Every once in a while you come across a recipe that’s a real winner. It’s easy, it has only a few ingredients, it’s pretty enough to serve company or take to a holiday gathering and it tastes delicious. This caramel apple cream cheese appetizer is definitely one of those recipes! It’s amazing what flavors come together with four simple ingredients!
Last weekend I hosted a “Fall Happy Hour,” (which was so much fun, by the way), and I served this recipe as one of my appetizers. I thought, with its scrumptious blend of sweet and salty flavors, that the ladies would love it, but much to my surprise, I had far more comments from the guys (although I saw plenty of ladies eating it, too).
The trick to making this recipe a real standout is the caramel. Although you can use ordinary store-bought caramel from the grocery store (which I’m sure would be yummy, too), I opted to use gourmet salted caramel from Whole Foods, which was absolutely delicious. Also, as opposed to using plain toffee (which, again would be great), I ended up improvising and bought Chapel Hill Pecan & Dark Chocolate Toffee from Whole Foods and boy am I glad I did! The combination of the cream cheese, salted caramel, and toffee with a hint of dark chocolate paired with apples was amazing!
So, when you’re shopping for ingredients for this recipe, feel free to grab easy, off-the-shelf brands from your local grocery store or go for gourmet for a slightly different flavor! Whatever your taste buds are calling for!
This little appetizer is perfect for Thanksgiving, holiday gatherings, potlucks, office parties or any other gathering or event! And, what’s really great about it is that you can serve this as a precursor to an amazing meal or as a simple, yet elegant dessert after dinner. It’s also easy enough to whip up on a weeknight and surprise your family!
Recipe adapted from: She Wears Many Hats
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 1/2 cup caramel (regular or gourmet salted)
- 1/2 cup plain toffee or dark chocolate toffee bits (or more)
- sliced apples
Instructions
- Place block of cream cheese on a small serving dish. Using a knife, carve out an indentation in the center of the cream cheese so it will hold more caramel. Carefully pour caramel sauce into the indentation in the cream cheese making sure you drizzle caramel off the sides of the cream cheese as well. Sprinkle with a generous helping of toffee bits.
- Serve with sliced apples and/or pears
NOTES:
I used gourmet salted caramel and Chapel Hill Pecan & Dark Chocolate Toffee - both from Whole Foods (see image of Chapel Hill Toffee box below) and the flavor was fantastic! The toffee came in small bars and I simply put 4 bars in a small baggie and pounded them into small pieces. This recipe is best served immediately after pouring the caramel on top of the cream cheese. Lastly, because apples have a tendency to brown quickly, I suggest buying the pre-cut apples from the grocery store which won't brown. Otherwise, you can lightly coat apples in lemon juice to prevent browning.
