When I made some chocolate candy sticks a few years ago, I realized how good chocolate and red hots could be together. I also recently had cinnamon caramels which was an interesting flavor combo. So, when I went to make caramel apples this year, I thought it would be fun to try that flavor combination with caramel apples to make Red Hot and Chocolate Caramel Apples and they are pretty tasty.

I ended up doing these two ways. I think they both taste great, but you can go with the one that works for you.

Instructable 386

Supplies

Ingredients:

Apples
Caramels* + a few Mini Marshmallows + a little water; about 7 caramels per apple, a few mini marshmallows, and about 1 tsp of water.
Red Hots or Cinnamon Imperials
a few Paramount Crystals - I recommend this if you are going to drizzle the chocolate on top, makes it easier
Melting Chocolate

Supplies:

Microwave safe bowls
Knives
Popsicle Stick or Cookie Pop Sticks for the apples
Wax Paper - to put the apples on while they are firming up, they'll still stick, but it shouldn't be as bad as a plate

*I'm doing super easy microwave caramels to make individual apples. You can of course use your favorite caramel recipe if you have one as long as it is one that will firm up on the apple.

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Step 1: Prep Candies

As I've mentioned in previous caramel apple recipes, I don't like huge chunks of candy on the apple. Though it look nice, I feel it makes for either too much topping or for too difficult to bite topping.

You can use full red hots as they are not too big, but I liked mashing them up a bit first. The best method I found was to put them in a mortar with cling wrap, or my hand, over it and using the pestle to mash them.

Just about 1/4 a cup worth I think is good.

Step 2: Melt Caramel and Coat

Add together your caramel, marshmallows (if using), and little bit of water.

Melt in the microwave in 30 second increments until all melted. Make sure to mix well, because things tend to be more melted than they look and sometimes just take a little stirring to get to the right consistency.

Step 3: Method 1: Add Candies + Drizzle Chocolate

The first way I tried making this was coat the apple in chocolate, then immediatly stick candies to the caramel, then drizzle the whole thing in chocolate.

This can be nice if you don't like chocolate as much, but just want a taste of it.

I also found adding Paramount Crystals to the chocolate makes it easier to drizzle.

Step 4: Method 2: Coat in Chocolate + Add Candies

Another way to make this caramel apple is to coat the apple entirely in caramel, then chocolate, and then sprinkle on the candy bits.

Make sure the apple + caramel isn't cold when you put on the chocolate or it will harden too fast and you won't be able to stick the candies on.

This happened on my first try and as you can see, it didn't get a lot of candies. On my second try, I actually added chocolate to the apple in sections and added candies as I went. I also pushed them into the chocolate to make sure they would stay.