Anyone can make caramel apples. They’re a fantastic fall treat, great for giving away at parties or around the office and even the kids can get involved in the creation process.
You will need:
Prepare a cookie sheet by covering it in wax paper. Apply a thin layer of butter or cooking spray or the caramel will adhere to the wax paper. Make enough room in your fridge to fit the cookie sheet.
Remove all the apple stems and push lollipop sticks into the tops of the apples.
Unwrap all the caramels in one bag (great opportunity for the kids to help!) and toss them into a small saucepan. Add 2 tablespoons of water and heat on medium-low. Stir the caramel until smooth.
Dip apples into the caramel and rotate until they’re evenly covered. Tilt the pan if you want to cover the tops too. One bag of caramels will coat 4 apples. Repeat the process as much as needed.
Let the excess caramel drip off. Using a rubber spatula, clear the bottoms of the apples. Set the apples on the wax paper covered cookie sheet and refrigerate for about 15 minutes to let the caramel set.
Remove the apples from the fridge and draw on jack-o-lantern faces with your decorating gel or frosting tubes. The caramel will be safe for kids to work with, but it will stick to anything it touches so keep the apples a safe distance apart from each other. Set decorated apples back in the fridge to set until you’re ready to eat them.
For an extra creepy look, press chocolate sprinkles into the caramel. They resemble little clusters of ants! If you have a lot of time and patience, you might try making a line of ants marching all around your apples. Enjoy!
Alison Heller is the Jersey Bites Cape May County Regional Editor. She also writes for Examiner.com and TrendHunter.com. She grew up on the beach in Wildwood Crest and currently works in advertising. After earning her Master of Fine Arts in English and Creative Writing in New York City (a place that was essentially Food Rehab), she stopped putting ketchup on everything and started experimenting with flavors. She loves sushi and cupcakes, sushi that looks like cupcakes, but never cupcakes that look like sushi. www.superalzy.com
