With it being the both the early days of Fall and County Fair Season, I appreciate the return of unique and (sometimes) questionable snacks that become available again this time of year. Fried Oreos and corn dogs? Absolutely! Churros and turkey legs? You still have my attention. But there’s always been one Fall snack that I couldn’t quite wrap my head – or mouth – around, and that was candied or caramel apples.
I love apples, and I love the idea of smothering them in chocolate, caramel, crushed nuts, etc. but the mechanics of eating them always seemed like such a messy hassle and often a potential health hazard when it came to keeping my teeth intact. What do you mean I have to bite through rock hard melted sugar or three inches of sticky caramel to get to the actual apple? How is that fun?!
So I decided to recently improvise with a quick and easy little DIY style “Caramel Apple Bar” – using sliced applies and an array of toppings and seasonal flavors – which gave the same great tastes, just without the stickiness or emergency Dentist visit afterward.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
3-4 SERVINGS:
- Four Honeycrisp apples, cored and sliced (you can use something LIKE THIS to get it done quicker!)
- 2 bars of semi-sweet chocolate, melted in the microwave at 30-second intervals until smooth
- ½ cup of melted caramel morsels
- ½ cup of chopped nuts (I used hazelnuts this time around!)
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- Sea salt flakes
WHAT YOU’LL DO:
1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Working in small batches, like an assembly line, take turns dunking or coating the apple slices with either melted chocolate or melted caramel. Use tongs or a spoon to make sure the surface is evenly coated.
2. Cover the chocolate and/or caramel coating with the toppings of your choice (chopped nuts, sea salt flakes, or pumpkin puree – or all three!)
3. Rest the apple slices on the parchment paper. Once all of the slices are decorated to your liking, set the baking sheet in the fridge and allow the slices to set for one hour (minimum.)
4. Once the chocolate and caramel has hardened and set – enjoy!
____________________
This recipe is a fun activity to try if you’ve got friends gathering for a seasonal get-together or if you’ve got kids looking to help with some Autumnal “baking” – and the cleanup is a breeze!
If you want a more authentic “caramel apple experience” with these, you can also put little skewers in the slices prior to letting them set in the fridge – but I like eating them just as they are. You can also use any kind of apple for these, of course – but Honeycrisp are my personal favorite.
I’m off of work next week for a little bit of a “Stay-cation”, and have a whole lot of daytime adventures planned – including a concert I’ve been so looking forward to attending for months now – but I’ll be back with more recaps, photos and places/experiences to share along the way!
See you all next week!
xo
Coffee & Chiffon 