How is it possible we’ve been in Minnesota since 2018 and hadn’t tried a caramel apple from Abdallah Candies until now?!

Lebanese immigrant Albert and his Swedish wife Helen started their storied confectionery shop at the corner of Lake and Hennepin in 1909. Four generations later, it’s still a family-run affair and these ooey-gooey caramel apples are a toothsome treat Minnesotans look forward to every fall.

The apples are sold from September through October at Abdallah’s flagship in Apple Valley, online at abdallahcandies.com, and inside the old-fashioned Candy Jar shop in South Minneapolis. Tart Granny Smiths are enrobed in creamy-soft caramel and nothing else—a real win for purists.

But if you’re like us and prefer your caramel apples rolled in roasted peanuts or showered in crushed pretzels, you’ll have to take the semi-homemade route. Abdallah sells D.I.Y. kits with five wooden skewers and enough caramel to blanket four or five small- to medium-sized apples. Melting down the caramel gets pretty messy (watch that you don’t scald yourself!) and may look like a #pinterestfail in the end, but we promise it still tastes good.

On the left up top, you’ll see the Abdallah pros’ handiwork—shot against the gorgeous fall leaves lining the 5.4-mile Winchell Trail. On the right, Ashlea Halpern‘s bastardized version with a sad smattering of peanuts. (She wasn’t fast enough to get them totally covered before the caramel hardened.) While her apples won’t win any beauty pageants, we guarantee they won’t last 48 hours either.

Abdallah Candies and Gifts
6075 147th St. W., Apple Valley, MN; 800-348-7328.