Making homemade caramel apples is one of our family traditions every Fall. We love making this caramel recipe and using the leftovers for giving to friends and neighbors. This is definitely something that needs CLOSE adult supervision because of how hot the caramel is, but you can help the kids dip their own apples and put what ever toppings they want on them.
Homemade Caramel Apples
- 10 large green apples (Granny Smith’s)
- 1 cup butter
- 3 cups brown sugar
- 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- candy thermometer
Wash and dry the apples completely.
Place a piece of parchment paper on the counter big enough to allow all of your apples to sit on without touching.
Cut butter into small cubes and melt over low heat in a medium size sauce pan.
Add and mix sugar, corn syrup and condensed milk.
Cook and stir (scraping the side of the pan constantly!) on medium high heat until boiling, then clip your candy thermometer to the side of pan. Do not allow the thermometer to touch the bottom of the pan.
Reduce heat to medium which should allow for a steady, moderate boil. Stir constantly.
When the thermometer reaches soft ball stage (235°F–240°F) (this will take approximately 30 minutes), remove pan from heat and stir in vanilla.
Let the caramel sit for about 5 minutes. While its sitting, put a sucker stick or a Popsicle stick in each apple through the top.
Dip each apple in the caramel CAREFULLY with an adults help, swirl around until completely coated. Pull up out of the pan and let the excess caramel drip back into pan.
Quickly set on the parchment paper. Continue with each apple. Let the apples sit until completely cooled and hardened. About 45 minutes. We like to serve ours cut up.
If you want to add additional toppings like chocolate chips, graham cracker crumbs etc. do that right after dipping in the caramel so the toppings will stick. Or you can wait for the caramel to cool and harden, then dip them again in melted chocolate. The possibilities are endless!
If you have extra caramel, you can line a baking pan with parchment paper (make sure the parchment paper goes up the sides too) Â and pour it in to make caramels you can cut up.
Enjoy! ~Annette
Ingredients
- 10 large green apples (Granny Smith's)
- 1 cup butter
- 3 cups brown sugar
- 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- candy thermometer
Instructions
- Wash and dry the apples completely.
- Place a piece of parchment paper on the counter big enough to allow all of your apples to sit on without touching.
- Cut butter into small cubes and melt over low heat in a medium size sauce pan.
- Add and mix sugar, corn syrup and condensed milk.
- Cook and stir (scarping the side of the pan constantly!) on medium high heat until boiling, then clip your candy thermometer to the side of pan. Do not allow the thermometer to touch the bottom of the pan.
- Reduce heat to medium which should allow for a steady, moderate boil. Stir constantly.
- When the thermometer reaches soft ball stage (235°F–240°F) (this will take approximately 30 minutes), remove pan from heat and stir in vanilla.
- Let the caramel sit for about 5 minutes. While its sitting, put a sucker stick or a Popsicle stick in each apple through the top.
- Dip each apple in the caramel CAREFULLY with an adults help, swirl around until completely coated. Pull up out of the pan and let the excess caramel drip back into pan.
- Quickly set on the parchment paper. Continue with each apple. Let the apples sit until completely cooled and hardened. About 45 minutes. We like to serve ours cut up.
- If you want to add additional toppings like chocolate chips, graham cracker crumbs etc. do that right after dipping in the caramel so the toppings will stick. Or you can wait for the caramel to cool and harden, then dip them again in melted chocolate. The possibilities are endless!
- Enjoy!
Can u double up on ingredients for 20 apples
Yes, that would work!
I making these for a Halloween party. Can I add black food coloring to the ingredients give the caramel some color?
I have never tried to add food coloring to caramel. I would be really careful and make sure to use gel food coloring and don’t add it until the very end. But do a test batch first.
I made these and they tasted amazing! I felt like i lost some caramel out of it because it puddled at the bottom, and i tried to double dip the apple but it did the same thing. ..other then that though it was awesome!
Hi Nell, sorry for your troubles. Next time try cooking the caramel a little longer to make it more of a hard ball stage. That might help with the puddling.
Is that a typo “30 minutes” to reach soft ball? Seems like it should be 3 minutes. That’s how long it took me. Making them now. The caramel smells great!
Yes Stephanie, if you don’t boil it long enough it will just slide right off the apples. It takes 45 minutes to make caramels.
Any tips on ways to do this without a candy thermometer?
Yes you can test the mixture in water. Here is a tutorial. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lchea5BHbgs
Are you supposed to use packed brown sugar
Yes, packed brown sugar.
Is it light or dark brown sugar, or does it matter?
I use light, but I don’t think it matters.
MY caramel got too hard when after it cooled off. Any tips?
You might have overcooked it. There’s nothing you can do really to make it better besides warming it up a tad and then trying to cut it with a very buttered knife.
I use this caramel recipe to make a few caramel apples and then make popcorn balls for halloween. My whole family loves it! Thank you for the recipe 🙂
That’s awesome!