Learn how to make homemade gourmet caramel apples of your own!
Caramel apples. The quintessential fall treat. Tart and sweet and chewy all at once… Can it even get better than that?
Imagine adding a layer of chocolate to that, plus maybe some almonds? Or Oreos? Or peanut butter cups? Oh yeah. It just got better!
I started making these homemade gourmet caramel apples to use for cute place holders at Thanksgiving several years ago. They were such a HUGE hit (like seriously, I probably could’ve not even made a turkey and no one would’ve cared, haha) that I decided to make them every year. So now these are part of our Thanksgiving tradition.
I like to give all our guests a list of toppings to choose from before I make them, so everyone gets their own customized homemade gourmet caramel apple. Everyone is always excited to put in their “order.” 🙂
Now, I’m not going to sugar coat this (see what I did there). These caramel apples do take some time and effort. They aren’t particularly difficult, but you do want to set aside a few hours to make them. Normally I don’t care to make things that require hours in the kitchen, but what can I say? Some things are just worth it.
Plus, it helps that I only do it once a year, haha. And that it makes a lot of caramel apples!
I do recommend reading through the whole recipe before starting. I’ve included lots of tips to help you along the way — including how to make the homemade caramel WITHOUT a candy thermometer!
Confession: I’ve never even owned a candy thermometer. *Gasp* What?! Yep. I always just used the ice water method (which I’ll be teaching you) with no problem. You’re certainly welcome to use a candy thermometer, of course. I’m just going to show you another way.
I found the caramel recipe from tastykitchen.
Ok, let’s get to it!
Supplies
2 sheet pans
2 silicone baking mats or baking spray
20 wooden candy sticks or popsicle sticks
medium saucepan
silicone or rubber spatula
cup (for ice water)
bowls (for chocolate and toppings)
spoons (for ice water and chocolate)
Ingredients
20 small granny smith apples
2 bags of chocolate chips
toppings (crushed Oreos, pretzel bits, mini m&ms, graham cracker crumbs, toasted coconut, etc…)
For caramel:
1/4 cup butter
1 cup corn syrup
1 (14 oz.) can sweeten condensed milk
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Prepare the apples
- The first thing you want to do is rinse all the apples and dry them really well. If your apples are the least bit wet, the caramel will have a really hard time sticking to them.
2. Then insert your sticks in the apples. I use my kitchen mallet to whack them down in there really good. Now wipe off any juice that came out of the apples when you put the sticks in. Remember, you want dry apples!
3. Grease or put silicone baking mats on two sheet pans. I highly recommend using baking mats, but if you don’t have any, greasing your pans really well will work well enough. If you greased them, set them aside for now. If you used baking mats, go ahead and set your apples on them.
4. If your apples were already cold to start with (for example, if you kept them in the fridge up until this moment), then go ahead and put your stuck apples back in the fridge while you make the caramel.
If your apples are at room temperature, put them in the freezer while you make the caramel.
Make the caramel
- Place a cup filled with lots of ice and some water near where you’re working. Get a metal spoon out and ready, too. You’ll use these to test the caramel and know when it’s ready.
2. Put the butter, corn syrup, sweetened condensed milk, and sugar in a medium pan on the stove over medium heat.
3. Stir continuously (but not vigorously – that’ll just wear you out and increase the chance of splashes) with a spatula (so you can get the corners) until everything melts together and starts to boil. This took about 15 – 20 minutes for me.
4. Then reduce the heat to medium-low and keep stirring until the mixture turns a warm tan color, about another 10 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat. Remember that ice water and metal spoon you got out earlier? Now’s the time to use them!
Unless, of course, you really want to use a candy thermometer. Then just remove your caramel from the heat once it reaches 235 — 240 degree Farenheight, and skip to the Dip the Apples instructions.
5. Use the spoon to scoop out a little bit of the caramel. Place the spoon, caramel and all, into the ice and count to 10. Take the caramel out and roll it around your fingers to check the consistency. The caramel is ready when it’s at the softball stage. This simply means that when the caramel is cooled, it is solid enough to be formed into a ball and hold its shape while also remaining soft enough that you can squish it.
If your caramel isn’t quite firm enough yet, put it back on the burner and let it cook (still stirring!) another couple of minutes. Then remove it from the heat and test it with the ice water again.
Dip the apples
- Once your caramel has reached the softball stage, leave it off the heat and place your prepared pans and apples next to it. Pick up an apple by its stick, wipe it off one last time to make absolutely sure it’s dry, and dip it in the caramel. I find that the best way to do this is to hold the apple at an angle and rotate it in the caramel. I like to leave some of the green apple skin showing at the top (it’s so pretty!), but feel free to cover the whole apple if that’s what you prefer.
2. Hold the apple over the pan and let the excess caramel drip off. Then hold it sideways and upside down over the pan and slowly rotate it a few times. This gives the caramel a chance to cool down and set a bit so it doesn’t all just slide off the apple when you set it down.
3. Before you put the apple on the baking sheet, gently scrape off the bulk of the caramel on the bottom of the apple (I just use the side of the pan to do this). The caramel will move down a bit as it sets, so removing the caramel at the bottom helps you to not get a caramel puddle around the base of your apple.
*If you do end up with some caramel puddles around your apples, no worries! Once the caramel has set, you can cut the excess caramel off the bottom of the apples and return it to the pan.
4. Continue on with the rest of the apples. If the caramel starts to get too thick to dip very easily, you can reheat it on low until it’s more fluid again.
Once your apples are dipped, put them in the fridge to finish setting while you set up the next step.
Prepare the chocolate and toppings
- Now it’s time for the fun stuff! Get out whatever toppings you want to use for your apples (tip: leftover Halloween candy works great). I like to have them all in bowls so that they’re easy to access when it’s time to use them.
2. Next, melt your chocolate chips in the microwave. Don’t leave them in the microwave for more than 15 seconds without stirring – no one wants burnt chocolate on their apples.
Just a heads up, if you’re using dark chocolate, it tends to be runnier when melted. So you’ll want to let it sit and cool for a bit after it melts so that it can thicken up a little before you try to put it on the caramel apples.
Also a tip if you’re using white chocolate: many brands of white chocolate chips can be a pain to melt! If yours aren’t melting very well, you can stir in a spoonful of shortening to help it along.
That being said, I have had good results melting Hershey’s white chocolate chips — no shortening needed.
3. Once you have your toppings ready and the chocolate melted, get out your apples. The easiest way I’ve found to coat them with chocolate is to hold them over the chocolate bowl, scoop some chocolate on top, then rotate the apple while spreading the chocolate over the apple.
4. Working quickly, put your chosen toppings on the chocolate while it’s still soft. I know it’s tempting to just roll it in the topping bowls, but then you’ll end up with an inch of toppings stuck to your apple. Plus the toppings will get all chocolatey and messy looking for your subsequent apples.
It works best to pick up the toppings with your fingers and stick them to the apple.
Once your apple is adequately decorated, return it to the pan. Continue with all of the apples.
Stand back and admire your work!
Store them in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. I usually put my caramel apples in cellophane bags both for the ones I give away and keep. It’s easier than trying to find a container tall enough to store them in, haha!
Comment and let me know what toppings you’d put on your homemade gourmet caramel apples!
