Homemade Caramel Apples

Since kids are welcome at the Pumpkin Carving party this weekend, I feel like it is a good excuse to have a fun Halloween craft. Last year I had a bunch of stickers & they decorated gift bags (potential trick-or-treat bags)... was actually amusing because the kids were bored by the pumpkins early on & the parents were all left finishing up the carving. So the activity helped to keep everyone happy & out of trouble.

I was thinking that a fun activity this year (for kids & adults!) could be a make-your-own-Caramel Apple station. Everyone loves Caramel Apples, plus I am always looking for an excuse to use my electric fondue pot! Of course I have no idea how to make Caramel Apples, so last night I set about experimenting on my own.

After searching for a Caramel Apple recipe, it seemed like you can just melt wrapped caramels: I basically followed this recipe. (Of course, Martha had a crazy recipe for people who want to make their own caramel. Right. Needless to say, I did the simple 'melt caramels' version!)

So here you can see me all set up... I have my trusty fondue pot, a bowl full of crushed M&M's, waxed paper, and my bag of caramels. I then removed the stems from my apples & inserted wooden skewers. The recipes seem to suggest craft sticks, but I already had the skewers. Plus the pointy end made it super easy to put it into the apples.

I then added half the bag of caramels to the pot & turned on the heat... and... ew. A nasty mess.

I put the other half of the caramels in a plastic bowl & melted in the microwave, which worked must better. I then poured the melted caramel in the fondue pot.


Much better. I rolled my apple around, though the caramel wasn't very deep, so only really covered the apple halfway. I then rolled the caramel-covered apple in my bowl of crushed candy. (I also tried with some apple slices.)

And ta-da - the end result!

For anyone else wanting to try this I think that the bag of caramels (about 40 caramels) would cover up to 8 apples. Still not sure if this activity will make it to the party. I think that melting much more caramel (I'm thinking 3 bags) would certainly help. Also would suggest thinning out the caramel with some milk or water (the recipes I saw suggested 2 tablespoons of one of the other for every bag of candy).