Peg’s Journal

For Summer’s party, I spent the most time preparing caramel apples. Poor Summer practically spent her birthday (Friday) ALL BY HERSELF ALL DAY…with me checking in on her every so often through the child safety gate.
The recipe is easy enough, but not so much when you’re making 36 apples. Anyhow, the apples turned out awesome, and I’d thought I’d share the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
- wooden craft sticks
- 6 large Granny Smith apples
- 1-1/4 (14 ounce) packages individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
- 2 tablespoons and 1-1/4 teaspoons water
- 1/2 pound chocolate candy bar, broken into pieces (or semi sweet chocolate chips)
- 2 tablespoons shortening
- 1 cup and 3 tablespoons colored candy coating melts

DIRECTIONS:
1. Wash apples with veggie wash or bring a large pot of water to a boil, and dip apples into boiling water briefly to remove any wax that may be present.
Wipe dry and set aside to cool. Insert sticks into the apples through the cores. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper and coat with cooking spray.
2. Place the unwrapped caramels in a heatsafe bowl over a pot of boiling water. Lower heat to simmer or turn off altogether avoiding overheating. Add water and stir until caramel is melted and smooth. Hold apples by the stick, and dip into the caramel to coat. Set on waxed paper and refrigerate for about 15 minutes to set.
3. Heat the chocolate with shortening in a heatsafe bowl over a pot of boiling water, using the same process until melted and smooth. Dip apples into the chocolate to cover the layer of caramel. Return to the waxed paper to set.
4. Melt the candy melts in the microwave stirring every 30 seconds until smooth. Use a fork or wooden stick/chopstick to flick colored designs onto your apples for a finishing touch. Refrigerate until set, overnight is even better.

Adding the finishing touch (flicking of candy) was so much fun…but it was the messiest. I got candy on the wall, the counter, the floor, my hair, my shirt…basically everywhere! HAHA! I found out that instead of flicking the melted candy onto the apples (on wax paper), it’s best to place each apple in the middle of a large mixing bowl then fling away!