My mom made the very best caramel apples when I was growing up. They were the real deal. She would boil the sugar ’til it was at the hard-crackle stage, and dip the apples…it was blissful. The only hard part was getting that first bite. As a kid, it was a challenge getting my little mouth around that big glossy apple for the first bite. When I finally did crack into the hard exterior, I would eat my way around the candy outside and leave the apple, unfinished on the stick.

So I decided, when I made my own healthy version of caramel apples, I would forgo the stick and go with just dipping slices of apple in caramel. It seems to work better for us. My kids eat more apple with their caramel, theirs no big challenge to get that first bite and I’m not left with partially eaten apples and the candy eaten off.

Healthy Caramel Apples

Beware, these are super sweet, kids love ‘em!

In a Vita-Mix or powerful blender, mix until totally creamy: 

• 1 cup dates (pitted and un-soaked)
• 1/ 4 – 1/2 cup almond milk (or other nut milk of your choice) – start with less milk and add to get the blender moving smoothly and the consistency you want.
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon non- alcoholic vanilla extract
• 1 dash of cardamom (optional, but lovely)
• 1 dash sea salt
  

Dip apple slices into caramel and enjoy.

Perfect for Halloween, or really…anytime.

For more healthy ideas for your family go to: www.HealthyYummyKids.com

Nina Manolson, MA, CHC, LMT is the Smokin’ Hot Mom Mentor and Family Wellness Expert. She’s the founder of SmokinHotMom.com and HealthyYummyKids.com. She helps busy moms look and feel their best, and helps them feed their kids well in a world that doesn’t.

To get your F.R.E.E. Audio CD by mail and receive her healthy recipes and wellness tips click here.

3 Responses

1. ellen says:

   October 29, 2011 at 5:22 am

   Hi Nina. I tried the caramel apple recipe. It is really delicious, but the dates didn’t get nice and creamy, like in your photo above. I used 1/2 cup of “milk”…the dates were cold (right from the fridge). Any suggestions for how to get it more smooth and creamy?

   Thanks!!

   Reply
   • ninamanolson says:

     October 29, 2011 at 6:49 pm

     Hi Ellen,

     The trick to getting it really nice and creamy is to really just keep letting it blend. It is helpful to have a high-speed blender like a Vitamix. If you don’t have a souped-up blender experiment with soaking the dates so they are softer. Let me know how it goes.

     Reply
2. ellen says:

   October 31, 2011 at 1:51 am

   thanks Nina. I have a Blendtec, so I guess I just need to exercise some patience! Soaking the dates may help too. I’ll try that. It’ll be a yummy experiment, regardless!

   thanks again!

   Reply