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Green caramel apple with a stick in the center on parchment paper.
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5 from 1 vote

The Best Caramel Apple Recipe

I am a Caramel Apple snob. So much of a snob, actually, that I usually don't even bother eating them. But all that changed recently when I discovered the secret to the BEST homemade caramel sauce. These caramel apples are easy to dip, a dream to bite through, with the most FUDGY caramel texture; they won't leave you with caramel stuck to the back of your teeth. It holds it's shape perfectly on the apple, and does not slide off. It is such a fun project for the fall! I will show you how to make this recipe for Halloween, Thanksgiving, or for gifting to neighbors!
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time23 minutes
Chill time20 minutes
Total Time48 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 16
Calories: 414kcal
Author: The Food Charlatan

Equipment

Ingredients

For the apples:

  • 8 medium Granny Smith apples or your favorite tart apple
  • 8 apple sticks or popsicle sticks, kebab sticks, lollipop sticks, chopsticks, a stick from the yard, etc.

For the caramel:

  • 1/2 cup water
  • 4 cups white sugar
  • 1/2 cup salted butter chopped
  • 2 cups corn syrup
  • 2 (12-ounce cans) evaporated milk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt or sea salt

Optional white chocolate dip:

  • 1 (11-ounce) bag white chocolate chips or semi sweet chocolate chips, or butterscotch chips
  • 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cinnamon

Optional toppings to dip caramel apples in:

  • sprinkles
  • chopped nuts
  • mini chocolate chips
  • mini M&Ms
  • crushed Oreos
  • crushed pretzels
  • toasted coconut
  • chopped Heath bar
  • toffee bits

Instructions

  • Prep the apples. Wash the apples thoroughly, rubbing them under the water with your hand or a vegetable brush to get the waxy coating off of them. This wax coating makes the caramel not stick as well. Twist off the stem. Let the apples dry completely. Caramel will not stick to wet apples.
  • Push in sticks. Push your stick into the spot where the stem was, or right next to it. Push about 3/4 of the way down the apple. You can use any kind of stick you want. They sell caramel apple sticks that are just the right size. You can use popsicle sticks, kebab sticks, chopsticks. I found some sticks in the yard that I cleaned off, and they worked great. (Push in a chopstick first to make way, then remove and push in stick, if your yard sticks keep snapping.)
  • Refrigerate the apples for at least 20-30 minutes, or longer. This is perfect because this is how long the caramel takes to make anyway. Chilled apples are so much easier to dip, and makes the caramel stick on better.
  • Make the caramel: Get everything ready to go, so you're not rushing later! Measure out 2 cups of corn syrup and set it near the stove. Shake the 2 cans of evaporated milk and remove the lids. Unwrap 1/2 cup of butter (this is 1 stick) and use a butter knife to chop it into a few pieces.
  • Add 1/2 cup water to a heavy bottomed 3-quart pot. (Do NOT use a cheap pot to make caramel, it might not turn out!) Swirl your pan around to get the sides of the pot wet, a few inches up the sides. Turn the heat up to high.
  • Slowly pour 4 cups of granulated sugar to the center of the pot, making sure not to get any sugar crystals on the sides. With your wooden spoon, draw the water in from the edges toward the center, going slowly all the way around the pan until all the sugar is moistened. Do not leave any sugar crystals on the side of the pan. The goal is to dissolve all of the sugar. If there are sugar crystals on the edge of the pot, dip a pastry brush in water and swipe them into the liquid.
  • Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, stirring. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium. Toss your wooden spoon (that likely has sugar crystals on it) in the sink; you don't need to stir for this part (but don't walk away.) Let the crystal-free pot of sugar bubble and boil for about 8-10 minutes undisturbed. Read on:
  • Eventually, the mixture will start to turn a light yellow color, then darker and darker until it reaches amber. Once you see any signs of yellow, do not take your eyes off the pot as the color deepens and deepens.
  • Swirl the pan a bit, or rotate the pan on the burner, if the yellow is darker on one side or another. Eventually you will see the first wisps of smoke. As soon as the caramel is evenly amber in color all the way across, AND you see smoke,* remove the pan from the heat right away. You have just made caramel. Do not let it keep smoking, it will burn! Take it off the heat and add the butter right away:
  • Off-heat, use a flat whisk to gently stir pieces of butter into the pot, 1/2 cup of butter total, whisking well for every addition. Be careful, splashes will hurt like heck! The caramel will start to become creamy and thicker as you add butter and stir.
  • Add 2 cup corn syrup and whisk it in. Move the pot back onto the burner and turn the heat to medium. It should start to boil again fairly quickly. Be sure to scrape the sides and corners and bottom of the pot well; the corn syrup tends to lump up, so be thorough and make sure it's smooth before the next step.
  • SLOWLY add 2 (12-ounce) cans evaporated milk. Add a little bit, whisk completely, add a bit more, stir completely. This process of adding the milk should take at least 10 minutes. Your caramel won't be smooth if you rush this.
  • Once all of the evaporated milk is added, settle in for the long boil. Keep whisking, only taking short breaks, and making sure to get into the corners of the pan. Boil, whisking for about 20-25 minutes; read on.
  • It's best to use a candy thermometer to know when this step is complete. You want to boil the mixture until it reaches 238 degrees F. The time this takes can vary a lot because there are so many, well, variables (like pot-thickness, burner level, humidity level...) I recommend a Thermapen, the best thermometer on the market, but any old candy thermometer will do. Don't go much above 238 or 239 degrees F, or your caramel will be too hard.
  • Remove the pot from the heat as soon as it has reached 238 degrees. Let the caramel settle a bit, only using your whisk to swipe the bottom and edges occasionally. Stirring too much at this point brings in air, and the bubbles will show up on your dipped apples.
  • Add 1 and 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (or sea salt) and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract. The vanilla will spit and bubble, that's okay, just stir it in. Start with less salt if you are nervous, or add up to 2 teaspoons total if you like a more salted caramel flavor. (Start with about half the amount if you have table salt.)
  • Let the mixture cool for about 15 minutes, coming back to stir once or twice, while you set up your dipping station.
  • Lay out a silpat baking mat on a baking sheet. This caramel sticks to parchment paper, wax paper, and aluminum foil. A silpat is the only thing it doesn't stick to, so don't skip this.
  • Prep toppings. If you plan to dip the caramel apples in other toppings, get them ready now, in separate bowls: sprinkles, chopped nuts, mini chocolate chips, mini M&Ms, crushed Oreos, crushed pretzels, toasted coconut, chopped Heath bar or toffee bits.
    I love to dip my caramel apples in white chocolate and then dip in cinnamon sugar, for a Snickerdoodle flavor. If you are doing that, add 2/3 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons cinnamon to a bowl and stir together.
  • Dip the apples. Holding a cold apple by the stick, tilt the pan of warm caramel on its side, and submerge the apple in the caramel almost all the way. Tilt the apples as necessary to get it coated. Carefully pull the apple out, and let as much caramel drip off as you can. Gently scrape the bottom of the apple on the edge of the pan.
  • Caramel apples with no toppings: Dip the apples, let it drip off, gently scrape the bottom, and set it on the silpat. Repeat with all the apples.
  • Caramel apples dipped in crushed toppings: If you are not doing a chocolate coating, dip the caramel apples in their toppings right away, before setting it down. Roll them around until they are coated how you like, then set them down on the silpat.
  • Caramel apples dipped in chocolate, then toppings: Set the caramel-dipped apples down on the silpat and refrigerate or freeze the apples for 10-20 minutes, so that the caramel is harder and no longer warm. In a medium bowl, melt white chocolate chips (or semi sweet, or butterscotch) in 30 second increments, stirring each time, until smooth. Add 1-3 teaspoons olive oil (more for white chocolate) to help it get smooth. Dip the cold caramel apples in the chocolate right away, twisting it around and moving quickly so the caramel doesn't melt. Lift the apple, scrape off the bottom, and dip again into further toppings (cinnamon sugar, nuts, etc.) Set the caramel apple down on a silpat.
  • Let the caramel apples set completely before slicing and eating.
  • To slice, remove the stick, and slice the apple in half. Then place it flat-side-down and cut into wedges. Once you have all the wedges, turn each one on its side and slice off the bit of apple core that's in the middle of each slice.
  • Storage: Store the apples in the fridge. They will last for 2-3 days unsliced. Once you slice them, store apple slices in the fridge for no longer than 1-2 days.
  • Store any leftover caramel in a mason jar, or any airtight container will do. This caramel is just fine kept on the counter at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. Heat in the microwave to use as a thick caramel sauce (Or try my Salted Caramel Sauce, which is very close to this recipe but turns out creamier.) After 2 weeks, store caramel in the fridge for up to 6 months (or longer, probably!)

Notes

*Use medium heat: One time when I made this, I left the heat on HIGH. It started smoking way faster than usual, even though it was just barely starting to yellow. So this process must be done over medium heat. 
Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts reflect apples with caramel only, without toppings or chocolate.

Nutrition

Calories: 414kcal | Carbohydrates: 95g | Protein: 0.3g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Potassium: 102mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 92g | Vitamin A: 227IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 0.1mg