I had to bring a treat into my son’s school last week for a bake sale and so I decided, with apples being in season, to make caramel apples.  As you can imagine, they were a HUGE hit with the five-year-olds… and actually really easy to make. The only downside is that my kids are now requesting caramel with every apple they eat. But… who can blame them? Here’s the recipe:

Caramel Apples:

-12 small apples (I prefer the green Granny Smith apples because I like the combo of slightly sour apple with sweet caramel)
-2 cups light brown sugar (firmly packed)
-½ cup milk
-½ cup (115 grams) butter
-½ teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Wash and dry the apples, then remove the stems. Insert skewers into stem end of apples and set aside. Combine the next 4 ingredients into a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Beat with a wire whisk for about 10 minutes until mixture thickens and loses its gloss. Dip apples into sauce, covering completely and allowing excess caramel to drip off (you have to do this bit quickly because the sauce hardens over time and I found by the time I got to the 10th apple the caramel was almost too hard!). Place apples onto a lightly buttered waxed (or parchment) paper to cool.

Enjoy!

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

x Courtney

(Recipe is a variation from one I found on Epicurean.com)