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If you love the combination of tart, crisp apples and sweet, sticky caramel, making homemade caramel apples is a must! Keep these delicious treats simple or add your favorite toppings to make them your own.
Oh man. Caramel apples. What. a. treat. Every time there’s a fair during the fall, these babies show up and make my freakin’ day.
I love, love, love them so much. It’s kind of silly how much. When we go to Disney World, I love checking out all their super cool creations, especially the adorable ones with Oreos for Mickey ears.
As much as I love getting caramel apples at the carnival or apple orchard, I love making them at home, too. After all, when you have a kiddo who is ALL about Halloween, it’s an extra-fun activity to do together as a family.
If you’ve never made homemade caramel apples before, you’re going to be shocked at how simple they actually are. All you need are a few ingredients and you’re on your way.
Plus, you can add any of your favorite toppings, so it’s a great chance to go all out and make the indulgent apple of your dreams!
These are a fantastic addition to a Halloween party, right alongside brownie dirt pudding cups, Halloween rice krispie treats, a Halloween dessert board, and Halloween popcorn balls.
How to make your own caramel apples
These quintessential fall treats are actually super simple to make, and it’s really fun to make them with a group of family or friends!
And don’t worry – you don’t even need anything fancy like a candy thermometer to make these.
What you’ll need
The recipe in the card below makes 6 caramel apples, but you can easily double or triple this recipe to make as many apples as you need for a larger party.
The ingredients you’ll need are:
- 6 medium apples
- 1 (11-ounces) package caramel squares, unwrapped
- 2 tablespoons water
- ¼ teaspoon apple pie spice
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
The best apples are ones that are crisp and slightly tart to complement the sweet caramel. Granny smith, honeycrisp, jonathan, golden delicious, jonagold, and mcintosh apples are all great options.
If you don’t want to deal with unwrapping all of the individual caramels, you can swap in an 11-ounce bag of Kraft caramel bits instead.
I like to add a bit of apple pie spice and vanilla extra to the caramel sauce. These two additions take your apple up a notch by making it taste like apple pie!
You will also need candy sticks. Look for 6-inch candy sticks in the baking/candy section of large grocery stores or craft stores.
If you want to add other toppings, you will want to have those ready to go, too. Check out the “topping ideas” section below for some of our favorites.
Making this recipe
This recipe requires just a bit of prep work before you actually start making the caramel apples.
First, prep the pan you’ll set the apples on after coating them: spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray or line it with parchment paper.
Next, prep the apples: Wash and dry all of the apples. Insert a candy stick into the stem end of each one.
Now you’re ready to start on the caramel!
Add the unwrapped caramels or caramel bits and the water to a saucepan over medium-low heat. Warm until the candies melt completely, stirring frequently. Stir in the apple pie spice and the vanilla.
Now, using the sticks to hold the apples, dip each one into the caramel, turning to coat. I find it helpful to tilt the pan a bit to thoroughly coat each apple.
Once the apples are coated in the caramel, lift them up and turn them sideways over the pan, spinning the apple several times to allow any excess caramel to drip off. This will also help the caramel to start to set into place.
If you want to add any toppings, do it now while the caramel is still soft. Place the dipped apples onto the prepared tray.
Once the apples are coated and decorated to your liking, place them in the refrigerator to chill for at least 10 minutes to firm up the caramel.
If desired, wrap the apples individually in cellophane. Store the apples in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Topping ideas
Toppings are where you can really have a ton of fun with these caramel apples if you want!
Honestly, just about any topping you can thing (or Disney World) can think of are game. Just make sure you have them ready to go, because you want to add them to the apples while the caramel is still sticky and soft.
Some of my favorite toppings include:
- Chopped, toasted nuts – pecans or peanuts are a classic option for a reason!
- Toffee bits – the milk chocolate toffee bits or bits o’ brickle
- Seasonal sprinkles or festive candies, such as candy corn, candy eyes or mini M&Ms in seasonal colors
- Crushed cookies, such as Oreos or vanilla wafer cookies
- Crushed pretzels for a sweet and salty bite
- Finely chopped candy bars, such as Butterfingers or Snickers
- Mini chocolate chips or Reese’s pieces
- Mini marshmallows paired with mini chocolate chips and graham cracker crumbs
You can even melt chocolate, white chocolate, or candy melts and drizzle them over the apples. I’ve used this method to make chocolate spider webs over the apples!
Tips for making homemade caramel apples
If this is your first time making homemade caramel apples, I have a tips to help make things easier:
- After washing the apples, make sure they’re completely dry. This will help the caramel stick better.
- Use cold apples. The cold apples will help the caramel set faster, so things are less drippy and messy along the way.
- Have your toppings ready to go before you start. You need to add them while the caramel is still soft, so you want to be able to add them right away after dipping the apples!
- Tilt the pan or bowl with the caramel in it to fully coat the apples, and slowly spin the apples sideways over the pan to get rid of any excess drips.
Even if you’ve never made this fall favorite at home before, I can bet it’ll become a new tradition for you!
Homemade Caramel Apples
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 medium apples
- 11 ounces caramel squares unwrapped, or Kraft caramel bits
- 2 tablespoons water
- ¼ teaspoon apple pie spice
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For topping
- chopped and toasted pecans, toffee bits, chocolate melting wafers, seasonal candies, etc.
Instructions
- Very lightly spray a baking sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper; set aside. Wash and dry apples; insert stick into stem end.
- Place caramels or caramel bits and water into a medium saucepan over medium-low heat until the caramels are melted, stirring frequently during cooking time. Stir in apple pie spice and vanilla extract until fully incorporated.
- Dip apples in hot caramel mixture turning to coat well. Allow caramel to drip from apples for a few seconds, then scrape excess caramel from bottoms of apples. Dip bottoms of apples into desired candies, turning to coat. Place dipped apples on prepared pan.
- Chill apples for 10 minutes or until caramel is firm. Wrap apples individually if desired; store in refrigerator.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These caramel apples are so pretty! I need to try these out!
I hope you like them! xxoo
These look delicious! xx
Thank you!!!