How to make Chocolate Chocolate Chip Caramel Apples

. . . you will need . . . apples, naturally . . . and I like freshly picked apples from a local apple orchard . . . they taste so much better than store bought . . . but if you are in a pinch, get some really good, really big apples at your local grocer. Just remember that apples from the grocer are sometimes coated in a waxy film . . . you will need to wash your apples or the melted caramel just slides right off. That is why I recommend freshly picked apples from an orchard.

Also, you will need some sort of stick, candy stick, twig from your back yard, sticks from a craft store or a wooden spoon like I used.

Caramel . . . for caramel apples . . . you definitely need caramel . . . I was working with my kids and they are not patient enough to wait for homemade caramel, so we we went the good old fashioned way and purchased caramel from the store and simply heated it up in the microwave. I love that I no longer need to unwrap 75 thousand pieces of caramel now. Have you seen the caramel bits bag of caramels? LOVE them!

. . . and lastly, you will need some sort of toppings. I like to coat my caramel apples with melted chocolate BEFORE I add other toppings. Making the caramel apple a chocolate caramel apple.

Some suggestions are crushed nuts, crushed cookies, more chocolate, chocolate pieces, toffee bits, chocolate chips, mini M&Ms, sprinkles. . . really, whatever you can think of . . . whatever is in your cupboards . . . ow whatever your kids want!

After you have all your ingredients, you are ready to get started.

Simply melt your caramel in the microwave for a couple of minutes as I stated earlier . . . I simply followed the instructions on the Caramel Bits package. I added a couple of tablespoons of water and zapped it for a few. When you take it out of the microwave, the caramel will still look a bit chunky . . . just keep stirring until the caramel is really smooth. You may need an additional 30 seconds, but not usually.

At this point you can push your wooden spoons or sticks into your apples . . . my kids opted to wait until afterwards as they think it is too hard to decorate with the stick in the way. Do what works best for you and your kiddos.

I spooned the caramel over the apples because I like the look of the dripping caramel better. But, you can hold the apple on the stick and dip your apple into the caramel and swirl it around in the bowl just as easily. Then simply set our dipped OR dripped caramel apple of some parchment paper . . . the caramel is sticky, so you will have a bit of resistance once you take them out of the freezer to dip in the chocolate. I would not recommend using wax paper as the caramel really sticks to this. If you wanted to stand around and hold your apples while the caramel cools. . . you could do that as well.

Once all your apples are dipped, pop them in the the freezer to help the caramel cool quickly. While the caramel apples are chilling, melt a bag of chocolate chips in the microwave.

Take the chilled caramel apples out of the freezer and dip and swirl around in the melted chocolate OR you can smooth the melted chocolate over the caramel covered apples with a knife . . . this is what I do.

Now, you are ready to start decorating with all your toppings. Be sure to have your toppings set up already in tiny bowls or plates. You will only need to dip your Chocolate Caramel Apple into the topping of your choice.

Mine, obviously, is more chocolate . . . mini chocolate chips.

You could at this point, drizzle more melted chocolate on top of your caramel apples as well . . . but I liked the look of mine as they were. Put the Chocolate Chocolate Chip Caramel Apples in the refrigerator to cool and set.

ENJOY!