This viral caramel apple bar is the perfect way to let people make their own caramel apples with their favorite caramel apple toppings! It’s easier than making homemade caramel apples and doubles as a fun fall activity for everyone to do together!
We show you not only tons of the best candy apple toppings but also clever ways to keep the apples from browning, ways to dish up your toppings, and even more tips and tricks! It’ll help you create the best caramel apple bar ever.
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DIY Caramel Apple Bar
One of my favorite things to create is DIY food bars of some sort. I’ve already shared my hot chocolate bar, my ice cream sundae bar, and even a number of the best nacho bar ideas!
Make your own food bars are a great way to keep everyone happy because they get to choose what they want!
I also love me a good dessert board. And a good breakfast board. Really anything sweet on a board works for me, sweet or savory actually.
This caramel apple bar idea combines the idea of a food bar with the idea of a caramel apple board – two of the best things in one idea! People get to have all of the caramel apple toppings they could ever want, and they get to make their own candy apples!
I shared something similar with my apple party ideas a few years back but we made caramel apple nachos instead of caramel apple slices on a stick! Still delicious, just not quite as pretty!
Why you’ll love this
- Easy setup and clean up – since everything is contained in its own little container and all on a board, it’s way easier to setup and clean up afterwards! Just dump what’s leftover and put leftover apple slices in a bag!
- Fun activity – letting kids (and adults) dip their own apple slices is actually really fun and not as frustrating as dipping whole caramel apples (although that’s fun too!)
- Various flavors – one of the best things about this is that instead of having to choose just one flavor for your caramel apple, you can try a bunch of different flavors. Dip one slice in chocolate and nuts and then the next in caramel and Fruity Pebbles. You can’t go wrong when you’re just trying things out on one slice!
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
Okay so here’s the thing, when it comes to creating any sort of dessert board or food bar, the possibilities for ingredients are endless.
I’ve included a handful of different options for ingredients and what I used for this post below, but you’re welcome to get creative with your favorites! I also have a huge list of the best caramel apple toppings below to choose from as well!
The only real requirements for a DIY caramel apple bar are apples and caramel (it could even be caramel dip) of some sort!
- Caramel – I recommend using a jar of old-fashioned caramel because it coats the apples well.
- Chocolate melts – the Ghiradelli ones work best because they don’t harden quickly and are easy to work with! You can do white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate!
- Apples – Granny Smith, Jonagold, Honeycrisp all work really well for this but really you could use anything you want. I like to do a combination of red and green apples, just like I recommend to serve with my caramel apple dip!
Those are my personal preferences for the actual apple coatings. Then there are toppings and that’s where the possibilities really are unlimited.
Tip!
The best thing about making your own DIY caramel apple bar with apple slices instead of full apples is the ability to have a variety of options to choose from! Being able to try out different combinations from one apple slice with a nutty flavor and one apple slice with an extra drizzle of chocolate is really what makes this so much fun!
The best Caramel Apple Toppings
Stick with things that are smaller and work well to coat the apple slices. Here’s a huge list of ideas of caramel and candy apple toppings.
- Mini chocolate candies like mini M&Ms, mini Reese’s Pieces, and mini Buncha Crunch candies
- Mini chocolate chips of any flavor
- Nuts like chopped pecans, chopped peanuts, or even chopped pistachios could be amazing
- Cereals like Fruity Pebbles, crushed up Fruit Loops, or even Golden Grahams
- Crumbs of any kind like Oreo crumbs, graham cracker crumbs, or cookie crumbs
- Flavored seasonings like cinnamon sugar (like we used in our apple pie caramel apples), coarse salt, raspberry sugar
- Sprinkles of any kind
- Chopped up pieces of candy bars like Snickers, Twix, Heath Bars, Butterfingers, or even Reese’s
- Drizzles of melted butterscotch, chocolate, homemade caramel sauce, homemade hot fudge, or even marshmallow
- Other coatings like peanut butter, Nutella, and cookie butter
You’ll also need lollipop sticks like these ones. Don’t try to use regular skewers that are huge and expensive – the lollipop sticks do just fine!
Tip!
Host your own caramel apple bar making party and you provide the apples (and the caramel) and let everyone bring their favorite topping! It’s a fun way to let people get involved and know that you’ll have various toppings to choose from!
How to make a Caramel Apple Bar
Okay so putting together your caramel apple bar is pretty straightforward.
Start by getting yourself a board of some sort. I absolutely love one I got from Target but also have seen some pretty great options on Amazon here.
Or if you want to go all out with a larger board, I also love my Fab Slab board!
Since you’ll be putting everything in their own containers, it really doesn’t matter on that board as much! Just get one big enough to hold the things you want to serve for toppings!
Keep it nut free
If you know you have people who don’t like nuts or who have nut allergies, you can either just avoid nuts altogether if it’s a serious allergy or just create two smaller boards where one includes nut toppings and one is nut free! Nuts and candy apple toppings with nuts (like Snickers) are some of the more popular options so if you can just separate them, that’s a great option!
Place all of the toppings in a muffin tin or just put them in their own individual bowls if you’d rather – either one is totally fine! Put them all onto the board.
I also like to use different shapes and sizes of topping cups to give the board variety if you’re not doing the muffin tins. It’s really up to you!
Next, put the bowls that will have your dipping sauces in them on the board. You can keep them empty for now – you’ll want to add the melted dipping sauces at the last minute so they stay melted for as long as possible!
Slice your apples and dip them in the Sprite. You could also do lemon juice diluted with water but I’ve found the Sprite works just as well and doesn’t have the same tart taste!
Place the apple slices and the lollipop sticks on the board, filling in all of the space around your toppings and dipping sauce bowls.
If you have too many toppings, you could easily just do a bowl (or ziploc bag) on the side with the apples and a cup with the lollipop sticks!
Finish off the board by melting your chocolates and sauces and pouring them into their appropriate bowls right before you’re ready to serve! That’ll keep them melted enough for dipping!
If they harden at some point, just melt them again quickly!
Tip!
You can also make some dipped apple slices ahead of time and have them on the board with the others so people know what to do. This is also a good option if there is anyone who might be too busy chasing little kiddos to have time to do the dipping themselves. They can just grab the pre-made ones you already have set out! Not as fun but good in a time crunch!
Serve the board all setup and ready to go! Let people choose their apples, stick them onto lollipop sticks, and dip away. That’s the most fun part – trying out different types of toppings on apple slices!
Tips & tricks
Store leftover apples in a plastic zipper bag in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Plastic wrap everything else on the board (except the caramel – put that in the fridge) if you want to bring it out again in the next day or two! Just remelt the chocolate when you’re ready and set it all up again!
Use the apples to fill in the holes on the boards. You could also fill them in with larger candies just to finish off the space if you want to turn it into even more of a dessert board. Try things with caramel in them like caramel apple suckers, Rolos, and Twix Bars.
Melt the chocolate either in the microwave for 30 second increments or by double boiling on the stove until melted smooth. You want them to be completely smooth so that they dip well!
Pre-poke the apples with the sticks if you’re doing this with younger kids so that the apples and/or sticks don’t all get broken during the sticking process! It’s pretty easy for adults but can be more challenging for the kiddos!
Have other apple themed treats like this caramel apple bark on hand to eat while they’re waiting for their turn to dip!
Recipe FAQs
Can you refrigerate the dipped caramel apple slices?
Once the caramel apple slices are dipped, you can refrigerate them and enjoy them later since they’ve already been dipped in Sprite and should not brown. Make sure to do that before dipping them in the caramel! Otherwise, you should eat them right away so they don’t brown.
What are the best apples to use for caramel apples?
The best apples to use for caramel apples should have a good combination of sweetness and tartness to go along with the sweet toppings. In my experience making caramel apples, the best choices are granny smith, honeycrisp, fuji, and jonagold. These all have a nice combo of sweet and tart flavor.
More Easy Apple Recipes
If you like this caramel apple board idea, you’ll love these other fun apple recipes that would go well with it!
- Caramel apple dip – this cream cheese caramel apple dip went viral on Tiktok for a reason with its delicious flavor!
- Homemade apple pie – this delicious apple pie has a sweet filling on top of the most flaky pie crust, it’s homemade apple pie at its best!
- Caramel apple drink – if you’re looking for a fall mocktail, this one is always a big hit with both kids and adults!
- Easy apple crumble – warm apples topped with a crumbly and yummy topping, this one is even better served with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream!
- Caramel apple dump cake – all the flavors of caramel apples in the easiest dessert ever!
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Caramel Apple Board
Ingredients
- 4 apples sliced
- 5 small candies or toppings for topping
- 1 container old-fashioned caramel for dipping
- ½ cup white chocolate melts
- ½ cup milk chocolate melts
- 12 oz Sprite
Instructions
- Core and slice apples, removing seeds as necessary. Dip in Sprite.4 apples, 12 oz Sprite
- Put toppings into individual bowls, muffin tins, and containers. Place on a serving tray or board.5 small candies or toppings
- Melt chocolates in the microwave at 30 second increments or on a stove using a double boiler.1/2 cup white chocolate melts, 1/2 cup milk chocolate melts
- Place apple slices and lollipop sticks on the board.4 apples
- Add melted chocolate and caramel in bowls to the board. Serve while the chocolate and caramel are still melted and warm.1/2 cup white chocolate melts, 1/2 cup milk chocolate melts, 1 container old-fashioned caramel
- Let people make their own apple slices by dipping slices into caramel, chocolate, and their favorite toppings.
Tips & Notes:
- Mini chocolate candies like mini M&Ms, mini Reese’s Pieces, and even mini Buncha Crunch type candies.
- Nuts, mini chocolate chips, mini any other flavored chips, marshmallow bites (like the ones that go in hot chocolate bombs).
- Cereals like Fruity Pebbles, crushed Fruit Loops, or even Golden Grahams
- Different types of crumbs like graham cracker crumbs, Oreo crumbers, cookie crumbs
- Other toppings like cinnamon sugar, coarse salt, flavored sugars
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