I remember seeing those shiny bright red apples in the grocery store and thinking I should make those. Also, my oldest daughter is not a fan of caramel (gasp), so these are a great alternative and treat that she can enjoy. These do require a candy thermometer like this one:
Verdict – The deep-fry thermometer never got to 300, even when the candy thermometer showed 310 and the candy set correctly. So, the deep-fry thermometer now relegated to live in a kitchen drawer. The sticks I used are 9 inches long wooden apple sticks.
Here I am getting ready for my candy syrup to be at the correct temperature. As you will want to work quickly to dunk the apples before the syrup cools and hardens it is a good idea to have everything all ready to go.
Post dunking and waiting to cool.
My youngest is missing a few teeth. I had to take a cleaver to the apple to give her a starting point to get a bite.
It can also be fun to mix up the colors. Here I did some black apples. And I covered the wooden sticks with paper drinking straws to give them some extra pizazz. I stuck a red one in there so you can see the color difference.
And if you want to make extras for friends and neighbors, placing them on some super cute Halloween cupcake wrappers and into Halloween treat bags makes them the perfect Halloween gift.
Candy Apples
Ingredients
- 2 cups granulated sugar (14 oz/396 g)
- ¾ cups water (6 oz/170.25 g)
- ½ cups light corn syrup (5.5 oz/156 g)
- ½ teaspoon red food coloring (optional)
- 1/2-3/4 teaspoon cinnamon extract
- 8-10 small apples (any variety) or 6 large. See note on removing waxy coating
- cooking spray
- parchment paper
- aluminum foil optional makes clean up easier
Instructions
- Line a cookie sheet with foil. Spray foil with cooking spray, place parchment on top of greased foil, and grease parchment with cooking spray. If you leave out the foil, just spray the cookie sheet directly and proceed with parchment.
- Insert a wooden stick into the top of each apple pushing about halfway through.
- In a heavy-bottomed, medium-sized saucepan, combine sugar, water, corn syrup, food coloring, and extract. mix briefly. You can taste it here and add more extract if necessary. It will feel gritty on the tongue, but you can gauge the amount of flavor that the final product will have.
- Insert a candy thermometer and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Do not stir. Continue to boil until the temperature reaches between 300 and 310 °F. It will take about 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat once the temperature is reached.
- Reminder you are now working with 300 °F hot syrup. Also, you will want to work quickly as the candy will harden as it cools. Coat the apples in the candy syrup letting the excess drip off and place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Once cool, they are ready to eat.
