A classic fair and holiday treat! Crisp Granny Smith apples first dipped in homemade caramel and then enrobed in premium chocolate. Roll each apple in your favorite toppings like nuts, candies, or sprinkles, or drizzle chocolate or caramel overtop for an professional finish.
Whether you are at the summer fair, around a fall campfire, or in the throes of the holidays, one delicious snack holds steadfast throughout the seasons: the caramel apple.
Deliciously tart, followed by the nutty sweetness of homemade caramel, and finished with a bold dose of chocolate and crunchy toppings; I can’t think of any occasion that couldn’t be improved by these fun, nostalgic treats.
Food Safety
Since there have been a couple of outbreaks of foodborne illness related to listeria and caramel apples over the years, I wanted to include a few notes on food safety and the risks involved with preparing, storing, and eating caramel apples.
For more information on food safety regarding caramel apples and the related risk of Listeria, refer to the University of Minnesota, the CDC, or other sources so you can make the best informed decision for you and your circumstances.
The risk: Listeria monocytogenes (aka, Listeria) can grow rapidly in the space between the apple’s surface and the caramel layer. Storing caramel apples at room temperature, rather than refrigerating them, causes Listeria to grow more rapidly. Additionally, penetrating the apple with a stick introduces more moisture, allowing for bacteria to grow, and now with a pathway directly into the fruit itself.
Precautionary steps: thoroughly washing the apples before consumption and storing the apples for 1-3 days in the fridge will greatly reduce your risk of foodborne illness. And while not required, choosing to eliminate the candy stick is another preventative measure you can explore.
How to Eat Caramel Apples
For the ambitious eater who shamelessly abandons public dining decorum, take a page out of Guy Fieri’s book: tilt your head, unhinge your jaw, and take as big of a bite out of the whole apple as you can. Let any crumbs or toppings fall where they may on the battlefield.
But for the more bashful, simply cut a chocolate caramel apple into slices like you would any other apple, either with an apple corer or with a large knife. For slicing, cut around the core (making four large pieces total), and then cut those pieces in half to create picturesque wedges.
Why Chocolate Lovers make This Recipe
- Made from scratch — this homemade recipe grants you the opportunity to use high-quality, simple ingredients, rather than chocolate compound and caramel containing high-fructose corn syrup like many commercial caramel apple products.
- Affordable alternative — I did the math, and I can make 5 POUNDS (roughly 4.4kg) of chocolate caramel apples at home for the price of only 3 or 4 individual store-bought apples. So go ahead, keep scrolling to the recipe.
- Insanely fun to make — I didn’t anticipate how much fun I’d actually have hand-dipping and decorating each apple, but each one soon became a blank canvas for different candy coatings, drizzle patterns, and sprinkles. Make apple dipping and decorating a fun, new tradition with your kids, friends, or significant other every year.
Ingredients and Variations
You would be surprised to discover just how fun and easy it is to make chocolate caramel apples! A notes on a few ingredients:
Granny Smith apples — for the ultimate flavor contrast, I adore using tart apples like Granny Smiths that perfectly balance the sweetness from the caramel and richness from the chocolate and candy toppings. However, you can also use Honeycrisp apples for a more mild profile.
Heavy cream — heavy cream’s 36% milk fat content is largely responsible for caramel’s irresistibly smooth texture. I don’t recommend substituting for whole milk or another dairy substitute, since the result will be too thin to properly dip and adhere to the apple.
Granulated sugar — white sugar is one of the main ingredients to every caramel recipe. No substitutions here, and especially not with brown sugar (unless you’re looking for toffee instead of caramel!)
Lemon juice — if you choose to use apple slices instead of whole apples on a stick, then rubbing the flesh of the fruit with lemon juice will prevent the apples from oxidizing. Otherwise, the acid in lemon juice naturally prevents large, crunchy crystals forming in the caramel, making this a foolproof tip for your baking and confectionary arsenal.
Premium chocolate — you would be dismayed in discovering that many commercially-available caramel apples are made with compound chocolate that contain vegetable and/or seed oils instead of cocoa butter.
Tips for Success
- See the section on Food Safety above to address any concerns with foodborne illness before proceeding with this recipe.
- Choose a saucepan that has a light-colored bottom, such as stainless steel, so you can easily monitor the caramel’s color as it browns.
- Using citric acid and a saucepan with a clear lid prevents crunchy sugar crystals from developing in your caramel, so follow the recipe as written to remove any guesswork while achieving the results you want.
- It takes a good few minutes for the sugar mixture to darken, so have patience and trust in the process. Most importantly, refrain from stirring the caramel until the cream is added, otherwise your caramel will come out with large crystals that will be unpleasant to eat.
- Once the sugar mixture begins to caramelize and turn a light golden brown, stay close and have the heavy cream and vanilla mixture at the ready. Sugar will darken rapidly once it starts to turn, and can go from delicious to burnt in seconds. Use your eyes and nose to determine how the caramel is progressing, and add the heavy cream as soon as the caramel reaches a dark amber color and has a rich, nutty aroma.
- Use either a food-grade infrared or candy thermometer to achieve the proper caramel consistency; once returned to the stovetop, the caramel should reach between 235-245 degrees Fahrenheit before setting aside to cool.
- Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper lightly coated in nonstick cooking spray to prevent the caramel coated apples from sticking.
Storage Instructions
Store candied apples in the fridge for 1-3 days (see the section on Food Safety for more information on risks and preventative measures so you can stay happy and well this season).
Chocolate Caramel Apple
A Fall and holiday treat! Crisp Granny Smith apples first dipped in homemade caramel and then enrobed in premium chocolate. Roll each apple in your favorite toppings like nuts, candies, or sprinkles, or drizzle chocolate or caramel overtop for an professional finish.
- measuring cup
- candy sticks
- 2L saucepan with clear lid
- wooden spatula or spoon
- food-grade thermometer
- microwave-safe bowl
- rubber spatula
- baking sheet
- sheet parchment paper
- 230 ml heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 6 Granny Smith apples, washed and dried
- 700 grams granulated sugar
- 400 ml water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 10 ounces premium chocolate, chopped
- various toppings (optional)
Preparing the Apples
If desired, remove the stem from each apple and instead insert a candy stick. Otherwise, cut the apple into slices and apply a little extra lemon juice to the flesh of the fruit to prevent browning (oxidation). Set aside.
Making the Caramel
In a measuring cup, stir to combine the heavy cream and vanilla extract. Set aside.
In a deep saucepan with a clear lid, combine the granulated sugar, water, and lemon juice. Turn the heat to medium, cover, and allow the pan to sit undisturbed until the mixture turns a light brown, 7-10 minutes. Monitor closely until the sugar mixture turns a dark amber color.
Remove the pan from the heat and add a splash of the heavy cream mixture into the caramel, stirring vigorously until the bubbles subside. Repeat 3-4 times before adding the remaining amount of heavy cream all at once. Sprinkle in the salt and stir until the mixture becomes smooth and uniform in color.
Return the pan to the stove, this time on low heat, and allow the mixture to simmer, stirring occasionally, until a food-grade thermometer registers between 235-245℉. Set the pan aside to allow the caramel to cool.
Caramel Apple Assembly
Once the caramel has cooled to around 200℉, dip the entire apple by the stick until all but the very top is submerged. If not using a stick, hand-dip half of the slices in the caramel, scraping any excess off the side of the bowl. Set coated apples on a prepared baking sheet and chill in fridge until firm., about 20 minutes.
In a microwave-safe bowl, gently melt the chocolate in 30-second intervals on 50% power, stirring in between, until fully melted. Dip the whole apple (or half-dip apple slices) in the chocolate, again scraping any excess off the side of the bowl, before arranging on the baking sheet. Allow the chocolate to set for 3-4 minutes before rolling in desired toppings. If garnishing with a chocolate drizzle, allow the chocolate coating to fully set before applying the drizzle. Serve immediately and store leftovers in the fridge.
