These chocolate caramel apples are simple to make, tasty, and make lovely gifts.
Top your apples with cinnamon, candies, or chopped nuts after dipping them in caramel, chocolate, or even melted candy. The possibilities are endless if you use your imagination.
Choosing Your Apples for Candy Apples
Contrast is the key to these best candy apples. On their own, chocolate and caramel are sweet. While adding a crisp apple to crunch into will add texture, selecting a sweet apple can be difficult. You’ll want a nice, tart apple to contrast with the sweet chocolate caramel apples. Make sure you get a good-sized apple that is firm and not bruised.
We’ve discovered that smaller Granny Smith apples make the best candy apples because they’re perfectly tart and the perfect size for a better serving size.
The Best Chocolate and Caramel for Candy Apples
Use the highest-quality chocolate you can find. Melting wafers designed specifically for candy coatings are available. Avoid melting chocolates that leave a waxy taste in your mouth and are designed for thin, hard coatings.
You can use caramel candies and melt them easily in a saucepan for the caramel candy coating, or you can make your own caramel using a recipe. It’s simple to melt the individually wrapped caramel candies, but you won’t have to unwrap hundreds of them if you use a recipe.
Preparing Your Candy Apples
As previously stated, you’ll want to make sure your apples are firm and free of bruises. You don’t want to bite into a soft apple if you’re eating a candy apple.
After that, wash your apples and remove the stems by twisting and pulling or cutting them with sharp scissors. Make sure the apples are completely dry before using them. The caramel will not stick to the apples if they are damp.
Then, for handles, press craft sticks into the stem end of the apples. Your candy best apples are now ready to be dipped.
Chocolate Caramel Apples Recipe
Ingredients of Chocolate Caramel Apples Recipe :
- 5-6 medium apples
- 5-6 craft or popsicle sticks
- 14-16 ounces caramel candies (or one caramel recipe)
- 2 tablespoons water for melting
- Melting chocolate for coating
- White melting chocolate (optional)
- Nuts, candies, or sprinkles (optional)
Directions of Chocolate Caramel Apples Recipe
- Place buttered or oiled waxed paper on a cookie sheet or several large plates. Set aside.
- In a saucepan, melt the caramels over very low heat with the water (if using caramel candies), stirring occasionally as they soften.
- While holding the pan to its side to make the caramel deeper, twist the apples through the caramel. By grasping the sticks, you can roll the apples on an angle so that the caramel does not need to be deep enough to immerse the apples.
- Let the excess caramel drip off of the apple. Scrape the caramel off of the bottom of the apple. More caramel will drip down the apple as it sits. Set them vertically on the waxed paper to cool.
- Melt enough chocolate to twist the caramel apples through the chocolate. When the chocolate is melted, dip the caramel apples just as with the caramel. Again, set on waxed paper to cool or roll the coated apples through chopped nuts or crushed candies.
- Once cool, consider melting white chocolate or almond bark and drizzling the white chocolate over the apples. Don’t cook either the caramel or chocolate coating. Cooking will change the consistency; it only needs to melt.
- If the coating seems too thin, it’s too hot. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool.
- If the coating is not adhering properly to the apple, it is too cool. Heat the topping further.
- The coatings will set up faster in the refrigerator.
- Once cool, the apples can be placed in individual plastic bags and a ribbon tied around the stick.
- They do not have to be refrigerated unless you would prefer to do so. Refrigerating the apple itself will be cold, but it may make the coatings harder than desired.
- Enjoy your chocolate caramel apples.
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