This fun treat is an easy way to snack on caramel apple slices sprinkled with your favorite toppings! No more biting into a giant apple to get those same flavors. Tart granny smith apples contrast perfectly with sweet caramel sauce, melted chocolate chips, M&Ms, and toasted slivered almonds in this tasty sliced caramel apple recipe. Its an easy recipe to customize to your liking though so you can change any of that to suit your preferences!
It’s no secret that traditional caramel apples are delicious but good gracious that whole apple is a hassle to eat! So much gets stuck in your teeth and it’s hard to share so you’re stuck eating an entire caramel apple in one sitting. Enter the sliced caramel apple – the solution to all of these problems and better way to do this snack.
It’s an excellent healthier treat that can be used as an after school snack, party appetizer or healthy dessert. Crisp apple slices get drizzled with melted chocolate, gooey caramel, and then topped with candy in this fun recipe the whole family will enjoy. All the flavor of a homemade caramel apple without the annoying stuff. Plus its sharable!
I chose to lay mine out in a holiday theme inspired by those fancy Christmas caramel apples, but you can arrange them however you please! Some people using a baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper to make a giant batch of sheet pan caramel apples. It’s a great party dish making it a perfect fall treat for a large crowd.
Many sliced caramel apple recipes have a full coating of caramel for each apple slice. These are either served as slices or on a popsicle stick for easy eating. While this is truly tasty, it means you’re eating just as much caramel as you are apple! Drizzling the caramel on top spreads the wealth around making this a lighter snack. It also turns it into a quasi version of caramel apple nachos which I personally love.
You can just serve a small bowl of creamy caramel sauce next to the sliced apples and make it a dip situation though too. The options are endless here!
If snacks incorporating fruits and veggies are up your alley, check out my snack recipes archive for more fun recipes! I have a recipe for air fryer apples that is downright heavenly!
Ingredients and Variation Options
The ingredients for this recipe are simple. Here’s what you’ll need to make this caramel apple slices recipe my way:
- Granny Smith apples – the tartness just goes so well paired with caramel. You an substitute your favorite tart apples though or even something sweeter like a Cosmic Crisp, Envy, Gala or Honeycrisp apples.
- Lemon Juice – this keeps the apples from turning brown. You can use fresh lemon juice (preferred) or even a concentrate is fine here. A little lemon juice goes a long way here.
- Chocolate chips – I used dark chocolate chips but you can use milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips, whatever you have or whatever you prefer.
- Caramel sauce – I used an organic store-bought jarred caramel sauce for simplicity and to save time. Melted caramel bits or homemade would make a fantastic caramel drizzle though.
- M&Ms – I thought the M&Ms where a fun way to do the lights for the tree-shaped caramelized apple slices that I wanted to create but you can substitute sprinkles, peanut butter chips or whatever else you think would be good.
- Toasted slivered almonds – I thought these added a welcome crunchy contrast but you can use whatever nut you like. If you’re going for the same Christmas tree theme, you can substitute in yellow sprinkles, yellow M&Ms or even a squirt of whipped cream to keep it simple.
- Shredded coconut – I’m a coconut lover so this was a must for me. I used shredded sweetened coconut but you can use unsweetened desiccated coconut if you prefer.
Other Optional Toppings
This recipe is excellent as written but here are a few other ideas:
- Melty peanut butter (warm slightly to make it easy to drizzle)
- Peanut butter or white chocolate chips
- Dried cranberries
- Mini marshmallows
- Crushed peanuts, toasted pecans or other nuts
How to Make Sliced Caramel Apples
If you’re wondering how to make this recipe, the answer couldn’t be any easier. Here are the basic steps needed and again, customize however you see fit.
- Slice whole apples into thin slices (1cm or smaller) and soak in lemon juice and cold water for 5 minutes before removing and drying them with a paper towel. This will keep them from turning brown. If you expect to eat them quickly, you can skip this altogether.
- Melt chocolate in a small glass bowl in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until melted. Alternatively, you can do this in a small pan on the stovetop over medium-low heat. If chocolate is too thick, you can add 1/2 teaspoon of oil to it to make it drizzle easier.
- Arrange apple slices on a serving tray. You can do this in any shape you want. If you want it to look like mine, do it in a tree shape, overlapping with the skin side on the bottom so it looks like branches.
- Drizzle caramel sauce over the top of the sliced apples in a zig zag pattern. Follow with the melted chocolate. I like to use a spoon to do this, starting at the top, working my way to the bottom. If you’re going for the tree shape, create a small rectangle at the bottom middle.
- Place M&MS along the line of chocolate or sprinkle wherever you want them.
- Place toasted slivered almonds at the top as the star or if you’re doing another shape, just sprinkle them all around as you see fit.
- Sprinkle with shredded coconut or other nuts or sweets and serve right away!
Storing Leftovers
This dish is best eating fresh and can’t really be prepped in advance very well. That being said, if you choose to soak the apples in lemon, this will reduce browning significantly. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and eat within 24 hours for best results.
Recipe Tips
- Want to try a different shape? You can arrange your caramel apple slices in a circle, rectangle or whatever shape your plate is in. OR my favorite – make it seasonal. For Valentine’s day, choose a red hued apple and arrange in a heart shape. You can use red, pink and white M&Ms or festive sprinkles. For fall, use Reeses pieces for their fall color and a peanut butter twist.
- Make sure to pat the apple slices dry or the caramel sauce will run right off them instead of sticking. If this happens, you can drizzle a little more and/or use the apples to scoop the extra caramel off the plate.
- Jarred thicker caramel will work better than the runnier kind that come in a squeeze bottle.
- Wax coating can keep the caramel from sticking to the apple slices. If your apples seem waxy, before slicing, wash the whole apples, scrubbing with a baking soda and vinegar paste.
Easy Caramel Apple Slices with Chocolate Drizzle
Equipment
- 1 Small bowl
- 1 Spoon
Ingredients
- 3 Granny Smith apples
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup caramel sauce
- 1/4 cups M&Ms or use sprinkles for the lights
- 1 Tbsp. toasted slivered almonds or use yellow sprinkles or yellow M&Ms
- 1/4 cup shredded coconut
Instructions
- Slice apples into thin slices (1cm or smaller) and soak in lemon water (1Tbsp. lemon juice to 1 cup water) for 5 minutes to prevent browning.
- Remove apples and dry them with paper towels or a clean kitchen towel.
- In the meantime, melt chocolate in a small glass bowl in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until melted. If chocolate is too thick, you can add 1/2 teaspoon of oil to it to make it drizzle easier. You can also do this in a pan on the stovetop instead over low heat, it will just take a little longer.
- Arrange apple slices on a serving tray in a tree shape, overlapping with the skin side on the bottom so it looks like branches.
- Evenly drizzle caramel sauce over the top.
- Drizzle chocolate in a zig zag pattern from top to bottom. I use a spoon for this.
- Place M&MS along the line of chocolate as Christmas lights.
- Place toasted slivered almonds at the top as the star or you can use yellow M&Ms or yellow sprinkles or a squirt of whipped cream, whatever works best for you.
- Sprinkle with other nuts or sweets if you’d like (we used sweetened shredded coconut) and serve right away!
Notes
Nutrition
did you make this recipe?
Make sure to follow on Pinterest @feastingnotfasting and on Instagram @feastingnotfasting
Leave a Review