Halloween, Chompers and the Caramel Apple
Caramel apples: We’ve all heard of ‘em, chewed on ‘em, even enjoyed ‘em at fairs and farm shows (And hopefully not broken a tooth or lost a filling on ‘em). But chocolate turtle caramel apples? Hmmm. There’s something new for me.
But when daughter recently came home from a friend’s house bearing this interesting packaged autumn treat, we all took special note. We weren’t sure if they looked like they’d be good or not-so-good. But when we were in the mood for a little sweet snack later that night, we all discovered this really was a better caramel apple.
Just one bite confirmed it: they were absolutely, unequivocally divine. The peanutty, slightly-salty, chocolaty crunch accented by the fresh just-tart-enough cold apple was definitely a winner. And it was all held together with the chewy caramel, of course. Not too sweet, not too tart. Just great eating on a stick.
Although my favorite way to break into one is by slicing all four quarter round sides with a paring knife, kids are probably gonna want to explore the messier side of things: biting right into the side with delight. And that’s fine if their chompers are up for it—but caramel is one of the cautionary eats on our orthodontist’s no-no list of foods. And if you have a substantial interest (and investment) in any of the teeth in your household, even the delights that a chocolate turtle caramel apple offers don’t offset that repair bill.
Halloween is certainly one candy-prolific holiday that can make for more tricks than treats with sticky, chewy, oozey, sugary confections coming at us from all directions.
And just in time for trick-or-treat time, I recently received some smart suggestions from the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO). Seems that October is National Orthodontic Health Month—and if you have someone sporting a shiny orthodontic-based smile at your house, you’ll appreciate these tips that’ll leave the kids in your family feeling more treated than tricked (and you’ll just have to save the chocolate turtle caramel apple recipe for when the appliances come off).
Right now in our house we have a hiatus in the full-time orthodontic work—apparently we have about one year until we get the word on whether daughter’s retainer program will need to be retired and stepped up to braces like brother had a couple years ago. So, in the meantime, we are enjoying the opportunity to chew gum and indulge in the occasional divinely sticky, chewy, gooey (and messily delicious) chocolate turtle caramel apples.
After taking a closer look at how our packaged apples were made, we decided to melt our own caramels, put some fresh apples on sticks and try dipping them in a mini chocolate chip and peanut mixture. We not only had a good time—and daughter loved seeing how the caramel envelops the apples so well—we now have a line of tasty autumn dessert/snacking in our refrig. Can’t beat that: it was fun, and it only took about 10 minutes!
So if you have chompers at your house that can do the caramel-thing, check out our Chocolate Turtle Caramel Apples below. If not, check out these sweet braces-friendly treats, courtesy of the AAO (www.braces.org) and their Treat Yourself Right flyer:
Braces-Friendly Treats
• Soft, melt-in-your-mouth chocolates
• Peanut butter cups
• Milk shakes
• Gelatin
• Peeled, thinly sliced apples
• Ice cream
Treats to Avoid
• Caramel (yep, avoid our recipe below)
• Nuts (including candies that contain nuts)
• Licorice, jelly beans or taffy
• Hard pretzels
• Bubblegum
• Candy corn
• Lollipops
• Popcorn (including unpopped kernels)
• Taco chips
• Ice
Made with water, apples, popsicle sticks, semisweet chocolate chips, peanuts, caramels
Serves/Makes: 7
- 7 small apples, washed and stems removed
- 7 popsicle sticks
- 3/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup crushed peanuts
- 1 package (14 ounce size) caramels, wrappers removed
- 1 tablespoon water
Push popsicle sticks into stem end of apple and set aside.
Place the chocolate chips and peanuts into a large shallow bowl (about 8 or 9 cup capacity), and set aside.
Place a large sheet of wax paper onto a large baking sheet, this is where the dipped apples will rest and cool.
Now, place the unwrapped caramel candies into deep bowl (one with a 3-cup capacity works perfectly). Add the water and microwave on high for one minute. Check if the caramels are melted and stir well if they are. If not, microwave for another 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Remove and stir well for about 2 minutes, until mixture is creamy and all lumps are melted. (Be careful, the bowl may be hot to the touch on the outside).
Dip one apple into the melted caramel, swirling to coat as much as desired. Lift out of caramel, let drip briefly and then press gently into the chocolate chip/peanut mixture, pressing only once per side so that the crunchies can embed in the caramel, but not swirling so that the mixture pulls the caramel off the sides.
Place the finished apple on the wax paper and repeat the dipping process with all remaining apples, using as much of the caramel as possible. (If you have any of the crunchy topping left over, it can be used on top of yogurt, with other apples and peanut butter, or even tossed into a batch of cookies.)
Now you can let your apples cool at room temperature, place them in the refrigerator for an hour or dig in and try one out immediately.
In about an hour, wrap each apple in a piece of plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to a week, if they last that long!
Cook's Notes: While standard recipes for making caramel apples say to use 5 apples, we used small apples and wanted to use up all the remaining melted caramel, so we were fortunate to be able to make 7 in our batch.
Depending upon how heavily you coat the apples (and their size), your results may vary.
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