Belle’s Brown Sugar Caramel Apples

Name: Belle's Brown Sugar Caramel Apples
Yield: Makes 7-8 apples
Ingredients: 7-8 medium Granny Smith apples (or any tart apple); 2 cups brown sugar; 1 cup corn syrup; 1/2 cup butter; 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream; 1 tsp vanilla; Wooden sticks; Chopped toasted pecans (optional)

Belle dunks each apple in boiling water for a few seconds first: it melts the wax that makes caramel slide off. Then she dips at 180°F so it clings.

Makes 7–8 apples
Caramel to 235–240°F, dip at 180°F

A painted plate of four glossy caramel apples on wooden sticks, one rolled in chopped pecans, beside a small carved pumpkin on a blue checked cloth.

Ingredients

7-8 medium Granny Smith apples (or any tart apple)
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
Wooden sticks
Chopped toasted pecans (optional)

You’ll wanta candy thermometer, wooden sticks and a lined baking sheet.

Method

Wax off: Dip each apple in boiling water for a few seconds to melt the wax. Dry it well. Push a stick in where the stem was.
Caramel: Butter, cream, corn syrup and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium. Stir till the butter melts, then stop stirring.
Boil: Cook 8-10 min to 235-240°F (soft ball). Scrape the sides, don’t stir.
Cool: Off the heat, stir in the vanilla. Cool to about 180°F so it clings.
Dip: Dip and turn, let it drip, roll the bottoms in pecans. Set on parchment and chill till firm.
Careful: Hot sugar burns: a grown-up does the dipping. Keeps 2-3 days in the fridge.
Tip: Apples cold from the fridge and bone dry help the caramel cling. The corn syrup keeps it from going grainy; we haven't tested a swap.

Inspired by @connies_sweetest_things.