Caramel Apple Recipe
November 5, 2009
Caramel apples dipped into pecans and almonds.
Okay, so maybe this seems like a pre-halloween dish, but to me, it’s a Fall thing. And it’s still Fall. It’s also that time of year when making sweets all of the time is considered acceptable. I had some mini-size apples in my fridge that I’ve been saving for this particular reason. You see, usually you see monster size caramel apples, but what if you just want a bite, or less of a mess to deal with? That is where these little wonders worked out perfectly. I also managed to cover some big apples along the way with all sorts of goodies.
I was planning on making the caramel from scratch, but I was in a hurry and caramel needs patience. I didn’t have any that day. I ended up buying a bag of caramels, melted them down and played around a bit with different toppings. I tooled around with the idea of peanut butter, chocolate, nuts, marshmallows and Rice Krispies. My favorites were the ones with the nuts - pecans and slivered almonds to be exact.
After dipping apples into melted caramel, dip into whatever you'd like: nuts, chocolate chips, marshmallows, Rice Krispies - get creative.
Ingredients
- Soft caramels. Melt down caramels according to the package (I used Kraft caramels, two 14 oz. bags for 10 apples total)
- 5-10 apples from small to medium size. I used small honey crisp and golden delicious apples, but tart granny smith apples would be heavenly!
Toppings and Directions
- 1 cup pecans, chopped
- 1 cup slivered almonds
Yank apple stem off of apple and stab a popsicle stick into the apple core as the replacement. Choose other toppings that you like, such as Rice Krispies cereal, mini chocolate chips, chopped peanuts or walnuts, mini marshmallows, you name it, it’s your apple. I thought peanut butter would be nice once the caramel was cooled on the apple for a bit, evenly spread a thin layer of peanut butter on the bottom half of the apple, refrigerate for 15 minutes. Meanwhile melt down some chocolate, about 1 cups worth and dip caramel/peanut butter apple into hot chocolate, place back on parchment lined plate and let cool (or cover that with marshmallows or rice crispy cereal). Thats if you want to get really fancy with your caramel dippings.
However, if you’re just going for the one topping route then once you’ve covered your apple in melted caramel, twirl it for a bit over pot of hot caramel to let excess caramel drip off, then with nuts in a bowl, dip and roll caramel apple in chopped nuts, coating only half of the apple. Place on parchment paper lined plate or tray and refrigerate for 1 hour.
