Caramel Apples

Happy Halloween Dearies!

An apple for you, my dear...no poison, I swear.

Trick or Treating time is almost here! Then the holidays will really sneak up on us! Thanksgiving and Christmas, my dear baby boy's birthday in the middle of it all. It makes my head spin to think about it!

I hope you all had a fun Halloween weekend.

(because we certainly did)

Every day we shufflin

 Our annual pumpkin carving party was last night, and it was loads of fun as always. Uncle Mike even made a death star pumpkin to go with Lucas' Darth Vader costume. It was awesome. And of course, there was lots of great food including these delicious caramel apples, courtesy of Annie's Eats, my favorite food blog.

I've always been a little wary of making my own caramel, but I am afraid no more. These caramel apples were so incredibly good that I'm sure I'll be making them for many occasions. I will go out of my way to find an excuse to makes these again. Caramel apples are, after all, one of my favorite treats. If you've been afraid of candy making in the past, I urge you to face that fear. These are worth it. Promise.

Caramel Apples
adapted from Annie's Eats

makes 10-12 small apples

8 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
Pinch of salt
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
10-12 small Granny Smith apples, stems removed
10-12 wooden dowels or lollipop sticks

Directions:

Melt the butter over medium heat in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan (This is very important, I used a saucepan without a heavy bottom and had to start all over again because the caramel burned almost instantly). Mix in the brown sugar, corn syrup and salt.  Cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, until it comes to a boil.  Stir in the condensed milk.  Cook and stir until a candy or instant-read thermometer reads 248° F (firm ball stage.)  Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

Insert a lollipop stick or thin wooden dowel (or a trimmed skewer, if you're like me) into the bottom of each apple so that it is firmly in place.  Dip the apples one at a time into the caramel mixture, turning slowly to coat evenly.  Transfer to a baking sheet lined with wax paper and allow the caramel to set.  Decorate as desired, with melted chocolate, chopped nuts, or candy pieces. (I'm partial to the traditional myself)