These Caramel Apple Nachos are a quick and easy dessert to satisfy your sweet tooth with very little preparation. Crisp apple slices are drizzled with homemade caramel sauce, then covered in crushed Oreos, chopped candy bars and any of your other favorite toppings.
If you're looking for more caramel apple recipes, you can also try our Homemade Caramel Apples, Cream Cheese Caramel Apple Dip, or this fun Snickers Apple Salad.
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Caramel Apple Nachos
When you’re craving caramel apples but are short on time, just throw together a batch of these caramel apple nachos. Yes—we call them nachos, but no oven or baking is involved.
There's also no need to worry about caramel sauce sticking to the apples, messy dipping, or waiting for anything to set. Just slice your apples, drizzle with warmed caramel sauce, and sprinkle with your favorite toppings.
This is a great after school snack or dessert to serve at your next holiday party. You could even set out bowls to let guests top their own with any of our suggestions below. Let us know what you tried!
Ingredients You Will Need
- Apples - our favorite apples to use are Granny Smith. These crisp, tart green apples pair perfectly with sweet toppings like caramel and Oreos. Other crisp and tart apples like Honeycrisp or Fuji would work well.
- Lemon Juice - soaking the apples in cold lemon water helps keep them from browning.
- Butter - you can use unsalted or salted butter, depending on how “salted” you want your caramel to be.
- Brown Sugar - we use a combination of both white granulated sugar and light brown sugar for this recipe. You can use dark brown sugar, too, which will make a slightly darker caramel sauce.
- Karo Syrup - this is sometimes called corn syrup. It’s added in order to keep the sauce from getting grainy.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk - this keeps the caramel sauce super soft. Sidenote—be sure you purchased sweetened condensed and not evaporated milk!
- Toppings - along with Caramel Sauce, this recipe calls for using crushed Oreos, chopped Butterfinger candy bars and mini chocolate chips. Other tasty Apple Nacho topping ideas include peanut butter, melted marshmallows, toasted nuts, chopped Snickers bars and M&Ms.
How to Make Apple Nachos
- Make the caramel sauce. See our full post on making Homemade Caramel Sauce, or else melt caramels or buy your favorite brand from the store.
- Prepare apples. In a large bowl, add the cold water and lemon juice and mix. Wash, core and slice the apples into thin slices, then add to the lemon water for about 10 minutes before assembling. After 10 minutes, drain the water and pat the apples dry with a towel.
- Add toppings. Arrange the apples on a large baking sheet or platter. Drizzle with Caramel Sauce, then top with crushed Oreos, Butterfingers, mini chocolate chips or any of your favorite toppings.
- Serve immediately. Enjoy!
More Topping Ideas
This recipe is honestly a bit of a blank slate. There are so many variations to be made so feel free to get creative. Here are a few of our favorites:
- Add chocolate chips! White chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, or any other of your favorite flavors.
- Sprinkle crushed Oreos over the apple nachos before eating.
- Literally any candy bars or chocolate candy will taste good here, including Snickers, M&Ms, Reese’s and Twix.
- Sprinkle with toasted nuts and drizzle with peanut butter or even Nutella.
- Either sprinkle mini marshmallows over the top, melt marshmallows and butter to make a gooey sauce, or use marshmallow fluff.
- Want to make a healthy variation? Drizzle with peanut butter and honey and top with toasted nuts and mini chocolate chips.
Frequently Asked Questions
Personally, I like tart, crisp apples such as Granny Smith, Pink Lady or Honeycrisp for my Apple Nachos. They pair well with sweet toppings and tend to stay fresh longest.
The best way is to make sure you cut them just before using and then plop them into a bowl of ice cold lemon water. If you like things extra tart, you can also squeeze straight lemon juice over the apples slices in a bowl and toss.
Absolutely! If you don’t have the time, feel free to melt caramels gently in your microwave, or even purchase caramel sauce from the store.
Apple Nachos Recipe
Ingredients
Caramel Sauce for Apple Nachos
- 1 cup Butter
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 cup Light Brown Sugar
- 1 cup Karo Syrup
- 1 14-oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Apple Nachos Ingredients
- 6 large Apples sliced thin
- 3 cups Cold Water
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
- 12 Oreo Cookies crushed
- 2 full-sized Butterfinger Bars chopped
- 1 cup Mini Chocolate Chips
Instructions
Caramel Sauce for Apple Nachos
- In a heavy bottomed sauce pot over medium heat, add the butter, sugar, brown sugar, Karo syrup, sweetened condensed milk and salt.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring with a flat bottomed wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Be sure and scrape the bottom of the pan constantly until all of the sugar is dissolved and the butter is melted.
- Increase to high heat and cook the caramel mixture, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes, or until it reaches 220 degrees F on a candy thermometer.
- Once it reaches 220 degrees, remove from the heat immediately to stop the cooking. Allow it to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. Or, cool completely and then store.
How to Make Apple Nachos
- In a large bowl, add the cold water and lemon juice and mix. Wash, core and slice the apples into thin slices, then add to the lemon water for about 10 minutes before assembling.
- After 10 minutes, drain the water and pat the apples dry with a towel.
- Arrange the apples on a large baking sheet or platter. Drizzle with Caramel Sauce, then top with crushed Oreos, Butterfingers, mini chocolate chips or any of your favorite toppings. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Nutrition
More of Our Favorite Caramel Recipes
- Caramel Apple Punch
- Caramel Pecan Pie
- Easy Caramel Cinnamon Rolls
- Caramel Pecan Monkey Bread
- Homemade Caramel Popcorn
- Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Rods
- Cream Cheese Caramel Apple Dip
- Homemade Caramel Apples
- More Homemade Desserts
- More Homemade Sauces
This Apple Nachos Recipe is perfect for when a caramel apple craving hits but you are short on time. It's made with thinly sliced crisp apples drizzled with homemade caramel sauce and covered in crushed Oreos, chopped candy bars and any of your other favorite toppings.
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