One of my favorite things about Fall is caramel apples! It’s one of my mother’s favorite Fall treats and growing up it quickly became one of mine as well. Last year I was determined to set up a caramel apple bar for some friends after seeing the idea on pinterest. I had a station set up with several different toppings. The images I found on pinterest were perfectly styled. Let me paint you a picture, dipped caramel apples sitting atop a small hay bale and cute little wooden baskets filled with different toppings. I’m not quite sure how the toppings stuck to the apples. It’s important the caramel is still hot when you roll the toppings on so they’ll stick. If anyone knows of a different way to make caramel apples please fill me in.
I used a crock-pot to keep melted Kraft caramel bits warm while everyone dipped their apples. If you prefer to make your own caramel Martha Stewart has a caramel recipe. I can’t tell you how thrilled I was when Kraft came out with caramel bits, no more unwrapping dozens of little caramel squares for me. Some other things to think about when assembling caramel apples is to choose crisp apples and use a sturdy stick. You can even use a wooden chopstick as your stick. When selecting toppings think small or crushed. Big pieces of candy or nuts can easily fall off of your apple.
20 Toppings for Caramel Apples
sprinkles
mini M&M’s
mini chocolate chips
chopped nuts
crushed Oreos
toffee bits
shredded coconut
Reese’s pieces
mini Reese’s cups
butterscotch chips
mini marshmallows
cinnamon toast crunch cereal
candy corn
crushed graham crackers
pretzel pieces
crushed butterfinger
chopped snickers
melted chocolate for drizzling
gummy bears
dried fruit
If you’d rather have your apples pre-assembled prior to a gathering, I’ve included ideas for specialty caramel apples from Food Network Magazine. I especially liked these topping combinations.
Ballpark Blend– salted peanuts and caramel popcorn
Tropical Twist– toasted shredded coconut and chopped macadamia nuts
Cookies & Cream– crushed Oreo cookies and a drizzle of melted white chocolate
Health Nut– chopped walnuts and dried cranberries
Linking to Share the Love Sunday BB Link Party, Inspire Me Please Link Party, Tidy Mom, Six Sister’s Strut Your Stuff, The Sunday Showcase Party
Would you believe I have never made caramel apples? This might be the year to try it! Thanks for all the great ideas!!
They’re pretty easy! Getting the caramel to the right consistency is the tricky part. They are messy, but I love them.
I don’t really care for apples, so for me – the more toppings, the better! My favorite fall treats are the Caramel Apple Pops by Tootsie Pop.
http://www.tootsie.com/products.php?pid=112
I love those too! They can be hard to find.
What a neat idea!!! Thanks Dawn
What a fun idea to have a caramel apple bar!!! I absolutely love it!!!! I love caramel apples too, and was just thinking about making some yesterday and then I saw your post! I’ll have to make some soon! Thanks for the inspiration! 🙂
They are messy, but I love them! Thanks for visiting my blog. I’ve started following you on pinterest and bloglovin. You’ve got some great recipes I can’t wait to try!
I have been looking everywhere for a caramel apple crockpot recipe! My daughter’s first birthday is this Sunday and I want to have apple slices and toppings set out for everyone to do it themselves. Everywhere I have read online says that you have to wait 15 minutes to an hour for cooling in the fridge… There will be a lot of impatient kiddos at the party and I was wondering, with the recipe and setup that you followed, were you able to roll the caramel apples in toppings right after you dipped them in caramel or did you have to wait a while? And were they too hot to eat after a minute or so? Hope to hear back from you soon! And thank you for sharing!
I did the caramel apple bar last year so I’m trying to remember what we did, but I know we didn’t wait to sprinkle the toppings. You may want to wait a min. or two if your caramel is real hot, but if you wait too long I don’t think the toppings will stick. If you are decorating a whole apple on a stick I would let it cool in the frig for a few minutes after you’ve put your toppings on so they don’t all fall off. My kids did wait a few minutes to eat them. However, if you are doing apple slices. I would have spoons in the toppings so the kids can just sprinkle them on the caramel. By the time they are done putting all of the toppings on the slices I would think they’d be cool enough to eat. If not, maybe play a game and then have them eat. I hope this helps. I love caramel apples, but they aren’t exactly low maintenance. I think the kids would have fun with it though.
These look fantastic! I’m so excited to try this out. I do have one question for you, do you know about how many apples you were able to get out of a bag of the bits? I’m trying to plan for quite a few people and want to make sure that I have enough.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Jen, I don’t remember how many apples it covered, but you might look on the bag and see if it says. Its always good to have extra caramel on hand. I’ve also seen where people use apple slices and have caramel to dip them in. You could also try all sorts of different toppings for each one that way too. A good way to keep the apple slices from browning is to cover them with lemon juice.