Caramel Apples for Your Valentine

Since it’s traditional for kids to give teachers apples, there’s no better way to do it than with a caramel and chocolate covered apple for Valentine’s Day.

What better way to tell a teacher you appreciate them than to let them indulge in some sugary sweetness.  After a long day of wrangling other people’s kids, they deserve it!

 

 

Melt the caramel according to package directions.  Make sure to keep the heat medium to low.

 

 

Roll that apple and coat it well.

 

 

Here’s a great way to have your apple-a-day!

I used the same recipe as my Halloween caramel apples, except with a different color of candy melts.

Caramel Apples in Orange Spider Webs

I had my friend Valeria come over, so I decided to put her to work.  Isn’t that what friends are for?  Neither of us have ever made caramel apples before, so today was as good a time as any to try.   They were easier than I expected.

I had to make some with nuts and some without because my son has a peanut allergy.

The no nut apples got the green spider rings and the rest got orange.

 

 

Dip the apples into the melted caramel and right into the nuts before it has a chance to harden.

 

 

If you have peanut allergies in your family too, make sure you brush the chocolate onto the apples with no nuts first. The nuts do end up falling off into your chocolate bowl or sticking to the brush.

 

 

The orange spider web is actually melting chips.  I got creative and melted pink and yellow together to get orange.  The drizzle reminded me of spider webs, so they are aptly named.

 

 

Caramel Apples

12 small granny smith apples

12 wooden sticks

2 packages traditional caramels (Kraft brand)

4 Tbsp water

2 cups melted milk chocolate (Hershey brand)

2 cups mixed nuts, chopped

30 pink melting chips

30 yellow melting chips

Wash and dry the apples and remove stems.  Stick the wooden stick through the top, making sure the stick is straight.  In a small pot, add the caramels and water and melt on medium heat.  Cover a sheet pan with wax paper and butter the paper well so the caramel apples do not stick to the wax paper.

Once caramel is melted, dip the apples in, making sure you shake it to get all the excess off.  Roll in chopped nuts. Place on buttered wax paper.  Once caramel is hardened, use a pastry brush to brush on the milk chocolate.  Let sit until chocolate is dry.

Combine the pink and yellow melting chips in the microwave and stir to get the orange color.  Spoon into a piping bag and drizzle onto the apples.