Caramel & Candy Apples

Busy, Busy, Busy, I have been, but not to busy to have some Fall Fun with the kiddos! 

A lot of my memories of fall was with my Mom, cooking! My middle daughter loves to cook with me, so this year has been extra fun for me because I have a cooking/baking partner who shares the same passion as me! Plus it's great Mother and Daughter time!

Well let's have some cooking fun making caramel and candy apples!

I have so many fond memories of making caramel apples with my Mom!

First you need some apples! I prefer granny smith apples but my husband likes red apples so we have a mixture of both.

Wash them, take off the stems, and place a popsicle stick in them.

Make some homemade caramel (recipe below).

Homemade caramel is so much better than store bought. My Mom taught me how to make it when I was a kid and I haven't strayed away from it. Caramel is one of my favorites!

 Dip your apples in your caramel.

 If you want put some nuts, crushed oreos, sprinkles, anything that your heart desires on them!

The kids had a blast decorating them and they look yummy!

 Enjoy!

My silly girl couldn't wait to bite in!

 I haven't figured out what the teen was doing...maybe trying to keep clean??

I'm not a big fan of candy apples and haven't made them before, but I love the way that the finished product looks. So I decided to give it a try. They turned out just as I thought... pretty and over all the taste was good esp. with the cinnamon, but still not a fan. You can find the recipe I used here.

Love this and the cinnamon smells so good :)

 I just love the way that candy apples look!

And because caramel apples are that good...you might just find your child in the fridge the next day. I believe his exact words were "I was just taking a bite out of all those caramel apples that ain't mine."

Fall, Fun, Food, Family...it can't get much better than this!

CARAMEL APPLES

12 apples (I normally have leftover caramel, which I like)

1 cup of butter or margarine

2 1/4 cups of brown sugar

dash of salt

1 cup of light corn syrup

1 - 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Melt butter in saucepan.

Add sugar and salt and stir.

Add corn syrup and mix well.

Gradually add milk, stirring constantly ( I use a whisk).

Cook and stir over medium heat to firm ball stage (245°) for about 12-15 minutes.

Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Dip apples in caramel and enjoy!

For left overs cut into squares for caramel candies!

For a printable version of caramel apples click here