This recipe is Kid Approved for this Candy Apple Dipping Bar! What’s not to like?! Creating an interactive experience for children to dip apple slices into soft caramel and toppings, will be a crowd pleaser. Parents love the fresh fruit and the softer alternative to toffee! At the very least, it shouldn’t be necessary to go to the dentist for chipped teeth!
Don’t just reserve this idea for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Fall. Adjust this recipe and serve it year round. Young and old alike will enjoy it, as it will generate new memories. After all, who doesn’t remember sinking their teeth into a toffee apple at a Fall Festival or summer carnival?
Ingredients
The ingredients in this recipe are simple: apples + Dulce de Leche + toppings
- No Candy Apple Bar would be possible without apples. Choose your favorite eating apple. I chose Washington Red Delicious, because their size was perfect, and they are sweet and juicy.
- Dulce de Leche made from condensed milk, find this recipe here.
- Any topping works. Think about what sounds good on an apple slice with a little Dulce de Leche. Chop bulkier toppings like peanuts. Making them finer in texture, improves their stickability. I used butter toffee peanuts, white chocolate chips, mini bittersweet chocolate chips, Reeses filled M&Ms and Heath bar pieces (English toffee and milk chocolate.) I also included worms, gummi worm, which seemed appropriate. How many toppings are needed? I would say around 4 or 5 is a good amount.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions for Candy Apple Dipping Bar
Make the Dulce de Leche, it’s easy and worth it!
Recipe for Dulce de Leche can be found here.
One ingredient and 35 minutes in the Instant Pot. Don’t worry if you don’t have an Instant Pot, there are also instructions for stovetop and slow cooker as well.
Wash the apples. Apples naturally produce their own wax. Sometimes apples are washed before shipping and this natural wax is removed. Produce distributors reapply a thin coating of new food grade wax to replace what was lost. Interesting stuff – you can read more here.
Washing the apples in a bowl of warm water with a tablespoon of white vinegar, removes the wax (whether natural or factory applied) and cleans the apple. Dry with a clean cloth.
Chop any bulky toppings that are too big to stick onto the apple. These may include nuts, marshmallows, and larger candies.
Skewer some whole apples for anyone preferring an entire apple.
Slice apples prior to consumption. No need for lemon juice to be added. Lemon juice, while useful for reducing oxidation (apple turning brown), is an unnecessary addition of moisture. The Dulce de Leche will not adhere as well if the apple is too moist. Start cutting apple slices as soon as everyone is ready.
Skewer the apple slices and let the dipping begin!
Flexibility of Ingredients
Apples, use any type of eating apple you like. These include Jonagold, Cameo, Empire, McIntosh, Golden Delicious, Fuji, Cortland, Red Delicious, Gala, Granny Smith, and Braeburn to name a few.
Feel free to use traditional toffee or chocolate to coat the apple slices. The only problem with using these substitutions is that they both have to be warm / hot in order for them to be useful. Since toffee and chocolate are not pliable at room temperature, they are ineffective for dipping. The only solution is to have an adult dip the slices into the hot toffee or chocolate. This takes away the whole goal of having the kids do it all themselves. Room temperature Dulce de Leche will not burn hands or tongues, so kids can have a little independence during dipping time.
There are so many toppings available, too many to name, but here are a few.
- coconut flakes
- any nuts are good, but chop larger nuts, like Brazil nuts
- candies like M&Ms, Skittles, candy corn (chopped up)
- chocolate covered raisins
- chocolate bars like Butterfinger, Nestle Crunch Bars, and chocolate mints
- dried fruits like pineapple, mangos, and cranberries
- cookies like Oreos, chocolate chip cookies, gingersnaps, butter cookies
- the list goes on ……….
Make sure to ask about allergies prior to inviting friends over to your Kid Approved Candy Apple Dipping Bar, especially when it comes to nut or dairy allergies. If someone in the group has a dairy allergy, consider making Dulce de Leche with condensed coconut milk. More information about that on the recipe page for Dulce de Leche.
Uses for a Kid Approved Candy Apple Dipping Bar
This is a great idea for a Fall time party -like a Fall Festival, Halloween or Thanksgiving get together. Serving an interactive Dipping Bar will delight any kiddo (and adult alike!) Also consider serving Pumpkin Spice White Chocolate Cocoa Bombs as well.
Don’t keep this recipe on the back burner for Fall only, as this apple slice dipping bar can be served year round. Simply adapt your toppings to reflect this. Therefore mini eggs would be a great addition as a bar topping in Spring time, consequently candy corn is best suited for a Fall dipping bar.
Equipment
Use an Instant Pot for the Instant Pot One Ingredient Dulce de Leche recipe.
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Storage
Purchase the toppings in advance and store in a cool area, such as a pantry.
For information how to store the Instant Pot One Ingredient Dulce de Leche, please refer to the recipe.
Apples, store them in the refrigerator to retain their crispness. Remove them a few hours before serving to reach room temperature.
Leftovers? – no need to worry about that since there won’t be any!
A Tip From Me
This tip will decrease the quantity of sweet treats in your home. You only buy what you need for the apple slice bar.
When purchasing toppings, take a trip along the bulk aisles in your local grocery stores, assuming they have bulk aisles. There’s usually a large choice of goodies and I tend to only buy the quantity I need, with no extra, which is a good thing!
Got Questions?
I’ve got answers – hopefully!
- I want a healthier version of this Kid Approved Candy Apple Dipping Bar, what do you suggest? Replacing the Dulce de Leche with yogurt, peanut butter or raw honey, only using organic apples and offering toppings like dried fruits, and nuts should help make things a bit healthier. As a result of these substitutions, this type of bar could appear at a breakfast or brunch buffet.
- How do you discourage kids from double dipping? Yes, that is a concern having children eat a piece of their dipped apple and then continue dipping their now ‘saliva ringed apple’ into the Dulce de Leche and toppings again. I recommend having an adult or two ‘manning’ the station. It also helps to have an adult present to help with the dipping of the Dulce de Leche. I find that spreading it on with a knife is very effective.
- What is the difference between candy apples, caramel apples and apples made with Dulce de Leche? Candy apples have a harder coating made from sugar and corn syrup. Caramel apples have a caramel coating made from brown sugar, heavy cream, butter, and corn syrup. Dulce de Leche apples have the softest coating, texture wise, of these three. It will harden in the fridge but won’t harden as much as a candy apple. Being a softer coating, it works best for this DIY dipping bar. No one will get burnt and kids gain a little independence not having an adult do everything for them.
Food safety
Always remember, if using hot Dulce de Leche, melted chocolate or traditional toffee, never let a child handle (or worse lick) these hot substances, always exercise caution. Adult supervision is required.
Serving Dulce de Leche at room temperature takes the worry out of the whole experience. The only thing that may happen, is that the kiddos will get ‘sugared up!’
Recipe for Kid Approved Candy Apple Dipping Bar
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 eating apples
- 1 can condensed milk 14 oz
- 15 oz assorted toppings 5 toppings x 1 tbsp x 6 people
Instructions
- Follow the recipe for Dulce de Leche. https://prepareandserve.com/instant-pot-one-ingredient-dulce-de-leche/
- Remove the Dulce de Leche from the cans and allow it to cool in a bowl that is good for dipping.
- Arrange toppings in a individual bowls.
- Soak apples in a bowl of warm water with 1 tbsp of white vinegar (optional), then dry the apples thoroughly.
- Have wooden skewers / sticks on hand. When guests are ready, cut the apple slices, remove the cores and skewer them. Alternatively, keep some apples whole too.
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