Candy Apples are surprisingly easy to make with very few ingredients. All you’ll need is a watchful eye and a little patience to add a little extra fun this Halloween. Come on in and I’ll show you how to make Candy Apples…
How to Make Candy Apples
I pulled this idea out of an old Country Living Magazine. I have a giant binder with ideas that, when I remember to look through it, give me inspiration. Sometimes I see something, and it triggers an entirely different idea, and sometimes I just do what the picture tells me. This is one of those instances. I have been wanting to try this recipe out, and see how I was at candy apple making. Guys, I have a little secret to share, it’s not that hard. All you need is a candy thermometer, a little patience, and a very watchful eye
If you are looking for fun Halloween Recipes, you might like my recipes for Jack-O-Lantern Cheeseburgers, Jack-O-Lantern Sandwiches, and a Graveyard Cookie Dessert for a crowd
Candy Apples are the perfect way to add a little more fun this Halloween.
What Temperature do you need to Make Candy Apples?
- Candy apples need to get to a hard crack stage which is between 300 and 310 degrees
What if the Candy Gets Too Hard While Dipping Apples?
- If the candy is getting too thick simply warm it over medium heat until it thins out and continues dipping your apples
Tips and Tricks for Making Candy Apples
- Make sure the candy is in the hard crack stage on your candy thermometer which should be between 300 and 310 degrees
- Be patient. Sometimes it takes around a half-hour to get the candy temperature where it needs to be
- Be very careful while working with hot candy. It is scalding hot and will stick to your skin. Only adults should carefully dip apples over hot candy
- Wash and dry the apples before dipping them – especially if they have a wax coating. A wax coating may prevent the candy from sticking to the apple
- If the candy gets to hard to work with then heat the candy over medium heat until it thins out again (it should only take a minute or so)
- To make candy apples easier to eat, then slice the apples before eating
- Dipping the apples once will give a thinner coating which makes them a little easier to bite into
Here’s What You’ll Need to make your apples (printable recipe found below):
- 3 cups of granulated sugar
- 1 cup of water
- 1/2 cup of light corn syrup
- Apples – washed and dried (making sure to take off any wax coating)
- Twigs from your yard 0r popsicle sticks
- red and/or black food coloring
Extra Equipment:
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Instructions
- Have your apples ready – washed and twigs pushed in the middle
- You’ll want to mix the first three ingredients together in a medium to large saucepan
- Have your candy thermometer set in place
- Get your heat up…all the way up, and let it boil, stirring every once in a while
- Watch the thermometer. It takes a while (probably 10-15 minutes) to start getting really hot, but once it hits about 250 it goes fast!
- As soon as it is between 300 and 310 degrees, remove the candy from the heat source
- Add 1/2 tsp. of vanilla, and stir in
- Add some red food coloring – enough to make it a deep red – just keep stirring and adding more until you love the color
- Get your parchment paper ready, dip, and roll the apples into the red candy
- Place them on the paper to cool
- For your black apples – only once you’ve got enough red apples – add black food coloring to the red, and keep going until you love the darkened color (it may look like deep purple and that’s ok)
- *If syrup has thickened too much to add black food coloring then reheat the syrup for a short time until it is thin again
- Dip more apples into the black candy, roll, and place on paper to cool
- You’re done
- *Let the apples cool for about 10 minutes, and enjoy.
- *The ones I dipped a few times were a little too thick to bite into, so I sliced those up for the kids. That is something I learned for next time, only dip once for a thin easy bite shell
How do you make Cinnamon Spice Candy Apples?
- Replace vanilla extract with cinnamon extract
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Here’s your handy dandy printable:
Candy Apples
Equipment
- twigs or lollipop sticks
- parchment paper
Ingredients
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup corn syrup light
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- red food coloring
- black food coloring
- 10 apples
Making cinnamon flavored apples
- replace the vanilla extract with cinnamon extract
Instructions
- Have your apples ready – washed, stems removed, and twigs pushed into the middle
- You’ll want to mix the first three ingredients together in a medium to large saucepan
- Have your candy thermometer set in place
- Get your heat up…all the way up, and let it boil, stirring every once in a while
- Watch the thermometer. It takes a while (probably 10-15 minutes) to start getting really hot, but Once it hits 250 it goes fast
- As soon as it gets between 300 and 310 degrees, remove the candy from the heat source
- Add 1/2 tsp. of vanilla, and stir in
- Add some red food coloring – enough to make it a deep red – just keep adding and stirring until you love i!
- Get your parchment paper ready, dip, and roll the apples into the red candy
- Place them on the parchment paper to cool
- For your black apples – only once you’ve got enough red apples – add black food coloring to the red, and keep going until you have a deep purple – almost black color
- Dip more apples into the black candy, roll, and place on paper to cool
Notes
Nutrition
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How many apples does 1 recipe make?
So sorry. The recipe should make 12 small to medium sized apples.