4 Days to Halloween

Caramel Apples

 

You can never go wrong with caramel and apples. Whether it's the contrast between the sweet of the caramel and the sour of the apple, or the candy pieces, this treat will have you licking your fingers when it's gone. To make it even better, I found a recipe that is simple and fast.

Here are the ingredients you will need:
- Green apples
-Popsicle sticks or wooden sticks. (I found these at Walmart for $1)
-Pure Caramel pieces
-Your choice of extra toppings. Anything from nuts and sprinkles to your favorite candy bar will work.

 Make sure you wash your apples and take out the stem before inserting the stick. I used a hammer to tap it in. Do not go all the way through the apple. About half way works fine.

Cover a cookie sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Live and Learn: DO NOT USE WAX PAPER - the apples will stick. At least that's what happened to me.

 Unwrap the amount of caramel you want to use for your apple. I only made one apple so I used about 10-12 individual caramel pieces. If you are doing a whole batch of apples (4 or more) I would use the entire bag. If you are using the entire bag, you will need to add 2 Tbsp water to the caramel. The quickest way to melt the caramel is to microwave it on high for about 1-3 min. You have to stir the caramel every 30 seconds. Live and Learn: When I make these again I am either going to keep them melted over the stove or put them in a hot water bath. Otherwise, I found that it got hard really fast.

 Cut your candy or get your other toppings ready. Live and Learn: When I make these again, I am going to stick the candy onto the caramel apple before it cools. They will stay better.

 When your caramel is melted, roll your apple in it. If you used the whole bag you may be able to dip the apples. You can also use a small plastic spatula to smooth out and spread the caramel. Also, let the excess caramel drip off the apple before flattening the bottom of the apple.

 

Refrigerate your apples for 10-15 min to let them get cool. Some recipes ask you to wait 1 hour, but I'm not that patient.

 Here is my first attempt at the caramel apple. It wasn't a complete failure. I scraped off the wax paper and smoothed out the bubbles with a spatula. Reminder: use tin foil; not wax paper.

 

 To help the candy attach, and because it's yummy, I melted some chocolate.

Roll the apple in the chocolate, and let the excess drip off. This is when I added the candy. I had to push the pieces into the apple so they wouldn't drip off. Be careful not to push too hard. Put back into the refrigerator to set the chocolate.

 Here is the yummy apple! You can get really creative by drizzling more caramel, chocolate, or peanut butter over the apple. Have fun with the toppings. When you are ready to eat the apple, try cutting it into pieces with a knife or with an apple cutter. I hope you enjoy!