Apple-licious

A repost from last year in case you haven't made your own delicious homemade caramel apples yet this year!


A few weeks ago my visiting teacher (who is cool because she lived in Charlotte for 15 years and goes to the beach in NC several times a year!) brought me a delicious treat.  I haven’t had a caramel apple in years, because making them is such a pain.  (We’ve made lots of caramel apple dip, but that’s another story.  Or at least another recipe.)

Her apple was so delicious that I had to get the recipe, and we made them this week.  Definitely worth a few minutes of coooking!


Homemade Caramel for Apples
from Bon Appetit, slightly adapted by ourbestbites.com
1 pound brown sugar (about 2 cups packed)
2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup)
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
⅔ cup dark corn syrup
⅓ cup maple syrup (homemade is fine)
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. molasses
¼ tsp. salt
12-medium sized apples
popsicle sticks

assorted toppings for dipping (toffee bits, chopped nuts, crushed cookies/candy
bars, etc.) Melted chocolate in zip-top bags

Wash and dry apples, place sticks in cores and place on a baking sheet in the fridge to chill. Prepare all toppings in bowls and have them ready to go.

To prepare caramel, combine first 8 ingredients in heavy 2 ½ quart saucepan (at least 3-4 inches deep). Stir with wooden or silicone spatula over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves (no crystals are felt when caramel is rubbed between fingers), occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush or scraping with spatula, about 15 minutes.

Attach a clip-on candy thermometer to side of pan. Increase heat to medium-high; cook caramel at rolling boil until thermometer registers 236°F, stirring constantly but slowly with clean spatula and occasionally brushing/scraping down sides of pan, about 12 minutes. Pour caramel into a bowl. Submerge thermometer bulb in caramel. Cool to 200°F, about 20 minutes. If it cools too much just heat it up a little.

While caramel cools, line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or buttered foil. (I used parchment paper). Holding stick, dip 1 apple into caramel, submerging all but the very top of apple. Lift apple out, allowing excess caramel to drip back into bowl. Turn apple caramel side up and hold for several seconds to help set caramel around apple. If needed, gently scrape the bottom of the apple to remove excess caramel. Place coated apple on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining apples, spacing apples apart on parchment paper.

By the time you have dipped all the apples, the first ones should be ready to add toppings. Lift one apple from paper and press decorations into the caramel and return to the baking sheet.

If desired dip caramel-coated apples into melted chocolate, allowing excess to drip off, then roll in nuts or candy. Or drizzle melted chocolate over caramel-coated apples and sprinkle with decorations. Chill until decorations are set, about one hour. Chill up to one week or wrap in cellophane bags for gift giving.