Caramel Apples Recipe

5 from 1 vote

These easy caramel apples are the perfect fall treat. We’re talking sweet caramel wrapped around crisp, tart apples, then served plain or rolled in chopped nuts, coconut shreds, chocolate chips or your favorite topping.

Course Dessert

Keyword gluten-free

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Chilling time 3

Total Time 3 30

Servings apples

Calories 417kcal

Author Heather Dessinger

Equipment

Ingredients

5 small Granny Smith apples
1 cup sucanat (aka rapadura sugar)
1 cup heavy cream
¼ tsp vanilla extract (here’s how to make your own)

Optional Toppings

chopped almonds, pecans, etc.
coconut flakes
chocolate chips
coarse sea salt
crushed gluten-free pretzels

Instructions

Several hours ahead of time:

Place a popsicle stick in each apple and then pop them in the fridge for at least 3 hours to chill. Caramel sticks better to chilled apples than room temperature apples.

Making The Caramel

When you're ready to make the caramel apples, combine the cream and rapadura sugar in a medium pot. You need the mixture to be deep enough to get a good reading with your candy thermometer, but when you heat them they’ll bubble up, so make sure there is a generous amount of room at the top.
Clip your thermometer to the side of the pot so that you can track the temperature easily.
Bring the caramel mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to medium. Stir often as the temperature slowly rises.
When the mixture reaches 225°F stir constantly until it reaches 240°F to prevent the caramel from burning.
When the caramel reaches 240°F, quickly pour it into into a small bowl and mix in the vanilla. Allow the caramel to cool until it has thickened a little. It should still be warm when you start dipping the apples.

Dipping The Apples

Place your bowl of caramel on the counter next to your apples and a piece of parchment paper.
Dip the apples into the warm caramel and set them to dry on a piece of parchment paper.
As they're setting you might think you've done something wrong because the caramel might be sliding down the apple, but don't worry. After you've finished dipping the apples, you can slide a baking sheet under them and carry them to the fridge to set. This step is optional, but helpful in my opinion.
Once the caramel has set on the cold apple, you can mold the caramel with clean hands if you need to. Just lift the apples off the parchment paper and remove the excess caramel at the bottom of the apple. You can stick it onto the apples in any places that were missed or eat it - I won't tell.
Finally, if you want to add any toppings, place them on a flat surface and roll the caramel apples over it. Store in the fridge until you're ready to serve.

Notes

Nutrition information is estimated. Optional toppings are not included in the estimate.

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Nutrition