Chocolate Caramel Dipped Apples with Peanuts

Published November 3, 2019

As with most autumn-inspired recipes, I love that this time of year brings about festive, seasonal treats.

Two weekends ago I went pumpkin picking. The farm-stand on location had hot and cold apple cider and freshly made apple cider donuts. I bought 1/2 dozen warm donuts for the road and have since been obsessed with apples.

While an apple pie is on my “to-bake” list, I wanted to make a dessert related to Halloween. Caramel apples came to my mind.

Though, I’m not a fan of whole caramel apples, as I feel like I’m going to lose my teeth trying to take a bite. So after some research into snackable caramel apples, I decided to make a version with my homemade caramel and sliced apples.

Chocolate Caramel Dipped Apple Ingredients

The ingredients for these caramel apple slices are easy. I only had to purchase the apples and heavy cream.

As you can see, I used Granny Smith apples (the bright green) — that most caramel apples use. I was curious if one of the sweeter apples would work better than Granny Smiths, so I also bought one or two apples that looked like McIntosh/Fuji’s.

My sisters don’t like caramel, so I bought melting chocolate to make for them. Feel free to substitute the caramel for any other flavors, as well as the peanuts. You can use M&Ms, Oreo cookie crumbles, almonds, walnuts, etc. The classic salted peanuts are my favorite, so that’s why I used them.

How to Make Caramel Apple Slices

These chocolate and caramel dipped apples are easy to make. The caramel only takes 5-minutes to bring to a boil. You’ll spend more time chilling the apples than you do prepping and making them!

Caramel apples — while messy — would be a fun recipe to make with younger kids and groups. Decorating with different candies and snacks also makes for a pretty final plating.

The Final Product

Overall Thoughts

My Notes

These apples were an easy, homemade treat. Overall, I was happy with the flavor combinations.

As you can see in the recipe video, I sliced my apples too thin, so I did have a hard time adding the wooden handle to them. Instead, I dipped the apples as I planned to, and decorated them face-up on the parchment paper.

In the future, I’ll cut thicker slices, that way the apples can be eaten neatly. However, depending on how neatly you decorate them, you won’t get messy by picking them up and eating them like a crostini.

Also note — some caramel apples say to dip the caramel-coated apple in cold water before placing on the tray to chill. I’m not sure how effective that is. My caramel did pool on the cookie sheet (so the back of the apple lost its caramel when I pulled it off). The chocolate apples were fine. I’ll have to test this water-dipping method in the future.

Flavor

I could eat caramel like soup, so this is a favorite recipe for me.

If you don’t have time, or are nervous about making your own caramel sauce, you can easily melt caramel candies in the microwave and dip your apples that way.

I think the homemade caramel has a richer flavor without as much sugar as the candies.

Note too, that the Granny Smith apples are the apples to use. They are bright and bitter in flavor, which contrasts the sweet caramel (or chocolate). Plus the salt and crunch from the peanuts pairs nicely with their crisp texture.

The red-yellow apples I dipped did not work out as well. Their flesh was soft, so they cracked when I tried to add the wooden handle. Plus, once they were dipped, they seemed too mushy/sweet to eat, especially when compared with the Granny Smith apples.

Portions and Storage

Three sliced apples gave me 16 pieces. I decided not to use the middle slices that had the core and seeds. Some of the pieces broke when I tried to add the wooden handle, so keep in mind that you may lose some slices in that regard.

I kept the chilled apple slices uncovered on a plate in my fridge. They were still fresh and delicious. Though keep in mind, your apples might turn brown once they’re sliced and you’re decorating them.

Recipe Score

I give the chocolate caramel dipped apples with peanuts a 9/10 for the following:

• Recipe Level

  • Beginner: This recipe doesn’t require cooking or baking experience. If you wanted to adapt the recipe, you could melt most of your ingredients in the microwave. This is a great group recipe to involve friends or kids, as many people can decorate at the same time.

• Ingredients

  • Whole ingredients with sweet toppings — easy! Make sure to buy Granny Smith apples, and if you’re making your own caramel, heavy cream. The rest of the toppings can be as creative as you want.

• Prep

  • No prep required! Just make sure you have all your ingredients set up before you get started. I made sure to make my caramel and have everything else laid out, that way as it cools, I can work on chopping my toppings and cutting the apples before they turned brown.

• Flavor

  • 10/10: I love caramel! With the sour apple and salty peanuts, this was a classic recipe perfect for fall. My sisters loved the milk chocolate variant of this recipe too.

K. Martinelli Makes Chocolate Caramel Dipped Apples with Peanuts

Looking for More Apple Recipes?

Click here to get my puff pastry apple turnover recipe.