How to make gourmet apples

1. Place the sticks in the apples, placing them right where the stem comes out. I’ve found it helps to chill the apples because when they’re cold, the caramel sticks and sets quicker.

2. place them in the fridge to chill while you do everything else.

3. It also helps to get all of your toppings ready before you even start. 4. All you have to do is dump all of the ingredients in a big pot

And stir it until everything is melted and dissolved. Then turn up the heat and boil.

5. If you have a non-stick pot I suggest using it; caramel and sweetened condensed milk can burn fairly easily in stainless steel.

6. When you’re choosing a bowl to put your cooked caramel in, choose the smallest bowl possible that will fit all of the caramel; that will make dipping easier. And a tall, narrower bowl is better than a wide, shallow one.

7. One of the tricks is to not dip your apples when the caramel is right off the stove; it will be so hot, it will fall right off the apples. 200 degrees is a good temp that makes the caramel easy to work with and it will stay on the apples.

8. Put them in your bowl them in and let the excess run off.

9. Flip the apples upside-down for a few seconds and then twirl them around.

10. Before I place them on my baking sheet, I use a spoon to just gently scrape excess off the bottom so you don’t end up with a huge pool of caramel.

11. If you dip your apples in toppings right after the caramel, the toppings will slide right off and you’ll be stuck with a big gloppy ugly mess. So just be patient and keep dipping the apples in caramel and let them set before you dip in toppings.

12. The caramel will never harden so much that you can’t add anything to it so don’t stress.

13. The first ones that you made should be ready for toppings.

Pull them off your sheet Tip ** try using a piece of buttered foil.) and don’t worry if some of the caramel sticks to the sheet, or pulls off the bottom of the apple. Use your hands to gently press the pooled caramel around the bottom of the apple it’s soft enough to mold and handle, but not so soft that it’s sticky and messy.

14. Decorations time. Depending on what you’re using, you can either roll your apple in the topping, or use your hands to gently press them into the caramel.

If you want, get your melted chocolate ready and dip over the caramel. Chocolate tends to be a little thicker, so dip it less than you want the final apple to be dipped, and use a knife to scrape off excess chocolate on the bottom.

15. When you then dip in something else, like chopped peanuts like I have here, the nuts will sort of push the chocolate further up the apple.

Once they’re all dipped, you can decorate with more chocolate.

16. Place some melted chocolate in a heavy duty ziplock bag and cut the end off. (You can actually melt chocolate chips right in the bag in the microwave and just smash them around until melted and smooth) and then drizzle away.

Be creative and have fun! You can use: crushed cookies or candybars, graham cracker crumbs, chopped nuts, toffee bits, and toasted coconut.

S’mores Apple! Carmel dipped and rolled in crushed graham crackers. Marshmallows pressed in by hand and drizzled in chocolate.