With so many delicious first of the season apple varieties arriving at Stewart’s right now we thought Lisi’s Luscious Dessert’s Caramel Apple Jam with Vanilla Wafers is a great idea! The caramel, vanilla, and apples delightfully and simply combine warmed up and pour over some vanilla ice cream and you have a winner. Equally good on the savory side if you serve as a sweet side relish for pork or chicken. We suggest you make these home made vanilla wafers and add a little whipped cream as an option too.
Caramel Apple Jam with Homemade Vanilla Wafers
Use a variety of apples. This makes for a more interesting outcome because different apples break down differently and this will provide texture and fun!
Apple Jam
1 cup sugar
3 pounds apples, use a variety if you can, peeled, cored and cubed about 3/4 inch thick.
1/2 vanilla bean (scraped)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
cinnamon stick or powder
kosher salt
Place 3 tablespoons water in a large saucepan.  Add the sugar and mix.  Heat on medium high and boil – and continue to cook until the sugar caramelizes.  It will turn a dark amber color – but be careful as it all happens very fast, and it is HOT.  Seriously hot.
Add the apples and the vanilla seeds and bean to the pot and cook on medium heat. The caramel may seize up at the start (because the apples cool it down) but soon it will dissolve again.  Add a 1/2 cinnamon stick (if you don’t have a stick, wait and add some ground cinnamon to taste at the end.)
Continue to cook for about 20-25 m, stirring occasionally until some of the apples are translucent and some still have their shape, and most of the liquid is dissolved.  You can keep cooking btw, if you like your apples super soft, or remove them earlier if you like them super chunky.
Remove from heat.  Add lemon juice and a pinch of kosher salt.  Store in a glass jar or container for up to a month in fridge.
Vanilla Wafers
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour (not self rising)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg plus 2 large egg yolks (save the whites for meringues)
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract (a lot I know!)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Whisk together the 2 types of flour, baking powder and salt. With the paddle attachment of your mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy.  about 3-5 minutes.  Scrape down bowl, and mix again to incorporate. Add the whole egg,  yolks and the vanilla and beat until nice and smooth. Remove from mixer and fold in dry ingredients until just combined.
Place the bowl in the fridge for at least 20 minutes (you can also let it sit overnight – or whenever you want to bake off) Drop batter by rounded teaspoonfuls onto parchment lined cookie sheets.
Bake until the edges have browned and the tops of the cookie are set 6-10 minutes (and maybe longer if you are filling your oven with more than one rack at a time. Just keep checking.