Caramel Apple Board

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Caramel Apple Board is packed with fun toppings and a delicious peanut butter caramel.  Made with brown sugar, the caramel sauce is simple to make and tastes delicious.

#HalloweenTreatsWeek and the giveaway included in this post are sponsored by Dixie Crystals. All opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands that make A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures possible.

I have a love hate relationship with caramel. And this was supposed to “easy” caramel by using brown sugar. Everything was going well until I reheated it for the photo shoot. So, you’ve been warned. It might be a little runnier if you reheat it too much. Of course, in hindsight I don’t think it needed to be reheated. But hindsight is always 20/20.

That’s never a good way to start a recipe post. I’m sure. But I like to point out my mistakes, so you don’t make the same ones. And with this recipe, I tried it three times. The third time I achieved the flavor and consistency I was looking for. Well, until I reheated it. But I won’t beat that to death like some accuse me of doing.

 

Does brown sugar go bad?

It’s a good thing I have a bunch of brown sugar. And that might have been part of my downfall because I’m sure most of it is past it’s use by date. But it’s sugar. Can it really go bad? I know molasses or sorghum can. I found that out the hard way. But can brown sugar go bad?

There are no living organisms in brown sugar so technically it cannot go “bad” per se. If it’s not stored in an airtight container in a cool dry place it might start to clump. And, well, if it encounters water or other moisture all bets are off. Even if it does start to clump there are tricks to help fix that problem. But stored properly it can last well past the “use by” date on the bad.

Even knowing all of this, I still had issues with the caramel for this caramel apple board. So, it must have been used error. Which is why this user was persistent and tried this recipe three times. The first two times turned out horrible. The first one crystalized and no matter how many times I recooked it would not smooth out.

The second time? Let’s just say that was very fun. I got all the way through the recipe, and it didn’t crystalize. YAY! So, I poured it into the same jar I used all day after making this recipe. I checked it a little later after it cooled and, well, it was hard caramel. Yup. I cooked the brown sugar too long and made peanut butter hard caramel. I wish I had cooled it in a different container because I totally would have eaten those suckers.

So, there I was standing over the sink with a case knife trying to get the hard caramel out of the jar. I tried hot water, but the case knife was the best tool to pry it out of the jar. It took me quite some time to pry it out of there, too. Of course, I was cursing myself the whole time knowing full good and well that I had overcooked the brown sugar. And I’m still shaking my head.

Third time is a charm, as they say!

I still have plenty of brown sugar. Even after using a little over a bag for this recipe. I ran out of butter and whipping cream. So, I had to make this batch work for my caramel apple board. I watched it like a hawk. And I didn’t stir it at all. It just did it’s thing in the pan simmering away for a good 2 to 3 minutes. Then I removed the pan and added the cream. Looked pretty good so far.

I stirred in the vanilla and the peanut butter powder. Still looked good. It had good consistency when it cooled. Now. I just had to wait to see if it would crystalize. It might have been the stirring the first time that broke it. Or maybe it was the peanut butter powder that made it crystalize. Who knows? All I know is the third batch looked good and tasted good. I poured it into the jar and waited.

I moved on to another recipe and circled back a little later. It still had good consistency. And it didn’t crystalize! YAY! But it was a little thicker than I wanted for the photo shoot, so I heated it up a little. A LITTLE! But a little too much. And I didn’t have the patience to wait for it to cool down so I could photograph it the way I wanted to.

So, it’s a little runny in the photos. I’m sure you can’t tell, but I can. And it totally dripped into the mini Reese’s. And made a mess in the peanuts. But c’est la vie! Such is the life of a food blogger. I could have coated the apples and then put them in the freezer then dipped them, but I didn’t. My body was tired and I didn’t have the patience to do all of that.

What does peanut butter caramel taste like?

Heaven. If you’re a peanut butter lover like me, it will taste like pure heaven. There’s the rich caramel flavor that’s all butter and delicious. Then you packed the punch of peanut butter to that it’s heaven on an apple. Of course, I’m a total peanut butter lover so of course I would say that. But it’s true. It is heaven.

And since I usually have peanut butter and apples together, it was a no brainer for me to make peanut butter caramel for this board. Oh, and if you want, you could totally melt some peanut butter to dip the apples in, too. That would be oh so delicious. Did I say I love peanut butter?

I’m not the best at designing boards. In fact, I don’t think I’ve made a “board” yet. But I’m sure it’s something you have to practice at. But I do like the board that this caramel apple board is on. It’s Nana’s board. I think it came out of her kitchen cabinet way back in the day. When the kitchen cabinet was a huge piece of furniture that was like a pantry. It held flour, had a work surface, and a slide out cutting board. 

Oh, and I thought the marshmallows were more mini that those. Now I have a bag and a half of “mini” marshmallows. I guess some cereal treats are in order. Maybe with the mini Reese’s candies? Who knows? But something involving peanut butter. And maybe some apples? We’ll see.

Check out all of these great #HalloweenTreatsWeek recipes for today

• Blood Splatter Donuts from Semi Homemade Recipes
• Black Velvet Cupcakes from Jen Around the World
• Churro Cupcakes from Devour Dinner
• Halloween Sweet Treats Board from Cookaholic Wife
• Caramel Apple Board from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Pumpkin Snickerdoodles from Our Good Life