CARAMEL APPLES

I make caramel apples every fall...but this year's batch is definitely my best. The difference? I usually go all budget style and make them from a kit...or melt a bag of pre-wrapped caramels and dip away. But not this year. This year I made my caramel from scratch. And it made a serious difference. It turned out super creamy and buttery and fresh. And it was the PERFECT consistency! Not too hard...not too soft.

I found a bunch of different recipes for making caramel...but they are all just variations on a theme. Some use sweetened condensed milk instead of heavy cream...some use brown sugar instead of white...some add molasses. I went with this recipe because I happened to have all of the ingredients for it. I think the most important thing is to get the ingredients to the right temperature and then take them off the heat. A candy thermometer definitely helps.

Note: If you're gonna make your own just use a non-stick cookie sheet. They come right off when they cool. No parchment necessary. And the best part? I had leftover caramel. So I portioned that out onto another cookie sheet...

And when that cooled I dipped the discs in dark chocolate and sprinkled them with sea salt. SO GOOD! Like...maybe even better than the apples! Long story short: I've been indulging in sticky sweet deliciousness all week. And I think I'm gonna make another batch. Yum.