Day 149-- Halloween Caramel Apples recipe

Prologue: 

The best part about the holidays is making food you'd never make for yourself on a boring Wednesday in the middle of June.  Case in point: caramel apples.  These little suckers are fucking delicious and indulgent, and amazing gifts to give to your friends, co-workers, or neighbors (just as long as you keep that extra sprinkles one for yourself).

 

Halloween Caramel Apples

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: in all, 2 hours

Servings: 8

Ingredients:

8 small Granny Smith apples

8 wooden sticks (like skewers or Popsicle sticks)

1 bag of caramels

1 bag of chocolate chips

-toppings options-

*sprinkles

*white chocolate

*M&Ms

*marshmallows

*chopped nuts

*cinnamon

*ect.

Directions:

1.)  It's important to get your toppings ready first and foremost.  Get out little bowls and fill them with your M&Ms, Reeses Pieces, sprinkles, nuts, ect. It's also handy to get out cookie sheets and line with wax paper that you've sprayed with some non-stick oil (like Pam). 

2.) Unwrap the caramels and put in a medium pot on medium heat.  Add two teaspoons of water to help the consistency of the melting caramel and stir occasionally.  Meanwhile, wash your apples and slide in a stick through the tops of each one.  You'll want the stick almost all the way through.

3.) Either dip the apples into the caramel or spoon caramel over the apples until entirely coated aside from the bottoms.  Place on the greased wax paper.

4.) (a) If you are planning to add another coat to the apples, place the caramel apples inside of the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour to harden completely. (b) If you are planning on using toppings that are heavier, like candy pieces and marshmallows, wait until the caramel is almost completely hardened before you stick them onto the apple.  I'm horrible impatient and the result are caramel apples with candy pieces that fall down to the bottom of the apple.  Anyway, once you've stuck the pieces to the caramel apple, place the apples back into the refrigerator to harden completely.

5.) Heat up chocolate chips in a small saucepan.  If they consistency is too tough, add a little butter. Dip the caramel apples into the chocolate or drizzle the chocolate on the sides.  This can be done with white chocolate as well.  Wait until the chocolate is almost hardened before adding a coat of sprinkles or nuts.

6.) Once you're done decorating, place the apples back into the refrigerator until you're ready to serve.  They'll need a few minutes to get to room temperature so they can be cut into or bitten into easier.  Enjoy!

Review:  

I've had nothing but good experiences with caramel apples.  They're a bonding dessert in my family, they were center pieces (and treats) for an apple-spice martini party last year in college, and today they were gifts to my publishing house co-workers as a goodbye. They were a hit.  My boss held off until after lunch beofre she started gnawing right into the thing, as did my other co-workers.  The owner of the company said she hadn't had a caramel apple in about 25 years and thoroughly enjoyed the surprise.  Hey, I don't mind trading apples for letters of recommendation!

On a side note, it was my last day as the intern at the publishing house and it felt...good.  Like I've accomplished something I can be proud of.  My next blog post will be more about my internship, but let me say this: I feel at home with books and being a part of the magic behind the scenes is something I truly want to do the rest of my life.  Thank you for believing in me, S--- Publications!