Prepare your apples by putting a lollipop stick in the middle. If your apples are from an apple orchard, you might be lucky enough to have ones that aren't coated in wax. Most grocery store apples are coated in wax, and you need to remove it so that the caramel sticks. To remove the wax, place the apples in boiling hot water for about 10 seconds, and then wipe with a paper towel. Make sure they're thoroughly dry and chilled before dipping in caramel.

To make the caramel, combine butter, brown sugar, condensed milk, corn syrup and salt in a heavy saucepan. Bring it to a boil over a high heat, stirring constantly until the mixture reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer.

Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
Dip prepared cold apples, and place on a parchment paper or wax paper lined baking sheet to harden.

Optional: Melt some chocolate in a ziplock bag in the microwave, and snip the corner, and pipe onto the caramel apples. Add sprinkles to the chocolate before the chocolate sets.

Let harden and package in cello bags. Store in the refrigerator.