Old Fashioned Kraft Caramel Apples

When I was a little kid, fall meant school starting, cold weather coming, roasted pumpkin seeds, and these caramel apples. Maybe it was unwrapping all those little caramels with my mom. Maybe it was waiting for the coating to set. Either way, this is what fall tasted like.

This is our old-fashioned four-apple stovetop version: tart apples, Kraft caramels, a little vanilla, and just enough water to help everything melt.

What you need

• 1 bag (11 ounces) Kraft Caramel Bits or unwrapped Kraft caramels
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon water
• 4 Granny Smith or other tart apples
• 4 wooden pop sticks

If the package in your hand gives different amounts or cooking instructions, use those for that product. This post keeps the older four-apple version that has lived here for years.

How to make old-fashioned caramel apples

1. Wash the apples and dry them completely. Push one wooden stick into the stem end of each apple.
2. Combine the caramels, vanilla, and water in a saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the caramel is smooth and melted.
3. Dip each apple into the caramel. Turn it to coat the apple, then let the extra caramel drip back into the pan.
4. Set the apples on buttered wax paper and refrigerate until the caramel is firm.

The part that actually matters

Dry those apples. Completely. Caramel and water on the outside of an apple are not friends. Kraft Heinz’s current Easy Caramel Apples recipe also starts with apples that have been washed and dried well.

Keep stirring while the caramel melts, and prepare the wax paper before you start dipping. Once that caramel is ready, it is not going to pause politely while you hunt for the butter.

Want to get ridiculous with toppings next? Our Halloween candied-apple roundup has plenty of ideas. But the plain glossy version still tastes like the one I remember.

The waiting is the hardest part. The second hardest part is pretending four apples count as sharing.

Jamie

Old Fashioned Kraft Caramel Apples

4.38 from 181 votes

When I was a little kid, fall meant a few things I could be sure of: school was starting, it would get cold, pumpkin seeds are best when roasted, and Old Fashioned Kraft Caramel Apples taste better than every other caramel apple out there. Maybe it was sitting there unwrapping the cellophane from the little candies with my mom, or maybe waiting in anticipation as the caramel set, but these apples were part of what made my childhood so magical and memorable. And now you can give the same magic to your children. Enjoy!

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Course: Death By Dessert

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 1 11 oz. package Kraft Caramel Bits (or unwrapped caramels)
• ¾ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp water
• 4 Granny Smith or tart apples
• ** wooden craft sticks

Method

 

1. Combine caramels, vanilla and water in a saucepan and cook over low heat stirring constantly until caramels melt (about 20 minutes).
2. Insert craft sticks into clean & dry apples and dip apples into caramel mixture.
3. Place caramel apples into buttered wax paper surface and refrigerate until set.
4. Double or triple recipe for more apples.
5. Eat with friends.