Fresh Idea: Candy Apple Dipping Bar!

Pumpkin spice may be the king of the season, but apples aren’t far behind, especially in the month of October. (Did you know that October is National Apple Month?) At this point in the season, you’ve probably already eaten, seen, or thought far too long about apples. And you’re probably not even ashamed to admit it. Apples are good, they’re part of a healthy diet, and they make for some fun fall treats…like candy apples!

I don’t know about you, but I love candy apples. There’s a store near where I live that sells them rolled in virtually anything you can imagine, from cookie pieces to chopped nuts. It seems like every year, they get more and more creative with adding new flavors, toppings, and decorations to them. And while they’re beautiful, they can also be kind of pricey. So, this year I thought I’d try my hand at making my own version…

Traditional candy apples are great, but they’re hard to finish in one sitting. There’s just too much sweet deliciousness going on! So, I thought it’d be a good idea to make a candy apple dipping bar. To get started, I went over to Easy Home Meals and found this great recipe: Apple Dippers Bar. Basically, this is exactly what I was thinking of doing – I love it when things work out that way!

I usually blog about recipes I make at home, but this time I decided to make my candy apple dipping bar in the Test Kitchen. I figured my coworkers would love these A-PEEL-ING treats! (See what I did there?) Luckily, the Test Kitchen is always stocked with the best goodies, including fresh and ripe apples.

The idea is simple. Grab some apples, make some creamy, fun dips, and have a bunch of other yummies to sprinkle, roll, and coat them in after the dipping.

I made my first mistake right away. Get your dips done before you slice your apples, since apples brown pretty quickly! Luckily, Patty was watching and helped save the day. We’ve got a whole video on how to keep apples from turning brown, if you make the same mistake.

I also added a bonus dip to my candy apple bar: Toffee Apple Dip. (Jaime says it tastes a little like cookie dough!)

After my dips were done, I finished slicing the rest of my apples and went to town dipping and dunking.

A candy apple dipping bar like this would be a great idea for Halloween, especially if you’ve got a bunch of picky eaters running around. All of these dips took less than 2 minutes for me to make, and were really, really good. I mean, is there anything that cream cheese doesn’t make better? And adding milk to caramel candies and chocolate chips gives the dip such a perfect, creamy consistency. Yumyumyum! 

Of course, this is also a great idea for anytime of the year. You can even change up the fruit (I’d love to try this with bananas!) and the dips. If you’re looking for more great fruit dunkin’ ideas visit the Mr. Food Test Kitchen and Easy Home Meals.

Have you ever made candy apples before? What’s your favorite kind?