Spooky Caramel Apples

Halloween is right around the corner. The week has
been spent purchasing pieces of costumes, gathering candy and celebrating a birthday. It is my son L.'s 8th birthday this week. We started celebrating on Monday night and have chosen a new activity each night since then. Today we spent the afternoon carving pumpkins and making caramel apples. Instead of the traditional wrapped caramels I'm sure everyone grew up with, I choose to make my own caramel. If you take the time to follow the recipe and have a candy thermometer it's really quite simple. Plus there is alot of extra caramel left to make a pan of caramels.
The recipe for the caramels I used to dip the apples in was found at http://www.foodnetwork.com/, search under golden caramels. The recipe was relatively simple and turned out really well on the first try.

*I used Cinnamon sticks in the apples instead of Popsicle sticks.

Dipping the apples- submerge the apples in the warm caramel, use a wooden spoon to spoon the caramel down the sides. Remove from caramel and place on a baking sheet with waxed paper or a silpat. Let cool.

Note to self- Do not let kids put pop rocks on hot caramel, they become projectile candies!

We used the remaining caramel to make a pan of soft caramel I let the kids decorate. After they have cooled slice into small squares and enjoy!

* Make sure to use a pan with a non-stick surface or pottery with a smooth surface. The caramels will stick to metal and you will not be able to get them out.