Slow Cooker Caramel Apples

Slow Cooker Caramelized Apples - ButterYum

I recently had an opportunity to make a "fruit dish" to feed a group of 40 men.  Being apple season here in apple country, I initially thought about baking pies, but to be completely honest, I didn't think the men serving this meal would be able to handle cutting 40 slices of pie very neatly.  So I searched the internet for some sort of crustless apple pie-like recipe, which led me to this one for Slow Cooker Caramel Apples on a blog called Kate from Scratch.  They're super yummy and were a big hit at the meal - thanks Kate!!

The original slow cooker recipe is listed below - my notes for multiplying the recipe and converting to cook in an 18-quart Roaster Oven will be listed below that.

Slow Cooker Caramel Apples
serves 10

8 cups diced apples (peeled and cored)
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 dash freshly grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Put all the ingredient in a slow cooker and mix thoroughly.  Cover and cook on high until apples are tender, about 3 hours.  The yummy salted-cinnamon-vanilla-caramel sauce that coats the apples will thicken slightly upon cooling.  Cool uncovered for a thicker sauce.

My conversion to feed a crowd of 40:  I quadrupled the recipe and cooked it in my 18-quart electric roaster set to 300F for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally.  I used a mix of apples - galas, golden delicious, golden supreme, and Nittany.  Any apple that keeps it's shape during baking will work well.