How about them Apples

If Fall had a flavor I would be hard pressed to find a better one than crisp bright apple. Right up there with changing leaves and cozy sweaters, this favorite of fruits with its red, green and golden hues epitomizes Autumn.

As a child, a sweetly coated caramel or candy apple was a special seasonal treat, although rarely completely eaten in one sitting. Sadly they don't store particularly well once bitten into, resulting in a discolored gooey mess and pouting faces the next day. To the rescue: the popular mini apple caramel treats showing up everywhere on recipe websites.

For my version, I switched out caramel for a more dental friendly peanut butter coating in the same toasty color and added a sprinkling of crushed peanuts.

You'll Need

Large ripe apples - any variety

Melon baller

Meltable flavored disks 

Oversized toothpicks or lollipop sticks

Fall leaves or accents

Easy as....

1) Using melon baller, scoop ball shapes out of widest part of apple

 2) Insert toothpick in mini apple and swirl in melted peanut butter mixture covering any peeled portion but leaving a bit of skin peeking out for that authentic caramel apple look.

3) dip into crushed peanuts and Voila!

 Let cool on wax paper or place them in mini cupcake liners, if desired

 I created a quick label using vintage images from the Graphics Fairy and hung from mini clothespins

There are lots of fun and fancy Fall party picks available at party and gourmet stores, but I opted to simply spruce up some of the oversize toothpicks with pressed small leaves from my yard or a few knots of twine.

If you have leftover melted peanut butter coating and crushed peanuts, you can make a quick peanut butter bark. Stir crushed peanuts into melted coating and spread onto wax paper

 Let cool completely and break into smaller sections

serve with the mini apples or pop in a mason jar as a sweet gift or favor.

PennyWise Tips

Waste Not: After creating mini apples with melon baller, the extra unused apple scraps can be diced and added to muffin batter or other recipes

White or dark chocolate or other flavor melts can be used as an alternative, if allergies or taste rule out peanut butter. sprinkles, walnuts or mini chocolate chips can stand in for crushed peanuts.