose it’s safe to say if you want to give homemade caramel apples a whirl, this recipe is a good place to start.
Homemade Caramel Apples
Ingredients
- 12 apples
- 1 3/4 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 2 cups packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon pink himalayan salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Thoroughly wash and dry apples. Be sure to remove the waxy coating to help the caramel stick. Remove the apple stem and insert a caramel apple stick into the center of the apple.
- Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or grease a pan with butter.
- Prepare any toppings you'd like to add to your caramel apples.
- Add the heavy cream, corn syrup, brown sugar, butter and salt to a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until the mixture comes to a boil.
- Attach the candy thermometer to the side of the pan. Make sure the bulb doesn't touch the bottom of the pan or you'll get an inaccurate reading.
- Stop stirring and let the mixture boil until it hits 240 F, be patient.
- Remove from heat and gently stir in the vanilla.
- Allow caramel to cool for 10-15 minutes until slightly thickened. If caramel is too runny to coat apples, wait 5-10 minutes and try again.
- Dip the apples into the caramel, one at a time, letting excess caramel drip off the apple.
- Add your toppings after dipping the apple but before the caramel completely sets up.
Notes
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