Use these easy tips and tricks to make the best, most delicious homemade caramel apples this Fall!
After sharing my mom’s amazing caramel recipe {here}, and my list of 25+ awesome caramel apple combinations {here} I wanted to make sure I shared my tips and tricks for making caramel apples!
1. Begin by picking out an apple that is nice and fresh and crisp. I used local honey crisp apples and OH MY GOODNESS are they good! For best results, buy local apples that haven’t been waxed. If your apples do have wax on them, check out the tutorial for removing it {here}.
2. Place your sticks in your apples and set on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Stick your pan in the refrigerator before you begin making your homemade caramel {recipe here}. The cool pan and apples will help to lessen the pooling of caramel on the bottom of the dipped apple.
**I highly recommend making homemade caramel! You can’t beat the taste and it is completely worth the extra effort!**
3. Once you are finished making your caramel, let it sit on the stove for 7-8 minutes to cool slightly before dipping apples. {Note: I had pretty big apples, and one recipe of caramel made 10 caramel apples}
4. Remove apples and work quickly to dip them. I tilt my pan to the side slightly and swirl the apple around a couple of times. Once dipped, return to the cold cookie sheet. Once you are finished, return the pan to the fridge until caramel is completely cooled.
5. When adding chocolate to the outside of my apples, I always use melted good quality chocolate chips. I don’t care for the taste of candy coatings or bark as much, but you could use them as well. To melt, I microwave in a bowl for increments of 15 seconds, stirring well in between. The chocolate will continue to melt a little after you remove it from the microwave, so I always make sure that I stir really well before deciding if it needs to be zapped for longer.
6. Here is my favorite tip! Don’t dip your apples in the chocolate! Use a rubber spatula to spread your chocolate onto your caramel. This is SO much easier. The nice thing is that there is still a small caramel lip at the bottom, and you can just spread the chocolate around the caramel above that lip. If you want to drizzle chocolate, you can use a plastic condiment bottle.
6. Once you spread your chocolate onto your apples, sprinkle or dip in your toppings.
7. You can return your apples to the fridge for a few more minutes to help the chocolate set or you can just leave them out for a while and they will set.
I think that about sums it up!
Do you have any other great tips to share?
Thanks for reading!
Hpycpnmama
Oh sweet mother of pearl these were AMAZING! Just made them tonight with my boy. Got 10 grocery sized apples plus a small jar of caramel left. Will decorate tomorrow night and gift them on Thursday.
Jennifer Burmesch
Since it makes 10… how do we store these… in the fridge right? If we dont want them to start melting at all… do we just store them on the baking sheet.. or should we wrap each 1 in something. ..?
Thanks
The Richey's
Can you use something other than corn syrup?
Lolly Jane
This looks amazing. Like, I wish I could grab it through the computer amazing! Mmmm…
SnoWhite
These look so good!! There’s nothing better in the fall, is there. I appreciate you sharing your family recipe with us, and thanks for linking to my kitchen tip too.
Kelley Novak
Kristen. I made your mothers Carmel recipe this weekend. Oh my, it is amazing! It literally melts in your mouth. My family and friends can’t stop raving about it. I poured my Carmel onto a large cookie sheet and cut them into individual pieces. I wrapped them in wax paper squares and it worked really well. I even sprinkled a tiny amount of sea salt on a few pieces. Yum :). Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. I love your blog and look forward to seeing your new ideas each day. I am about to throw some burlap in the washing machine. Wish me luck.
Kim R
Going to use this for our new recipe. Thank you so much! Could you please recommend something instead of the chocolate? My hubby is allergic to chocolate. I’m not sure what we could use to decorate them. Thanks so much. Looks so yummy.
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I needed this! We made caramel apples the other day and it was such a mess 🙂 Thanks!
P.S. I love your new blog header