Homemade Caramel Apples

This recipe is for 5 medium large apples. In the video I made 4 caramel apples and had plenty of caramel left over for candy making. The caramel is soft, buttery and melts in your mouth.

Purchase treat/goody bags for your apples and hand them out as gourmet gifts.

Recipe:

1 C Brown Sugar

1/2 C Light Corn Syrup

1/2 Can (7 oz.) Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 Stick Butter

1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

You'll also need:

4-5 Apples

Sticks for apples (I used wooden cake dowels)

Hot Water

Towel

Waxed Paper

Shortening or nonstick spray

Optional Toppings:

Chopped Peanuts

Reese's Peanut Butter Chips

Chocolate Chips

Christmas decoration candies

Add all of the caramel sauce ingredients into a sauce pot and cook on medium low heat. Check the sauce often and make sure to stir constantly to avoid the sauce from burning and sticking.

Using a candy thermometer,cook the sauce until it reaches a temperature of 235 degrees OR just cook the sauce for about 30 minutes until it's thick and creamy!

While the caramel sauce is cooking, this is a great time to remove the stem of the apples and add your sticks. I used wooden cake dowels that I cut in half. You can also use Popsicle sticks, actual sticks (this looks beautiful and rustic) or perhaps a long lollipop stick.

Once that's done, place your apple one by one in the hot water and allow to sit for about 10-15 seconds to melt the outside wax. Using a clean towel, gently rub away that wax. You'll know the wax is gone because the apple won't be as shiny. Without this step, the caramel might slide off.

Grab a plate or counter space and lay down some waxed or parchment paper. Apply about a tablespoon of shortening to the waxed paper or a good amount of nonstick spray to prevent the apples from sticking.

If you haven't done so already, prepare all of your toppings in bowls.

As the title says, this is the best part. Now that your caramel sauce is ready, remove it from the stove and place with the rest of your setup. Carefully dip an apple (holding it by the stick) into the caramel sauce and roll the apple to coat the entire surface. Hold the apple over the sauce, allowing some to drip away. Immediately dip the apple into the toppings of your choice and place on the parchment paper.

Do this for all of your apples. Be aware that the caramel sauce will start to stiffen up. Get it back to it's consistency by placing it back on the stove for a couple of minutes while stirring, then continue.

Drizzle your caramel apples with white chocolate, dark chocolate or colorful candy melts. For a Christmas theme, try drizzling red and/or green candy melts onto the apples. The caramel will stiffen pretty quickly, so if using sprinkle candies apply them with haste or sprinkle into a bowl to dip the apple into.

Allow the apples to sit in the fridge for at least 15 minutes to ensure that the caramels holds onto those toppings.

Turn these apples into gourmet gifts by tying a silk ribbon around the stick and placing into treat bags. I highly encourage you to recreate this recipe rather than melting caramel candies. The quality of the caramel is to die for.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!