Today's post is a quick snack idea! I had some leftover homemade caramel sauce from when I baked a Thanksgiving salted caramel apple pie from scratch, and I have been debating what I should do with it before it goes bad (in 3 weeks or so). You are supposed to make more sauce than what you need to make the actual pie (in order to reduce chances of burning), so I had about half of what I made for the pie leftover. The Four and Twenty Blackbirds pie book suggests re-heating it and drizzling it over ice cream sundaes (which isn't a bad idea), but I personally don't eat as much ice cream during the colder months / when snow starts falling. I thought about potentially making another pie, but decided against it since it takes so much time to do it and there really isn't any special occasion / holiday to bake it for this time around. I also didn't think my family wanted to eat the same exact pie so soon again -- it would almost detract from how special the first one was, haha.
With all of that in mind (and me not wanting to just throw out the extra golden goodness), I tried to come up with some other way to eat the caramel. I thought about making (whole) caramel apples, but didn't want to go buy the sticks to stick through the apples (lol… #toocheap #toolazy) - and, I also wasn't sure who would be eating these caramel apples if I made them. I didn't think my family would really touch them at all if I made them actually… haha. So instead - I improvised and decided that I would just slice the apple(s) and dip them in the sauce as a snack for myself. This eliminates the need for the sticks and allows you to eat the apples on an "as-needed" basis. I would only slice and dip what you are going to eat as they will probably turn brown if you dip them and try storing them in the fridge hours / days beforehand. In general, it's also a lot easier to eat them as slices as opposed to off the stick. It's also the same flavor combo too - so nothing is lost in that department either! ;) I recommend using granny smith (or another kind of sour apple) - as it balances out the sweetness of the caramel better than a sweeter apple such as a red delicious would. However, if you have a mega sweet tooth, then feel free to go for a bit of a sweeter apple. It's totally up to you! I also sprinkled the slices with a little bit of cinnamon (because apples and cinnamon should basically be married), which added a yummy (and pretty) little kick! It was a delicious and quick little snack… that was moderately healthy. ;) (your dentist might disagree though… ha)
For more details on what you need to make the homemade caramel sauce, you can check out my previous salted caramel apple pie post! You could also use store-bought caramel if you are too lazy to make it from scratch. I totally won't judge you.
Happy snacking! :D