New in November: Caramel Apples!

I have decided to try something new every week this November.

First on the agenda: caramel apples.

Gourmet caramel apples.

The girls & I had such sticky fun! I admit it was a bit stressful too. Though the recipe said otherwise, I didn't have enough caramel for all my apples. It was a sticky mess, & took MUCH longer than I thought. But, they are DELICOUS!! So, I guess it's worth all the frustration.

We made them for teacher gifts---& they were also the favor for Crafty Night: November.

(Some of the gourmet caramel apples I saw online cost between 12 & 20 dollars!!)

After unwrapping the caramel candies, we poked sticks into the granny smith apples. These tart apples are the perfect choice when making caramel apples.

The sticks I used are actually for making cookie pops. (I found them in the cake decorating section of Walmart.) They're nice & long! The baggies were in the same section too.

We melted caramel & dipped our apples.  I mixed two bags of caramel candies with 2 TB of water. Then, the plan was to melt white & milk chocolate wafers & drizzle the chocolate over the caramel. But I couldn't get the chocolate melted to a drizzly consistency, so I ended up spooning chocolate ALL over the caramel. Using the back of the spoon, I smoothed the chocolate evenly, all over the apple. I liked them even better this way. (Yay for perfect blunders!)
Then, we showered the apples with chocolate sprinkles.

 I made a few caramel apples that were adorned with glazed walnuts. But I think they were a "fail", since it appears the caramel sagged to the bottom of the apple--maybe due to the heavy walnuts??

Consider these other toppings when making gourment caramel apples: m&m's, crushed Oreos, mini marshamallows, dried fruit, peanuts, cashews, pecans, almonds, macadamia nuts, toffee, crushed candy canes, coconut, & crushed candy bars.
Do you have any other topping ideas?

When the chocolate & caramel on your apples have set, you can package them in clear cellophane bags.

One little trick is to fold the bag down halfway so it's easier (& less messy) to insert the apples.

I used the silver twist ties that came with the bag to close it up. And then I embellished small white office tags with these fall-colored gems.

Funny enough, I packaged up the "fail" caramel apples---& they were the first to go on Crafty Night!

I think an assortment of gourmet caramel apples would make a fun hostess gift for the holidays.

♥