Caramel for Apples

The directions leave something to be desired, but with a little tuning, the results are excellent. After stirring in the butter and cream, put the mixture back on the heat until the mixture reaches 234 degrees again. Bubbling will be vigorous at first and gradually die down. Watch carefully when the temperature goes past 220 again, as most of the water is cooked out at this point and the temperature rises quickly. Cool the mixture slightly, and then dip your target ingredients. Dipping apples at around 200 degrees worked well. Pour leftover caramel onto parchment paper and cool in the refrigerator. Allow to return to room temperature and cut into pieces for delicious caramel candy.

Delicious! Thanks M. O'Brien for expanding the directions. This makes a wonderful old-fashioned caramel perfect for making caramel apples. MUCH better than using premade caramels. This one's a keeper! I was able to cover 10 small-med apples with this amount of caramel, with a couple of Tbsp left over (and it won't go to waste!). NOTE: Use a LARGE pot for this recipe. It more than triples in volume after the butter and cream were added. I ended up having to transfer to another vessel because it was boiling over!

I made 250 caramel apples for a school carnival using this recipe and they were a huge hit! Needless to say, I worked out all of the problems before attempting so many. Those who complain that it's just a sauce didn't cook it long enough. The first cooking faze is fast (approx 10 min) but after you add the cream & butter, it took a consistent 20-25 min to reach 230-232 degrees. I found 234 to 240 made the caramel too hard for an apple, but 230 to 232 was perfect. Use parchment paper, not waxed. I picked my apples so didn't have the wax problem. (Honeycrisp!) I washed them, dried them, and kept them very cold right until they were dipped. This helps the caramel cool faster. I also had 2 other people there so I could quickly dip (I didn't wait for the extra to run off) and hand them off to empty hands who held them, turning them this way and that so the caramel didn't drip off. After about one minute the caramel was set enough they could place them on the paper and none of the apples had the caramel sluff off. My husband made quite a few by himself so when the caramel got to the point it wouldn't stick, he just put it back on the stove on low until it melted to the desired consistency again. Make sure your thermometer is accurate and check your pan. Mine had a steel bottom so even after I removed it from the heat at 230, it cooked to 236 which was too hard. Don't give up. This is awesome caramel!!

This turned out to be a great sauce, My Husband and I used it for Ice Cream too (just kept it in a glass jar in the fridge and heated it up a bit before drizzling over dessert) We weren't sure at first, but from now on it will replace store bought caramel sauces in our house. And thank you M. O'Brien for expanding on the directions. Mine surely would have failed with out the extra information.

One major omission in this recipe is the amount of time you should cook it. Cook Time says 20 min. but that is not included anywhere in the directions of the recipe. After adding the butter and cream I cooked it at med. high heat for about 10 min. stirring constantly and slowly until it began to get a caramel color. THEN I took it off the stove, added the vanilla and dipped the apples.

Thank you so much for posting a recipe that doesn't call for premade caramels. I had one heck of a time finding a plain old caramel recipe for my caramel apples. Thank you again.

I agree with M.O'Brien. I ended up cooking it for about 10-15 minutes at a steady boil.The Sauce is creamy and delicious, not too sweet. Light in color and excellent on brownies!

This is seriously good caramel, I couldn't find my candy thermometer but it still turned out perfect, boiled for 10 minutes or so after adding the butter and cream like others. I dipped apples and poured the leftover caramel on parchment and cut and wrapped in parchment to make caramel candies.

AWESOME! I didn't have heavy cream, so I tried substituting a cup of whipping cream and a cup of 2% milk. I was surprised how good this turned out! I also boiled about 15 minutes after adding the butter & cream/milk to get the right viscosity. Tastes like Werther's Original! If yours isn't thickening, just keep simmering and it will.

This is a good caramel sauce for apples, which is what it is marketed as. Some of the reviews on here made me think that it would harden to make caramel apples, which it didn't. It's definitely a caramel sauce. Still looking for the perfect caramel apple recipe.

I don't know why everyone is raving. this syrup will not thicken up even after boiling for 15 minutes. it tastes might good though but it will not coat an apple whatsoever. Does anyone know where I went wrong? I followed the recipe to a T.

Tastes great! Thank you M.O. Your additional instructions helped tremendously! When I tried this recipe, I wanted to find something to coat an apple for an apple dipping party AND something that would make a tasty caramel. This fit the bill spectacularly. I made the sauce and re-heated it a few times to coat the apples. It didn't break and it tasted wonderful. I accidentally omitted the vanilla and that made it taste like Werther's even more, to me.

I am giving this four stars because, as other reviewers mentioined, the directions lack a lot of details. I have a digital thermometer and got the sugar and corn syrup up to 234 degrees as other reviewers recommended. Then I added about a cup and a half of fat free half and half and a half cup of skim milk (because I didn't have enough half and half). I returned to a boil and boiled for about 15 minutes or until the mixture returned to 234 degrees (per other reviews). It did take on a caramel color, although it was more opaque than I thought it would be. We waited until it got to around 200 degrees and then dipped 8 large apples in it. The caramel eventually fell off the first apple, so I think next time I'd let it cool even a little less than 200 degrees. My husband did say it tasted just like Werther's candy and the apples were a hit. They did stick to the wax paper that I put them on and I will try parchement next time instead.

This is a REAL caramel recipe...not one that calls for unwrapping store bought candies and melting. Simple recipe but does require you to babysit the entire time. I added ten extra minutes to the final cook stage to get a richer color. The taste is amazing, no changes or tweeking needed. Also, by no means cut the recipe in half, you will just be mad when it runs out...and it will run out. YUM

This was way too soupy. It didn't really harden up. It tasted great, but couldn't really be eaten by itself.

I have never made caramel before and mine came out grainy and lumpy and when it cooled I had to chip it off of the apples.

I'm giving it 4 stars as I made it for an ice cream topping and I don't think it's better than some brands I've bought in a store. It was good and I'm sure it would be perfectly suited for dipping fruit. Also, I don't have a candy thermometer so I did the best I could and I'm pretty sure I got it right. For those who don't have the thermometer, basically just boil it for a long time. I probably took 20+ minutes altogether.

Really, really yummy---watch carefully so you don't have a messy boil over.

I am a home ec teacher, and some of my students made this recipe. When they followed the directions, it turned out rather runny (though very tasty). To the rescue, I popped it in the microwave for a minute at a time until we got a golden brown color and thicker consistency. We did not cook it to the coating thickness, but it was great for dipping fruit. I tried it with pears, and it was TO DIE for!

Not viscous enough.

I followed another reviewr's suggestion to keep heating the mixture after the cream and butter are added and I have to say it was perfect! The only thing I would suggest for first time candy makers is: Stir it only enough to keep it from burning. The more you stir the slower its going to heat up! A wonderful recipie! and more the perfect for apples!!!!

Cooking is not one of my talents and I rarely have luck with new recipes. But this recipe was easy and delicious, and with the additional instructions by some of the other reviewers this really turned out well. After adding the butter/cream and bringing it back to a boil, after about 10 minutes it slightly changed consistency, getting a little thicker and darker. I didn't have a candy thermometer and was delighted that it turned out well anyway. My husband and I love this caramel and will use this recipe whenever we need a caramel dip. Thanks for the recipe.

I'll give this recipe 5 stars ONLY because I followed M. O'Brien's additional instructions, which really helped make it clear that the mixture has to be boiled to 234 a SECOND time, and she/he described what to look for as it's boiling down. Thanks to both SPLACE and M. O'Brien for a yummy caramel recipe!

this recipe was way too liquidly and not sweet enough! It was not a good choice to make, especially with the apples. they did not compliment each other nicely and were a major disappointment!

I gave this 3 stars because the directions are unclear. Sadly, I didn't read the reviews before making this and it was an epic fail. Sauce is way too thin, even after following the instructions precisely. It tastes good, but was hoping for a sauce that was think enough to dunk apple slices in or as a sauce for ice cream. Don't know if it can be salvaged at this point. Maybe by adding more sugar and bringing back to a boil it can be saved. As is, it might be okay as a syrup for ice cream, just not what I was hoping for.

I followed other reviewers instructions for the making of the caramel. Basically, after the butter and milk are added, I cooked and stirred until it became the consistency of thick caramel. For those who reported runny caramel, you simply didn't cook it long enough. I used a candy thermometer as a guide, but I believe you can make this recipe using your own judgment, basing your decisions on the texture of the caramel. When you add the vanilla, it takes on the beautiful coloring that we all know and love! I placed the apples in the freezer for approx. 15 min. prior to dipping to help the caramel cling to the apple...that worked perfectly...no messy dripping. I also waited for the caramel to cool to 200-degrees as suggested by another reviewer...perfect! This caramel tastes so much better than the melted, wrapped caramels. And I always disliked having to unwrap each of the pieces in the bag. I was skeptical about this recipe, so I only made 1/2 as written and it yielded 4 medium sized caramel apples, which was perfect for me and hubby.

So good! It's a little bit lighter than store bought caramel. I heated it to soft ball stage, then I added the butter and heavy whipping cream. I put it back on the heat to soft ball stage again. Removed from heat and added 1/4 tsp caramel extract and 1/2 tsp vanilla. I think any more extract would be too overpowering (in my opinion). You can play around with different amounts of vanilla and caramel extract, as long as it adds up to 1 tsp (or slightly less). As I'm writing this review, I now wonder what it would be like if I substituted a heaping amount of sea salt for regular table salt. 10/18/16 1) the amount of time left on the stove will determine how thick caramel will be. I cooked mine for 1/2 hour and it firmed up enough when cooled to cut into pieces to use in recipes. 2) the color you see in the pictures is a good texture for caramel sauce, poured over ice cream or dip apples into it. Longer you cook it will yield a darker brown like the wrapped up store bought caramel. 3) you cannot freeze it to firm it up. It will just remain soft and become grainy. 4) check the color of caramel BEFORE you add extract. You're looking to see what it really looks like, because extract is also brown, don't want it to falsely look like it burned. 5) you can also examine texture by dropping a piece into cold water. It will also cool off enough so you can taste it without getting burned. 6) I added 3/4 tsp of sea salt, then sprinkled a little more in (about 1/4 tsp). Awesom

Amazing!! Easy to follow and turned out SO delicious!

I followed M O'Brien's method of boiling it to 112C after adding butter and cream which I used evaporated milk, it took around 25 mins then I let it cool and it turned out PERFECT! Thanks for the wonderful recipe??

This recipe tasted terrific. But totally failed as a caramel dip....caramel did not dip.

I think you should put in the cook time, that you start it on medium high bring to boil. Otherwise you will get caramel ment for peanut brittle, and that is after only 10 min.

Ok for dip, never hardened enough for carmel apples. Followed directions and temperatures too.

This sauce is delicious. I was wanting to coat apples for caramel apples instead of just dipping them as a snack. To do so I followed other reviewers advice and continued cooking until the sauce reached 234 degrees after adding the cream and butter. This turned out perfect. The caramel was just a tad soft when biting into the apple, but still delicious, so I may consider increasing the cook time a tad next time for coating apples. If using for dipping a snack I would still cook longer than the directions indicate, but I like my sauce thicker. Delicious caramel and worth trying!

Took about 20 min total. Light in color. Constant stir on med. makes 2 1/2 cups.

Ok for dip, never hardened enough for carmel apples. Followed directions and temperatures too.

Was really good. First time making and my family loved it.

It tasted good but would not firm up. Something is missing from the recipe. Way too runny.

A little thin, but lasts a while

There is not enough instructions in this recipe.

I followed the amended directions. After bringing to about 235 the 2nd time, I poured it in to my crockpot on low. This kept the caramel nice for dipping for as long as it took 6 children to make about 20 caramel apples.

Agree with other users that the cook time is much longer than the recipe states. But some of the best caramel flavor of any I've made in the past. This recipe is definitely a keeper.