Candy apples and fall go together like summer & watermelon, like winter & hot cocoa, like spring &… spring onions. You get my drift.
This weekend, we found ourselves with an abundance of apples from a recent apple picking adventure but no desire to bake or mash them. Even though we love them plain (I’m looking at you, Honeycrisp), we decided to roll up our sleeves, head to the Modern Reston test kitchen and candy those suckers. It will be EASY, we thought. Piece of cake, we thought. Well, it wasn’t exactly easy but we did figure a few things out (after the requisite Pinterest fails). See below for toppings, tips and tricks.
You’ll need:
Cookie sheets prepared with greased parchment paper or tin foil. Caramel is STICKY so this makes it easier to remove the apples after candying.
Red or Green Apples, scrubbed
Candy Apple Sticks (found at Michaels), inserted into apples
Lots of Caramel Candies, melted in pan
I do not recommend making your own caramel unless that appeals to you.
White, Milk or Dark Chocolate Chips or Bars, melted in a double boiler
Assorted Toppings in shallow bowls or small plates
Pulverize toppings such as cookies or they won’t stick to the chocolate or caramel well.
We made the following combinations:
1. Caramel, white chocolate, crushed gingersnaps
2. Caramel, white chocolate, crushed oreo cookies (just the cookie part, not cream center)
3. Caramel and crushed potato chips
4. Caramel and crushed pretzels
5. Caramel, dark chocolate, slivered almonds
6. Caramel, dark chocolate, rainbow sprinkles
After prepping all of the ingredients, dip apples into the caramel and then immediately cover with toppings. If you are planning to double dip into chocolate, chill the caramel apples for about 5 minutes in the fridge before doing so. After dipping in chocolate, immediately sprinkle with toppings. Eat right away or place apples on cookie sheets and chill in fridge.
Wrap each apple in a cellophane bag and add a ribbon to make pretty gifts for teachers, friends, anyone really!
Do you have a favorite candy apple recipe? Please share below!