It’s okay, you can say it. I’m a liar. I really did have an actual meal for you today. But then I went grocery shopping. And I bought apples. I love it when I find the bags of little tiny apples; do you know what I’m talking about? They’re smaller than normal apples, and I love them because they’re the perfect size for my little kids because they’re easy to hold and they can eat the entire thing (as opposed to eating half the apple and then leaving it somewhere super convenient, like under the couch, in the toy box, or behind the tv for me to find later.) They’re also perfect for caramel apples because they’re just a little more manageable to eat and you can make more. So I bought my little apples and everything else I needed to dip them for a fun family activity. And then, I saw it.
Apple-zilla.
I am not joking when I say these are the biggest apples I’ve ever seen in my LIFE. Here’s a comparison to a normal sized apple. Applezilla is well over a foot in circumference and it weighs a pound and a half!
How could I not get them?? With caramel apples on my mind already, I knew these were destined to be the biggest, baddest apples of all time.
We’ve got a couple of posts on caramel apples already. Kate did a good, basic how-to on quick and easy apples, and last fall I shared a yummy recipe for homemade honey caramel apples. We get a lot of requests for homemade caramel for apples and I stumbled across this recipe and was dying to try it. Folks, this stuff knocks the socks off of those little plastic-wrapped caramels. If you want amazing, impressive, gourmet style apples- the kind you can bust your wallet buying in a fancy little boutique store, this is it.
Making dipped apples isn’t complicated, but I can tell you it is so, so much easier with a few tricks, so I’m going to give you all of the ones I’ve got! First of all, you’ll want to wash your apples well (I usually use a tiny bit of soap to remove any waxy film) and then dry them completely.
Go ahead and place the sticks in the apples, placing them right where the stem comes out. I’ve found it helps to chill the apples because when they’re cold, the caramel sticks and sets quicker. So after the sticks are all in, place them in the fridge to chill while you do everything else.
It also helps to get all of your toppings ready before you even start. When working with candy, you want to be ready to go as soon as it reaches a certain temperature, so start with a clean kitchen, open sink space, and get your toppings and work space prepared first.
For the caramel, you’ll need all of this yummy stuff.
One of the reasons I was attracted to this recipe was because all of the flavor in there. I love a good sugar+butter+cream caramel, but this one has sweetened condensed milk, dark corn syrup, molasses, dark brown sugar and pure maple syrup (seriously, no Aunt Jamima here- use the good stuff. I know it’s expensive, but YES it’s worth it. Keep it hidden in your pantry for recipes so your kids don’t pour it on their pancakes and pull it out for special occasions, like this caramel.) The flavor and the texture are seriously amazing. And don’t be intimidated by the fact that it requires a thermometer; it’s seriously easy caramel and really simple to work with. All you have to do is dump all of the ingredients in a big pot
And stir it until everything is melted and dissolved. Then turn up the heat and boil it until it reaches temperature. If you have a non-stick pot I suggest using it; caramel and sweetened condensed milk can burn fairly easily in stainless steel.
When you’re choosing a bowl to put your cooked caramel in, choose the smallest bowl possible that will fit all of the caramel; that will make dipping easier. And a tall, narrower bowl is better than a wide, shallow one. One of the tricks is to not dip your apples when the caramel is right off the stove; it will be so hot, it will fall right off the apples. 200 degrees is a good temp that makes the caramel easy to work with and it will stay on the apples. Just plunge them in and let the excess run off.
Flip the apples upside-down for a few seconds and then twirl them around. Before I place them on my baking sheet, I use a spoon to just gently scrape excess off the bottom so you don’t end up with a huge pool of caramel.
Now, if you dip your apples in toppings right after the caramel, the toppings will slide right off and you’ll be stuck with a big gloppy ugly mess. So just be patient and keep dipping the apples in caramel and let them set before you dip in toppings. The caramel will never harden so much that you can’t add anything to it so don’t stress.
By the time you finish dipping all the apples, the first ones should be ready for toppings. Pull them off your sheet (a silicone baking mat will be your best friend here. If you don’t have any, try a piece of buttered foil.) and don’t worry if some of the caramel sticks to the sheet, or pulls off the bottom of the apple. Use your hands to gently press the pooled caramel around the bottom of the apple. This caramel is great; it’s soft enough to mold and handle, but not so soft that it’s sticky and messy.
Then you can go crazy with the decorations. Depending on what you’re using, you can either roll your apple in the topping, or use your hands to gently press them into the caramel. If you want, have some melted chocolate ready and you can dip over the caramel. Chocolate tends to be a little thicker, so dip it less than you want the final apple to be dipped, and use a knife to scrape off excess chocolate on the bottom.
When you then dip in something else, like chopped peanuts like I have here, the nuts will sort of push the chocolate further up the apple.
Once they’re all dipped, you can decorate with more chocolate. Place some melted chocolate in a heavy duty ziplock bag and cut the end off. (You can actually melt chocolate chips right in the bag in the microwave and just smash them around until melted and smooth) and then drizzle away.
Be creative and have fun! Some of the things I love to use are: crushed cookies or candybars, graham cracker crumbs, chopped nuts, toffee bits, and toasted coconut. It’s fun coming up with new combinations and finding things that look as pretty as they are delicious!
Here’s some of our favorites from this go-around.
S’mores Apple! Carmel dipped and rolled in crushed graham crackers. Marshmallows pressed in by hand and drizzled in chocolate. The one on the right is semi-sweet chocolate and chopped peanuts on the bottom, and white chocolate with toasted coconut on top.
On the left we have another chocolate peanut combo, and on the right, caramel with crushed Butterfinger, drizzled white chocolate, and more Butterfinger. Oh my gosh I love Butterfingers…
This was maybe my fave- caramel dipped and rolled in toasted almonds, and toasted coconut with dried sweet cherries (just pressed in by hand) and white chocolate. So good.
And the apple-zillas? They got rolled in chopped toffee and drizzled in two kinds of chocolate.They weighed over TWO POUNDS each!
I made a few of the gigantic ones and took one of them to a friend who reminded me of the best way to eat them. Caramel apples can be a pain to just bite into, so just take a sharp knife and slice both sides off the apple, on either side of the stick:
Then slice off the remaining two sides, and slice the halves into slices.
My little helper was SO patient through the photoshoot and couldn’t wait to get his hands on a huge apple. This gives you a better idea of how big they are; close to the size of his head! The kid could barely hold that thing up.
So there you have it. You are all ready to save your cash at the overpriced-gourmet-caramel-apple-store and make up your own! If you want to package them up (great for gift giving to friends, neighbors, co-workers, school teachers, favorite food bloggers, etc.) chill the finished apples for at least an hour so everything is set and then place in cellophane bags. Store in fridge until you’re ready to give them away. Or change your mind and eat them all yourself. I won’t tell.
Caramel Apple Fondue: I also wanted to mention that you can easily turn something like this into a fun party food. Just put the warm caramel into bowls, or a fondue pot and put all of your toppings in little bowls. Slice a bunch of apples and just let people dip the apples into the caramel and then into a topping. We did this as a family last night and my kids LOVED it. It’s so fun and so easy. It would make a great dessert buffet for a party!
Homemade Caramel for Apple Dipping
Description
What’s a fall party without apples dipped in homemade caramel?
Ingredients
- 1 pound dark brown sugar (about 2 cups packed brown sugar)
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 2/3 cup dark corn syrup
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon molasses
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 12 medium sized apples (that’s a pretty conservative measurement, this makes a lot of caramel)
- popsicle sticks or chopsticks
- assorted toppings for dipping (toffee bits, chopped nuts, coconut, crushed cookies or candy bars, etc.)
- Optional: melted chocolate in zip-top bags
Instructions
- 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 1/2-quart nonstick saucepan (about 3-4 inches deep, at least). 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 1-2 baking sheets with silicone baking mats or buttered foil. Set up decorations and melted chocolates.
- Holding stick, dip 1 apple into 200°F caramel, submerging all but 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 and caramel, spacing apples apart (caramel will pool a bit on foil). If caramel becomes too thick to dip into, gently heat in microwave, or add 1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream and briefly whisk caramel in bowl over low heat to thin.
- By the time you have dipped all the apples, the first ones should be ready partially set enough to add toppings. If not, chill in fridge for a few minutes. Lift 1 apple from foil. Using hand, press pooled caramel around apple. Then firmly press decorations into the caramel and return to 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 1 hour. Cover; chill up to 1 week or wrap in cellophane bags for gift giving.
Questions & Reviews
My daughter in law and I used this recipe for apples last year. Best looking and most wonderful tasting dipped apples I have ever had! And all your hints and information made us look so professional in our results, family have already asked for their Christmas apple. Thank you!!
Is there any way to make this caramel ahead of time and then put it in the fridge and reheat it later and do the actual dipping? Also, how quickly do you have to dip? If I wait for it to cool to 200 and then dip a few will it cool down even more and require reheating? Could I put the caramel in a crockpot to stay warm and extend the dipping time? Sorry for all the questions…we want to do caramel apples for a church function and I’m trying to figure out the best way to go about it.
I made a double batch of this caramel for a party tonight, and I asked all the same questions you did. I don’t know about reheating it, but I will find out tomorrow when I reheat the bit leftover, and I can let you know. If you follow the instructions above and only cook it to 236 degrees (soft ball stage), the caramel stays easy to dip in for a long time (long enough to do 26 apples without ever having to turn on the crockpot). After cooking, I immediately transfered the caramel from the pot to a crockpot and let it cool down there. You could fit three batches in a 5 or 6 quart crockpot. It is very hot at 200 degrees, and I burned myself from a drip, so be careful with that if there will be multiple hands dipping at one time. Dipping very COLD apples is crucial, and after you dip them you have to put them right into the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to make the caramel cold, otherwise the chocolate sloughs off. I decided if I do a caramel apple party again, I will dip all the apples in caramel ahead of time and provide chilled caramel apples for everyone to dip in chocolate and candy. If you are only doing caramel and not adding other stuff, cold apples and a crockpot you can turn onto low as needed would work great. I would guess the caramel would stay useable for an hour. Longer than that and you might have to stir a little cream into the mix and turn the crockpot on for a bit.
One more note: I was worried about the dipping chocolate hardening before we got everything dipped, but that wasn’t a problem. Having it in a crockpot would have been great, but just melting almond bark in bowls and piping bags/condiment bottles worked, too. (The condiment bottle trick was great but clogged and needed to be reheated after an hour.)
The caramel was PERFECT and delicious. I’ve made homemade caramel many times, and this was the simplest recipe with the perfect dipping and eating texture. It is still chewy after refrigeration. Good luck!
I made these today and the caramel was so hard I couldn’t slice them with the apple slicer 🙁 Do I need to calibrate my thermometer? I’m so disappointed.
The caramel is nice and soft at the proper temperature- I would consider calibrating!
I ran out of time reading comments so sorry if this has already been asked.. 🙂
If we wanted to make these for a party, is there a way to pre-make the caramel and re-heat it, or keep it warm in the crock pot? I made homemade caramel during a party once and since it’s so time consuming I missed out on a lot of party time. Just wondering if it would reheat ok or be ok in the crock pot.
Thanks! 🙂
You could probably keep it warm in a crock pot, just stir it often 🙂
Just made these. The caramel tastes great but as it didn’t turn out to be gooey when it dried. It kind of turned in to moon sand…. Did I cook it too long?
I am planning one of our daughters school Halloween party. I am hoping to have the kiddos make a caramel apple during one of their rotations. Do you know if this will work in the crockpot if I make it ahead of time? Thanks for always creating the best recipes!!!
It should be fine–just keep it on the warm setting. How fun!! I might have to steal that idea! 🙂
Made these tonight and they were delicious! I made them a couple years ago and I had hoped this time that they were as great as I remembered them. They totally were!
I wanted to know if I could use heavy cream instead of sweetened condensed? I really want to try this recipe so I am hoping it can be substituted
I would really love to try these recipes and read this post, but after the Bauch+Lomb pop up ad has prevented me from seeing your text FOUR times in one paragraph, I give up. I’ll try another blog.
I wanted to offer a quick tip to anyone having difficulty with this recipe. After making it a couple of times, a friend suggested that the brown sugar I was using may have been keeping the caramel from setting up all the way. I used generic brown sugar–that was not 100% cane sugar. As soon as I switched to 100% cane sugar it turned out perfectly.
I just made this recipe, and my caramel didn’t set up at all. It’s delicious, and made a great sauce, but every topping I put on just slid right off. I cooked it to 250 degrees and let it cool to 200. Did I overcook it? That should have made it more firm, correct?
You might of put the toppings on too soon.I found that even at 200 degrees is still too hot to even dip apples in. It honestly needs to set a little before doing so. I always dip a few then go back and put toppings on.
Donna, make sure to clean all the wax from your apples first
Where can I purchase those applezilla apples?
Thanks so much for the recipe and all of the tips! This is the best experience I have had trying to make caramel apples. I have been in search of the perfect recipe for a long time. This is it.
I have one question. (I scanned the previous comments and didn’t see a reference to this problem.) What causes air bubbles to form in the caramel as it is cooling on the apple? They weren’t there when I dipped, but then appeared.
Thanks!
Candy the air bubbles will form when stirring too quick and can trap air pockets. Try stirring slowly. This has happened to me as well and hasn’t happened since.
Made this just now and it turned out FAB!!!! I halved the recipe, and because I didn’t have sweetened condensed milk, I used a jar of COOKED sweetened condensed milk, which I DID have on hand… which I bought at the Portuguese market down the sweet- confiture du lait, in French, and very yummy if you spoon feed yourself from the can… Watch out for that!!!
It turned out to be PERFECT— very smooth and creamy, and a VERY DELISH taste, not like the caramel sauce I usually make from just sugar, butter, cream! This one was much richer in taste!
Realllly loved the molasses added in for a certain flavour! Anyhow… I’m taking it over to my students’ house tomorrow to make caramel apples… I’m SURE they’ll LOVE IT!!!!
Cheers!
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe!! I just made some tonight and my sisters and I love them so much!! For sure my FAVORITE!! Thank you so much! 🙂
So I found this recipe a couple years ago. Everyone I have made them for loves them! I have made them for teachers and faculty at my kids school, teachers for Primary at church, friends, neighbors, and sent a batch to work with my Hubby to give out to workers.(actually a few batches–because they keep asking for more!) But what most recently happened is what I really wanted to share with you! I made a batch for a Young Men and Young Women fundraiser auction. I decided to put 4 on a plate and made 3 plates. Well, they auctioned off for a total of $385!! Everyone was fighting for the apples! When the bid got so high on the last plate, the guys who were both bidding for it finally just said they would each pay the same high bid of $110 each, if I would donate another plate of apples so they could both have some! It was crazy! And just so you know, I never take credit for your recipe. I always tell them it came from you and tell everyone to check out your website and your books! Thanks so much!
Dude, that’s AWESOME!
Found this recipe among others …The BEST Gourmet Ingredients. ..Wow! The Ingredients makes all the difference. Never can use store caramel again…its like sitting in first class!
Thanks for your great photos and easy instructions. .super tutorial!