Caramel Apples! A staple to the Junk Food circuit of carnivals and fairs. You’ll want to make these because spending $6 on one when you can make 5 for less than that is ridiculous.

Plus (and this is a theme) they’re super easy to make.

You’ll Need:

# Apples (A sour variety is usually good to compliment the sweetness of the caramel)
# Caramels
# Wooden skewers
# Water
# Nuts to grind, optional

Start out with getting your caramels out of their wrapper and into a pot on the stove.

Add a little water. And by little I mean, I probably added to much. The water is just do the caramels don’t stick to your pot and it aids in melting. So … maybe start with 1 tsp and add at 1/2 tsp increments if needed.

Start stirring over heat … it’ll melt quicker than you think.

Once they’re all melted, remove from heat and let cool a bit. You’ll want the caramel to be thicker than this so it’ll stick nicely to the apples.

While it’s cooling off you can get your nuts ready (optional) (I’m avoiding all the obvious jokes.) (It takes restraint.)

Have you ever seen one of these?? We call it the Nut Crusher. You can find them in antique stores for around $6.

The handle on the side is your mechanism to chop the nuts. We chose salted almonds – yum!

See the coarse almond meal in the bottom??

That’s what we call the Mother Load. Of almonds. Crushed and ready for apples. With caramel.

Just so yo know what you’ve been dealing with: Here’s an up close and personal shot of the Nut Crusher.

Ok, so – get a bowl out and add your crushed nuts to it. Ready for dipping/rolling.

Time to get the apples ready to dip. Pierce with the wooden skewer.

Roll in caramel, cover, spoon drip … however it works best. Coat that baby.

Dip in nuts (optional).

I should have waited a little bit longer with my caramel – see how it’s all pooling on the bottom? That’s normal for some run-off – but my caramel wasn’t nearly sticky or thick enough to coat without falling off.

Live and learn.

So here’s another apple – and see how the caramel’s a bit thicker? Lumpy but the excess is still dripping off? That’s more like it.

(Also, this is why I think I used a bit too much water.)

But! Here’s what we ended up with:

YUM.

All that extra on the bottom is still delicious.

I have no idea how I know that 😉

If you have a Birthday Boy nearby – let him inspect your work, test the caramel, make faces at the sour apple and then dive in for me.

These yummy caramel apples are part of a series on homemade junk food! Interested in other fun, frugal and delicious homemade treats??

How to make Corn Dogs
How to make Walking Taco’s
And for a fun craft with a surprise inside, How to make Mini Piñata’s.

Thanks for stopping by! Join the conversation on Facebook.