Caramel Apples

These Caramel Apples are a cinch to make and even better can be personalized to suit everyone in your family!  Whether fruity, sweet and salty, peanut butter or toffee is your pleasure, these caramel apples will please any taste bud!  They’re easier than you think and will have you wondering why you’ve purchased the store-bought kind all these years!

Apple season, is there anything better? Pumpkin season sometimes can outshine apple season.  As soon as there is the slightest nip in the air people are already searching for their beloved PSL.  But let’s not forget about the apples which are perfect for this time of year. Unfortunately, we have not had the time to go apple picking yet, but I have bought countless bags of apples.  I swear, by the time I buy one bag, I’m already buying the next. However, I am not complaining.  If my kids want to snack on apples all day, I’m all for it. But when my kids take 1 bite out of the apple and then forget about it until it’s brown, it makes me a little grumpy.  Especially those honey crisp apples.  While completely delicious, not the cheapest variety out there.

My son is a huge fan of granny smith apples, while my daughter and I love the honey crisp.  Personally, I’ve found the best place to buy bagged apples is Aldi.  I love their produce selection and feel every time I go in there, it has only gotten better.  Happily, I can purchase both granny smith and honey crisp at Aldi for less than other grocery stores.  They also have Fuji,  Braeburn and Gala.  In addition to apples, I also buy bags of pears on the cheap. If you are lucky enough to have an Aldi close to your, check them out.  They’ve really upped their game in the last few years and it’s definitely my go to place for all things produce.  *This is not a sponsored post for Aldi. I just really love their stores and recommend them from personal experience.*

I’ve always been a huge fan of caramel apples, with peanuts, please!  Something about the sweet, salty and tartness of them is just so tasty!  With my kids love for apples this year I thought it would be fun to incorporate some of their favorite kids of toppings on their apples.  I was a little intimated by the whole caramel making process, but I tried my hand at it first with this Caramel Apple Monkey Bread, and it’s so ridiculously easy you will be wondering why you didn’t make them all along.  While I made caramel sauce for the monkey bread, the caramel you use for the apples is even easier!

I should mention this is also super fun for the kids.  You could make an entire afternoon out of it.  Go to the grocery store and have each kid pick one ingredient they’d love to have on their apples, purchase said apples, caramels, sticks, cups, etc and head home to make Caramel Apples with the kids. It’s such a fun project and then they get to eat their work!  (P.S. Be sure to help kids dunk the apples, caramel is hot, or leave that up to mom and dad and the decorating to the kids)

My son loves granny smith apples and because they are tart and my kids picked out sweet, sugar toppings (go figure) granny smith were the best choice to balance out all the sweetness.  I prepared the caramel dipping sauce, which means I unwrapped the caramel pieces, added milk and placed in a pot to melt, while the kids dumped out their cereal onto plates.  The kids also helped me insert these adorable ” target=”_blank”>Wilton Caramel Apple sticks that resemble wooden sticks from your backyard tree.  Aren’t they too cute!?  They feature a pointed end so they were easy to place into the apples and didn’t fall out when dipping.

As you can see my son picked out Fruity Pebbles, which are his favorite cereal, my daughter went with Crunch Berries, my husband cannot resist anything peanut butter and I went with toffee.  I also decided to make a fifth apple covered in trail mix because I’ve never seen it done before (and no I haven’t done a google search yet but lo and behold I’m sure I’m not the first)  and we love trail mix in this family.  It’s a great sweet and salty and somewhat healthy snack.

What’s great about everyone picking out a different topping for their Caramel Apples, was we were able to sample all of them.  Instead of eating them off the stick, we cut them into slices and each shared with one another so we could pick out our favorite.  Of course, we each liked our own the best, it’s why we choose the ingredient we did, but everyone’s choice was delicious and the kids had so much fun!

So, next time you’re at the store and you see that yummy looking 3 pack of apples all covered in peanuts, stop and think how you could make your own personalized apple at home and how much fun you’d have doing it!

The possibilities are endless here, people.  And think about all that Halloween candy you will have leftover next week.  You could chop up some Snickers, Skittles or M& M’s.  I also thought a S’mores apple would be delicious with pieces of graham crackers, chopped up Hershey bar and mini marshmallows.  After your apples are covered in your desired toppings, you could also drizzle some chocolate all over them.  Or instead of toppings, just drizzle chocolate on there.

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Caramel Apples

Prep 5 mins

Cook 5 mins

Total 10 mins

Author Strawberry Blondie Kitchen

Yield 5

These Caramel Apples are a cinch to make and even better can be personalized to suit everyone in your family! Whether fruity, sweet and salty, peanut butter or toffee is your pleasure, these caramel apples will please any taste bud! They're easier than you think and will have you wondering why you've purchased the store bought kind all these years!

Ingredients

• 5 Apples, I used Granny smith but you can use your favorite.
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 14 ounces, Kraft Vanilla Caramels (1 bag) unwrapped
• Toppings of choice (be creative)
• Treat sticks, cups, etc.

Instructions

1. Clean and dry apples thoroughly. This helps the caramel stick to the apples
2. In a medium sauce pot, set to medium low, melt caramels and milk, stirring frequently, until completely melted.
3. Dip apples, one at a time, into the caramel making sure to cover them all the way to the top.
4. If need be, use a knife to spread caramel evenly.
5. Let excess drip off and quickly roll into desired toppings, pressing as you go along.
6. Place in refrigerator to set for 1 hour.

Courses Candy

Cuisine Dessert

Caramel Apples aren’t only for Halloween, they can be enjoyed all year-long.  They’d also be perfect at your next party.  You could slice them up and make a platter of all different varieties and see which one(s) are your guests favorites.  You could also play a game and try to guess which guest picked which ingredient to top their apple with.  Ok, I’m going overboard but you get the point.  They’re fun!!

Have you gone apple picking this year?  What is your favorite variety of apples?  What ultimate ingredient(s) would you put on your caramel apples?

I also used these Kraft brown ” target=”_blank”>large treat cup from Wilton to place the caramel apples on after they were set.  I made the mistake of setting one of them on a napkin and even after they had set up for 1 hour in the fridge, the napkin stuck to the stickiness, sorry son!

Enjoy and if you make this recipe, please share a photo on social media and hashtag it #strawberryblondiekitchen I ♥ to see your versions!