Every year we have a favorite fall tradition of dipping beautiful granny smith apples into caramel and decorating them with all our favorite candies and chocolate. Every caramel apple usually reflects the personality or tastes of the person making it, and I love that.

But HOW to actually nail the caramel apple base and toppings? It all comes down to a few simple tips and tricks. After, all there’s a couple things that can go wrong, and if you know what to avoid, you’ll have the most perfect caramel dipped apples in no time!

WherE TO BEGIN?

There’s a few tips you’ll need to remember before you even dip your first apple in that golden pool of caramel goodness!

Choose the right kind of apple for dipping! When we do caramel dipped apples, Granny Smith apples are by far the best choice. They have the perfect texture and flavor, hold up well in the heat of the caramel, and last the longest after dipping, in our experience.

Prep your apple! When you first bring your apples home from the market, there usually is a type of waxy sheen on the outside of the apples. Give them a good wash with hot water and wipe them off well. Make sure they’re completely dry before dipping.

Prep your toppings! When your apple is ready to dip, it’s important to have your toppings handy and ready to go! I make sure to have my bowls of melted chocolate and any crushed toppings ready in bowls on the side. 

Use quality caramel! Okay, this one takes a little more explanation than a couple sentences… so let’s make it an entire section on it’s own, shall we? Here we go…

CARAMEL TIME

As many of you know, I love making my own caramel for various desserts. However, with our caramel apple dipping days, and even caramel dipping parties with family, I stick to something that I know will work EVERY SINGLE TIME without me having to basically lift a finger.

What is that, you may ask?

It’s this:

Image source

Peter’s Caramel comes in a large brick (it’s not rock hard, its nice and soft and creamy!), and can make QUITE a few caramel dipped apples. We’ve also saved ours from the previous year and the caramel keeps really well when properly stored. It tastes amazing, and it easily heats up in the microwave, stove top, or in the crock pot.


Yes, caramel dipped apples can be made with homemade caramel, and I say go for it if you want to! But I also think this will save so much time, brain cells, and any temperature or recipe hassle. You literally just heat it up and you’re good to go. haha

What You’ll Need:

If you’re making that list and wondering exactly what you’re going to need for making your caramel apples, here’s a few things that we always have on hand:

  • Apples (Granny Smith). Choose apples that are firm, have no dents or bruises, and that sit up straight on a flat surface. This will help the sticks go in straight/perpendicular to the surface they’ll be standing on.
  • Caramel (Peter’s Caramel or Homemade). Don’t do the little squares and spend your entire afternoon unwrapping all of them. I did that once. Wouldn’t recommend, haha). Just buy the brick (like we talked about before), and melt it. Easy peasy!
  • Parchment Paper. You’re going to need something to place the dipped caramel apples on after dipping and during decorating. This one comes in sheets, so it’s much easier to manage.
  • Wooden Sticks/dowels. These have a slight point at the end.
  • Chocolate & Toppings. I use white/dark/milk chocolate candy melts, and then add crumbled candy/cookies/nuts on the sides.
  • Rubber Spatula. This is for scraping off excess caramel off the bottom of the apple.

HOW TO DIP YOUR CARAMEL APPLES:

  1. Prep apples by washing them with hot water to remove any waxy film that may be there. Dry completely. set aside.
  2. Remove the apple stem.
  3. Using your hands, or something firm, press the wooden dowels into the apples where the stem used to be.
  4. Place apples into the fridge (I usually use a cookie sheet or half cookie sheet) for at least 30 minutes to chill.
  5. Heat up caramel. If you’re using the entire brick, melt it on the “warm” setting until it’s melted (it’s different for every crock pot). If you’re doing half or fourth of the brick, (I usually get 4-6 apples per quarter, depending on how thick the caramel is melted), melt it in a medium glass bowl for 1 minute, then stir. Add another minute and stir until it’s a liquid and not too bubbly. You don’t want it be too hot or else it will not be thick enough on your apple.
  6. One by one, dip the apple into the caramel. Hold the caramel apple in the air for about 30 seconds and let the excess caramel drip off the bottom of the apple.
  7. Using your spatula, gently scrape off the bottom of the apple. Then place caramel apple on your parchment paper sheet to harden.
  8. TURN YOUR CARAMEL APPLE UPSIDE DOWN. Yep, in the air. This causes the gravity pull to go the opposite way for 30 seconds or so, and it will make it so there isn’t a huge pool of caramel under the apple on the bottom when it dries.
  9. That’s it! Let them dry and they’re ready to decorate. You can chill them if you’d like, but we usually just dive right into decorating.

TIME TO ADD TOPPINGS!

This is where each person gets to customize their caramel apple to whatever flavors they love most! We do white/dark/milk chocolate in glass bowls in the microwave. We also pre-pulse all our crumble ingredients in the food processor and have them in little bowls. Some ideas for toppings have always been: crushed candy, crushed cookies, sprinkles, melted marshmallows, graham crackers, cinnamon sugar, crushed nuts, and Halloween candy decor.

Here’s a few flavors we made this year REALLY loved:

White Chocolate Cinnamon Sugar Caramel Apple

Dip caramel apple into a bowl of melted white chocolate melts (don’t do white chocolate chips). Let dry for 20 seconds, then roll into a mixture of cinnamon sugar.

S’mores caramel apple

Dip caramel apple in melted chocolate, let sit for 20 seconds, then roll into graham cracker crumble. Melt 1 cup of mini marshmallows in the microwave for 30 seconds, then (using gloves, preferably), pull the hot mallows until they start to look stringy, then wrap them around the caramel apple. Drizzle on more chocolate.

Peanut butter lover caramel apple

Dip caramel apple in chocolate, then let sit for 20 seconds. Immediately add/press/dunk crushed peanuts. Press on mini Reeses cups, then drizzle on more chocolate or melted peanut butter.

OREO CARAMEL APPLE

Dip caramel apple in melted white chocolate, let sit for 20 seconds, then roll apple into crushed oreo pieces. Drizzle on white chocolate.

That’s it! I hope this helps you in your kitchen this year as you make up those gorgeous caramel apples! As always, making memories is the best part of creating in the kitchen, so enjoy every bit of it as you do so.

If you create some caramel apples this year, I’d love to see it! Make sure to tag #bakingwithblondie on INSTAGRAM @bakingwithblondie.

Happy Baking -er… caramel apple dipping!

Love,

Mandy