Caramel Apple Spread

Why This is the Best Recipe

I love easy treats I can whip together quickly when entertaining. I think this is the best caramel apple spread recipe because:

1. 5 Ingredients: Most of them are easy to keep on hand for last-minute assembly.
2. Portable: Heading to a potluck? This is such an easy dish to bring.
3. Kid-Friendly: Everyone at you party will love this sweet dessert.

Ingredients

This crazy easy snack board only needs 5 ingredients:

1. Fresh Apples: You can use your favorite apples but my family prefers crunchy honeycrisp apples, sweet pink ladies, or tart granny smith apples. It would be fun to mix up a few different ones for the platter.
2. Cream Cheese: I used a full-fat cream cheese. A lighter cream cheese doesn't hold up as well at room temperature but you could still absolutely use it if you prefer.
3. Caramel Sauce: I bought the thickest jarred caramel sauce I could find so that it wouldn't run off the sides of the cream cheese. My homemade salted caramel sauce is absolutely delicious but much thinner. If you would prefer to use that homemade recipe, I would maybe recommend serving it in a bowl on the side for dunking rather than trying to use it over the top.
4. Chopped Pecans: I used salted chopped pecans to top the caramel but there are several nut-free substitutions you could use. See my notes below.
5. Lemon Juice: I just used a fresh lemon I had on hand. Prepared lemon juice would work just fine, too. If you don't have either one, a tiny splash of orange juice would work the same.

Soften the Caramel

Look at how thick the caramel sauce I found at the grocery store is! I could swirl it with my butter knife and it would hold shape:

To make the caramel easier to spread over the cream cheese, I popped the jar into the microwave for just 15 seconds.

Long enough to warm it up just a bit so that I could stir it more easily with my knife. I wanted it still pretty thick and spreadable.

Assemble the Spread

Pick your pretty plate, platter, or snack board out. You'll want to place the brick of cream cheese right on the plate you'll serve it from.

Let it come to room temperature for 10 - 20 minutes.

Then spread the caramel sauce over the top.

Sprinkle the chopped pecans (or other fun caramel apple toppings) on top.

Variations

Chopped pecans add a little bit of salty crunch to the recipe but there are several substitutions and variations you could make:

Pick a Nut: You could swap the pecans with chopped almonds, chopped walnuts, or chopped cashews.

Nut-Free Toppings: Skip the nuts and choose one of these sweet add-ons:

• Mini Chocolate Chips
• Butterscotch Chips
• White Chocolate Chips
• Mini M&Ms
• Chopped Toffee Candies

Prepare the Apples

Slice the fresh apples very thinly, about 1/4-inch thick. Add them to a mixing bowl with room for tossing.

Sprinkle the lemon juice over the top and swish the apples around to coat. This will help prevent them from turning brown as they sit on the platter.

I prefer to slice the apples just before serving so they stay nice and crispy cold.

Serving Suggestions

You could serve this fun apple recipe as a simple family movie night snack, bring it to a football party potluck, or serve it on the buffet table at any fall holiday.

For Halloween, I would consider adding a pile of candy corn and seasoned pretzels to the platter.

For Thanksgiving, you could add a pile of my pumpkin spice pecans to bulk up the snack board.

For Christmas, I would use red and green M&Ms or mini chocolate chips and add a pile of thin chocolate wafer cookies to the snack board.