Mini "Caramel" Apples

We were lucky to be invited to a Friendsgiving dinner and asked to bring a dessert that was neither a pumpkin or chocolate pie. The girl and I decided to try to make these Mini "Caramel" Apples, per FamilyFun magazine.

After scooping out "mini apples" from Granny Smiths with a melon baller and piercing it with a lollipop stick cut on a diagonal, we squeezed the mini apple dry so the melted chocolate would stick to it.

Working with melted chocolate was best, the melted peanut butter chips were second, and the butterscotch chips (which we could melt all the way) were a clumpy mess.

Then it was ready for decorating:

We rolled it in various toppings, like toffee bits, coconut, cashew dust (which was supposed to be chopped cashews but we overdid it in the Magic Bullet), and sprinkles.

These are the toffee bits:

And wha-la, mini caramel apples!

I would emphasize one note of caution: these are best enjoyed within a few hours, because despite best efforts to dry the exposed apple, the juice from the apple will eventually cause a mushy, chocolatey mess at the bottom (similar to chocolate covered strawberries that aren't inhaled immediately), which isn't so appetizingly cute.

You're able to get quite a few mini apples out of each apple (about 8), so it doesn't take many big apples to produce a lot of mini ones.

Cute and tasty--*if you eat them soon after you make them!