It may seem simple enough to make a caramel apple, but to make a picture perfect caramel apple, well that’s a challenge.

One of my favorite autumn traditions is making caramel apples. Tart apples enveloped in sugary caramel–it just doesn’t get much better than that.

And while the basic concept is to dip the apple into the caramel and let it cool, there are some underlying challenges to making a perfect caramel apple (and let’s face it, appearance does matter with these.)

For example, the caramel can be too runny, the apples can be too soft, the caramel can be too bubbly (see my outtakes at the end of this post), etc. For this tutorial, I used pieces of caramel that I bought from the store, but if you’re feeling especially artistic, you can make your own caramel from scratch with this recipe from the Food Network.

Ingredients:

-4 of your favorite apples (sometimes tart apples like Granny Smith are best)

-1 bag of caramels (unless you make your own)

-Lollipop sticks or popsicle sticks

-1 tbsp water

Step 1: Prepare the apples. Wash your apples, insert the sticks and get ready to dip them!

Step 2: Prepare the caramel. Unwrap all of your caramels (or follow the Food Network recipe and make your own). Then, place caramels in a small pot and add 1 tbsp water.

Step 3: Melt the caramel. Turn your stove to medium and let the caramel melt, stirring occasionally. Here, you have to be careful not to let your caramel burn or boil. If it boils even the slightest bit, you’ll end up with bubbles on your apples (see my outtake).

Step 4: Dip the apple. Now we get to the fun part. Grab an apple, dip it in the caramel and spin it around until the excess caramel drips off. Remove excess caramel from the bottom of the apple by scraping it off on the side of the pot. Then, place your apple on a baking sheet covered in buttered wax paper.

Step 5: Be creative. If you want to add sprinkles or nuts or chocolate to your apple, be creative and add whatever you want. If you want your sprinkles to stick to the apple, be sure to add them right away before the apple cools.

Outtake: While it’s tempting to make it look like I got this right on the first shot, I have to be honest that I had one apple turn out a little bit funky since my caramel began to boil before I removed it from the heat. But, hey, if you’re looking for a warty, monstery Halloween idea, here’s the perfect project for you!

Here's a tutorial photo you can pin to Pinterest!