Reviewed: Nov. 9, 2009

These are the real deal - the ones you find at County Fairs - bright red with a hard shell! Some caveats - 1. it takes about 20 minutes get the candies melted and up to 310 degrees (i.e. the hard crack stage) and 2. as you dip, you run out of candy, and what is left behind cools and won't turn around the apples well. I would suggest that you DOUBLE the recipe to fully coat 12+ apples. and 3. SPRAY the waxed paper with PAM oil before you put the apples on or the wax melts to the apples. Not sure I'd make these again given the time it took but if you like candied apples this is a great recipe.

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Reviewer:

Anne

Cooking Level: Expert

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Reviewed: Oct. 19, 2009

This is a great recipe, but I changed a few things and have a few tips to make your apples incredible! First, you need a sweet and CRISP apple to get a good result here. I used Honey Crisp apples and got compliments at the Halloween Potluck I took these to about how good the apples were. I used 2 bags of cinnamon disks, double the water and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon extract as my cinnamon disks didn't seem to be quite fiery enough; not like red hots at least. I found that it takes some time to melt this down and before you get there they all combine into a huge piece of hard candy. It was at this point I got nervous, but just keep stirring and eventually you will have everything melted. I used a candy thermometer after all was melted and turned up the heat to reach 300 degrees. When you reach the 300 degrees, it will be a bubbling couldron of candy and will have expanded a bit. Turn off the stove at this time and start your dipping. You will get a gorgeous glossy candy coating that when set will be hard. With the 2 bags this yielded 7 large apples. This will be my go to recipe for candy apples!

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Amber Pitts

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Salem, Oregon, USA

Living In: Long Beach, California, USA

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Reviewed: Oct. 8, 2009

Great recipe except - as everyone else has said - I can't imagine what size apples you would need to get a dozen out of this mixture. Mine were pretty small and I didn't even come close. Used the cinnamon disks instead of red-hots and increased the water by 1 tablespoon - they were great! - not to mention very pretty.

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RAK

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Reviewed: Sep. 19, 2009

Just for fun I made candied apples one year at Christmas with a candy cane instead of a stick. Start a punch hole with a small paring knife then put the non-hook end into the apple so the crook of the cane sticks out. I also crushed starlight mints candies and rolled the apples in the crushed candies, mostly just for decoration (not so much for flavor). They were really pretty!

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mercyp

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Louisville, Kentucky, USA

Living In: Choccolocco, Alabama, USA

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Reviewed: Nov. 2, 2008

I made these for Halloween and they turned out so pretty. I was able to coat 5 big apples.I spread butter on the wax paper before setting the apples on it, no problem with sticking. Great recipe.

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RitaMaria

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Kansas City, Kansas, USA

Living In: Roeland Park, Kansas, USA

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Reviewed: Nov. 2, 2008

I made these last night for our Halloween party. They were very good, but I do have a couple of comments: 1) Based on other reviews, I did double the amount of candies (I used 2 bags of cinnamon disks) and added a little more water, and it only coated 6 apples; and 2) I read where one reviewer said that it stuck to the wax paper, and another reviewer said it just needed to cool completely. I thought about spraying the wax paper lightly with cooking spray, but decided not to. I would recommend doing so in the future, as mine cooled for several hours, and the paper still came off with the apple.

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amgodfrey

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Orange, California, USA

Living In: Norman, Oklahoma, USA

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Reviewed: Nov. 6, 2007

I used a double boiler and what a breeze. It took awhile for the candy to melt- but the apples came out perfect! For a touch of color- try dipping in shredded coconut, Truly Beautiful!

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kim

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Reviewed: Nov. 1, 2006

This is a great recipe. I love candy apples and recipes that suggest using cinnamon hard candies instead of just Karo syrup and food coloring are the best. It ain't a real candy apple unless it has the cinnamon candy coating. The only things I would warn are that (1) This recipe will not allow you to make 12 apples. I bought very very small red delicious apples and was only able to make 5. So in order to make 10-12 consider doubling the recipe; (2) I added an additional TBSP of water than what was called for in the recip in order to stop the candies from burning so make sure to watch out for that (3) I used cinnamon disks not red hots, I think the cinnamon disks give them a nice shine. You can find cinnamon in any grocery (Brach's candy to make - think of peppermints but all red and flavored like cinnamon). Otherwise, this recipe is MARVELOUS and ridiculously easy though, if you have never made them before, I would recommend having the candy themometer on hand and just trying to gauge by the water test. Also, the wax paper worked fine for me, you just have to make sure they have cooled completely before trying to remove them from the wax paper.

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w.

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Reviewed: Jun. 7, 2004

I tried this recipe and it didn't work without revisions. It was way too thick to coat the apples. It didn't cover the amount of apples it said it would and it needed more water. I used 5 bags of red hots and well over a cup of water. Once I got it looking like it would coat the apples, it worked like a charm!

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LADYJANE101

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Reviewed: Oct. 20, 2003

Good recipe - tastes just like I remember. Easy to make, but I found that the recipe only coated about 5 medium to small sized apples.

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CHRISTAMACD

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Chicago, Illinois, USA

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Reviewed: Oct. 30, 2002

An amazingly easy way to make a beautiful red, shiny candied apple. Wonderful! The only problem was that the wax paper stuck to the apples, so I think I would set them on a well-oiled platter or perhaps a silicon sheet to harden. I'm very pleased with this recipe.

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