Caramel Apples

Recipe From: Laura Watson

As fall approaches, we begin the kick off to  sweet, savory, juicy, mouth watering,  goodness laid before you.  My tastebuds do backflips with each chewy, buttery bite.  Perhaps because I rarely partake in sugarland induced comas but I'll make a yearly exception with these caramel apple beautys.   Forgo having to unwrap those commercial caramels with this match made in heaven recipe -- Caramel and Apple.  You just can't go wrong. 

A few tips in the process of making caramel apples I have learned over the years.  Be patient! Dont turn the temp up to hi and then constantly , I repeat, constantly stir the caramel or you will have scorched brown pieces. This takes some time and patience and dont forget to make good use of a candy thermometer.  

So upon fetching the ingredients for this recipe, I  discovered they now make a caramel sweetened condensed milk ! Yeeessss!  Brooklyn & I made a dozen for her school carnival and they turned out fabulous! Top with melted chocolate, crushed up heath bar, peanuts, walnuts, mini M&Ms, crushed pretzels, crushed butterfingers, or drizzled white chocolate.  Enjoy!

• 12 whole Apples
• ¼ cups Butter
• 1 cup Karo Syrup
• 14 ounces, Eagle Brand Condensed Milk  (I used caramel condensed milk)

• 2 cups White Granulated Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Assemble all ingredients: wash and dry apples, insert sticks, and butter a cookie sheet and dinner plate before starting to cook.

Heat all ingredients except vanilla in a heavy 2-quart saucepan over medium/low heat. Stir constantly! (Unless you really like the look of scorched bits on your apples.)

When caramel reaches soft ball stage (235°F–240°F) remove from heat and add vanilla. Let cool a few minutes.

Using the stick inserted in the apples, dunk apples in the hot caramel and twirl slowly away from the heat for a couple of minutes. It’s nice to have a helper or two at this point.

Place caramel-covered apples on a buttered cookie sheet. Optional: drizzle with melted chocolate or roll in chopped nuts.

Extra caramel from the bottom of the pan:
1. Can be scraped out with a spatula into a buttered plate or dish to be cut into individual pieces when cool.
2. Can be thinned in the pan with half-and-half and eaten warm, as a dip for apple wedges.