Delicious

It is Fall again. A time that makes me think of apple pie and cinnamon and delicious things. A way I like to celebrate is to make Chocolate Dipped Caramel Apples. And this one is one of the most requested. A fairly simple recipe that gets a lot of oohs and aahs.

The Apple Pie Apple.

Ingredients:

-5 medium Granny Smith Apples ( I prefer Granny Smith. The tartness counteracts the caramel, chocolate and sugar you are going to put on it)

-A package of caramel wraps or caramels. (I find them near the apples this time of year. It is a package of 5 sheets of caramel you just lay over the apples. Fairly simple. Or you can buy the caramel and dip the apples. Up to you.)

-1 bag (16 oz) of White Chocolate. (I like the Vanilla Candy Coating you can get from craft stores. Easy to melt and tastes good)

-1/4 cup brown sugar

-2 tbsp white sugar

-2 tsp cinnamon

-1/4 tsp cloves (optional)

-1/2 tsp nutmeg (optional)

Clean off the apples, remove stickers and stems and dry very well. I try to pick apples that sit pretty straight and look nice and round. Put the sticks that come with the caramel in your apples. Now follow the directions on the caramel wraps or the caramels to coat the apples in caramel. Put on a tray with a non stick lining (silpat or parchment paper) and put in the fridge to get nice and cold while you melt the chocolate and get the sprinkle ready.

Mix the sugars and spices together in a small container. I prefer the taste of brown sugar but I add the white sugar to make the mix flow better. I say the cloves and nutmeg are optional because it depends on your taste. We love the taste of cloves. Some don't. But you get a good effect with just the cinnamon. You will be sprinkling the sugar/spice mixture over the apples once you dip them so you will need to have a surface you can sprinkle over and the use it to pour what falls off back into the container to sprinkle again. Parchment Paper works really well.

Melt the chocolate according to the directions on the package. I melt them in the smallest container that will still allow you to stick the apple in and move it around a bit. Take the apples out of the fridge and dip one of them in the chocolate, leave a small ring around the top so you can see the caramel. Then before the chocolate sets, sprinkle with the sugar/spice mixture. Try to get a light even coating over all of the chocolate. Place on the lined tray and do the rest of them.

To cut the apple: A complicated procedure. I have found the best way is to cut the apple in thirds, twice. Cut the apple into thirds, your cuts should be on either side of the stick and core of the apple. Rotate the apple 45 degrees and cut in thirds again.You will end up with 8 pieces of apple to eat with the core at the center ready to pull out.

Now this method works really well with many versions of toppings. Or change the chocolate. A nice Dark Chocolate dip with a little bit of salt on the outside would give you a nice Salted Caramel Chocolate Apple. I like Milk Chocolate dipped in pecans. You really are only limited by what is in your pantry.

This is Heidi's "why do you never share your food with me" face.