These homemade caramel apples, made into the cutest snowmen are equally delicious and adorable. They are sure to be the topic of conversation at your next party.
Be sure to check out my Ultimate Guide to Caramel Apples here. It lays out best practices when making caramel apples and shows you all the tips and tricks you'll need to know.
How to Make Caramel For Caramel Apples
- large, non-stick pot
- Wooden spoon
- Candy Thermometer
- In a large non-stick pot, on medium heat, melt the butter, add the sugar, brown sugar, Karo syrup, and sweetened condensed milk. Bring the sugar and butter mixture to a boil while stirring constantly.
- (It works best to use a square wooden spoon, scrape the bottom of the pan while stirring. Be sure to constantly scrape the bottom of the pot to make sure the sugar/butter mixture doesn’t scorch. Don't stop stirring while the caramel on the heat.)
- Stir constantly and bring to a rapid boil. Use a candy thermometer to monitor the temperature rising to 240 degrees. 240 degrees is softball stage.
- (To test for soft ball stage without a candy thermometer, drop a teaspoon of caramel into a bowl of cold water. The caramel should be a softball. Watch closely and do not heat more than 240 degrees or the caramel will be too thick for the caramel apples.)
- Take the caramel off the heat and stir in the salt and the vanilla. Stir until it cools enough to stop boiling. Let the caramel cool for about 5 min.
- Dip the apples and place them on a greased cookie sheet to cool. Don't dip them in white chocolate until they are completely cool.
Are you looking for some other cute holiday treats!?! Be sure to check out my....
Ultimate Guide to Caramel Apples
The cutest white chocolate Ornament Oreos
and these adorable Gingersnap Cookie Bars
What is the best white chocolate to use?
There are a few options here.
- Almond bark, sold in the grocery store--do not use this. It's chalky and has a terrible flavor.
- White chocolate chips- You will just need to add a teaspoon of coconut oil to the chocolate chips when you melt them. Otherwise the melted chocolate will be too thick on the caramel apples.
- White chocolate wafers. Wilton has a line of candy wafers that works great. You can also find these in the bulk food section at some grocery stores.
How to melt chocolate in the microwave.
You’ll need
- Microwave safe bowl
- Heat safe rubber spatula
Microwave your white chocolate wafers on high for 30 seconds. Remove from the microwave and stir.
(Be sure you stir the chocolate. The candy melts will retain their shape until stirred so don’t rely on the looks fo the chocolate.)
Repeat melting for the candy wafers for 30 seconds and stirring for until the white chocolate is almost melted. When there small chunks of the wafer remaining.
Don’t microwave again. Just keep stirring the chocolate until all the small pieces have melted too.
The heat from the melted chocolate and from the bowl will melt the rest of the white chocolate.
Snowman Caramel Apples
Ingredients
Caramel For Snowman Caramel Apples
- 1 cup Butter
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 cup Karo
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
Prepare the apples
- Wash and dry 8-10 apples. If your apples have wax on them, soak them in a vinegar (1 cup vinegar to 5 cups water) solution for 10 minutes. Use your hands to gently rub off any wax residue. Rinse the apples in water and use a rag to dry them off and remove any more wax residue that might be on the apple.
- Using a sucker stick or a popsicle stick, insert it into the stem of the apple. Again, wipe the apple with a towel to remove any water or juice from the apple.
How to make the Caramel
- in a non-stick large pot, combine the butter, sugar, Karo, brown sugar, sweetened condensed milk, and salt.
- Stir while bringing to a boil on medium heat. Bring to a rapid boil while paying close attention to scrap the bottom of the non-stick pot. (the sugar and butter mixture scorches easily)
- Using a candy thermometer, bring the sugar mixture to 235-240 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the soft ball stage. This temperature will ensure your caramel will stay on your apple and still be soft enough to bite into.
- Remove the caramel from the heat and add the vanilla. stir. Keep stirring for a couple more minutes while the caramel cools down.
- Taking the apple by the popsicle stick, dip it into the pan with the caramel. You may need to tilt the pan a bit to make it easier to cover the entire apple. It's also best to scrape the bottom of the apple on the side of the pot or you will have a large puddle of caramel at the bottom of your apple.
- Set the caramel apple on the greased baking sheet to cool and repeat the process for 8-10 apples.
- Let the caramel cool and set.
Melthing white chocolate in the microwave
- Microwave your white chocolate wafers on high for 30 seconds. Remove from the microwave and stir. (Be sure you stir the chocolate. The candy melts will retain their shape until stirred so don’t rely on the looks fo the chocolate.) Repeat melting for the candy wafers for 30 seconds and stirring for until the white chocolate is almost melted.
- When there small chunks of the wafer remaining. Don’t microwave again. Just keep stirring the chocolate until all the small pieces have melted too. The heat from the melted chocolate and from the bowl will melt the rest of the white chocolate.
- Dipping the Caramel Apples in Chocolate
- Take the cooled caramel apple by the stick again and dip it in white chocolate. You may need to tilt your bowl to get the white chocolate to cover your apple.
- Let it cool again on a greased cookie sheet.
Snowman Hands and Hat
- The snowman hat is a large marshmallow and one side of an oreo cookie with the frosting scraped off.
- twist an oreo and scrape off the frosting. Dip the oreo cookie in dark or milk chocolate and set on parchment paper to cool. Dip a large marshmallow in the same chocolate and using a toothpick, place the marshmallow on the oreo cookie. If the oreo cookie and the marshmallow dipped in chocolate cool together, it will look more like a top hat.
- For the eyes and snowman smile, use brown m and m's to make the face using the logo side towards the snowman. Dip in a little chocolate and hold the m and m in place until it has set.
Nutrition
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These homemade caramel apples, made into the cutest snowmen are equally delicious and adorable. They are sure to be the topic of conversation at your next party.
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