We spent our Halloweens at the church for “Hallelujah Night” so while I don’t have much first-hand experience, candy apple say Fall and incidentally, Halloween. I’ve made caramel apples as a kid with the premade caramel discs found in the produce section. They never really worked out though. The problem was, caramel never stuck properly and it never produced the smooth polished finish it promised. After making homemade caramel for my Banana Pudding Pie with Salted Caramel, I knew I could do it! I did a little research and found out that supermarket apples have a wax coating that needed to be removed prior to dipping. To do this I dipped them in boiling water for 1 minute. You can actually see the wax that remains once you remove them from the water. Take a paper towel and wipe the rest off.

On to the recipe:

 

Caramel Apples:

6 small to medium, firm, blemish-free, apples*

4 Tablespoons butter (not margarine + more for parchment paper)

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 can (7 oz) of Sweetened Condensed Milk

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

*The favs are Granny Smith (extra tart) and Honeycrisp (sweet and tart)

 

Materials Needed:

6 skewers

Heavy bottomed pot

Cookie sheet

Parchment paper

Candy Thermometer

 

Remove stems, allow apples to dry completely and put them in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes and until you are ready to dip them. Chilled apples help the caramel set better.

First melt the butter in a saucepan until it browns. This will give you the nice dark caramel color. Stir constantly to avoid getting little brown bits of butter. Be careful because I had to throw out my first brown butter attempt. L (I hate waste)

Add all other ingredients except vanilla.

Stirring constantly over medium heat, bring to a boil and let boil until thermometer reaches soft ball stage (235°F–240°F).

After it reaches soft ball, remove from heat, add vanilla, then allow to sit for about 5 minutes.

Dip apple in caramel and swirl to cover. Twist apple to remove some of the excess but the excess is fantastic for that thick rimmed bottom that acts as a stand for the apples!

Working quickly, place onto buttered parchment paper.

You can stop here but if you want to dip them in chocolate, pop them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to make sure the caramel is properly set. Recipe adapted from Grandma Betty’s Caramel Apples.

On to the chocolate…

 10oz – 60% cacoa Ghirardelli Chocolate chips

2 Tbsp shortening (vegetable oil)

Crushed candy, sprinkles, nuts, whatever!

 Lay out all of your fixings because you have a small window of time before the chocolate begins to cool and I like to use a 4 cup measuring cup when I melt chocolate because it is deep and I can fully submerge the apples with little effort.  Put the chips in the glass, add the oil and heat on 40% power (depending on your microwave wattage), for about 45 seconds. Stir and keep heating in 30 second increments until melted.

You can fully dip or partially dip and immediately add your preferred toppings.

Allow to harden and enjoy!