Easy homemade caramel apples

3 homemade caramel apples with different toppings: nuts, peanuts & chocolate, and chopped chocolate.

4.43 from 7 votes

Make homemade caramel apples with brown-sugar caramel, step-by-step photos, and tips for a smooth coating that sticks.

Prep Time10

Cook Time25

Dipping and setting1

Total Time1 35

Servings: small apples

Calories: 332kcal

Equipment

a 3-quart saucepan
heat-resistant glass measuring cup or metal bowl for caramel apple dipping
heat resistant spoon or spatula
silicon baking mat or greased baking sheet
candy thermometer

Ingredients

12-18 apples
1 ½ cups heavy cream
1 cup corn syrup
2 cups brown sugar (light or dark, your flavor preference)
¼ cup unsalted butter room temperature
½ teaspoon salt (not Morton's brand, see note)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups toppings crushed nuts, chocolate, etc (your choice)

Instructions

PREPARE APPLES & TOPPINGS

Get all of your toppings ready. Chop nuts, chocolate, and other toppings into small pieces.
Bring water to a boil in your pot. Drop apples in one at a time for 5 seconds. Remove with a large spoon or strainer, then wipe them with a kitchen towel to remove any wax. Every apple, even ones you grow, need to have waxed removed (apples naturally have a waxy coating, some more than others).
Place apples in the fridge to cool, which will help the caramel stick to them and harden.
Wear long sleeves or oven mitts, when you start making the caramel. While it doesn't happen often, it can spatter and it really burns! (Thick caramel that sticks to your skin is bad!)

MAKE THE CARAMEL

In a 3-quart sauce pan, combine the heavy cream, corn syrup, brown sugar, butter, and salt.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the butter is melted and everything is mixed. If using a gas cooktop, the flame should cover the bottom of the pan but not go up the sides (which can burn the sugar).
Attach your candy thermometer to the pan and make sure it doesn't touch the bottom of the pan (it won't get in the way of stirring now).
IMPORTANT: Do not stir after this point (which can cause it to turn grainy), and do not touch the caramel as it will be hotter than boiling water.
Let the mixture boil over medium heat until it reaches 245℉. This will take around 20 minutes. Lower heat will take longer and higher heat will be faster (but be careful not to burn the caramel).
The temperature will quickly reach 215-225, then seems to stall out. If this happens, bump the heat up a tiny bit and it will continue to rise. Once it gets past 225 it seems to go up fairly quickly.
Once the caramel reaches 245℉, remove it from the heat. Stir in vanilla (adding it earlier will cook off the flavor). Pour the caramel into your heat-proof cup or bowl.
Let the caramel cool down to 200℉, which should take 5-10 minutes. If it seems too thin, let it cool down a little more to 185℉.

DIP THE APPLES

Bring apples out of the fridge and wipe any condensation off if needed.
Dip apples in the caramel, remove a second later. Wipe the bottom of the apple off on the edge of your cup/bowl (this prevents a puddle from forming on the bottom). Hold the apple upside down for 5 seconds to let the caramel set, swirling the apple around as needed.
Roll the apple around in the toppings while it is still gooey. Place apple on the silicon mat or a grease baking sheet (it sticks to parchment and wax paper, tearing little bits off when removed, that get stuck in between the toppings).
Caramel apples will take about 45 minutes to set at room temperature (and should be eaten within 2 hours). Alternatively, place them in the fridge for a more fool-proof way to set the caramel, and leave there until ready to eat.
Store in the fridge for 1-3 weeks. Remove from fridge 30 minutes before serving to come back to room temperature.

Notes

Salt: Morton's brand salt has anti-caking agents known to cause problems when making caramel.

Nutrition is calculated based on 18 small apples and using 100% of the caramel sauce. If using 12 larger apples it increases to around 500 calories. Toppings are not included because the calories vary depending on what you choose.

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Nutrition