Fall Recipes: Hot Apple Cider and Caramel Apples

It’s September! That means that this hellaciously hot summer is SO close to being over. Woot woot. I’m so ready for football, hoodies, Uggs, Pumpkin Spice Frappuccinos, breezy weather, and fall baking! Baking in the Fall and Winter is like my favorite thing to do. Of course, it’s still hot outside so I settled for some no-bake fall recipes this weekend. Awww yeah.

I was browsing Pinterest the other day and saw these super cute caramel apples. I’ve never made them before and assumed that it would be easy peasy lemon squeezy (as my niece would say). I was WRONG. Never again will I trip over a $10 price tag on a caramel apple. Uh-uh. It’s worth every single penny. Because those things are not as easy as they look. Now, if you’ve been a reader for a while, you may remember my last bout with caramel didn’t go so well.

This time around… wasn’t much better. But this time, after my own quick and embarrassing failure, I consulted with my mother and she suggested I use a mini Crockpot to cook the caramels. Genius. That woman is always coming up with genius solutions for me. I probably should’ve taken her to the store with me, she would’ve had better ideas than I did.

Guess what? They came out freaking amazing. I didn’t dip them though, my mother did. Because I’m never meant to handle caramel. I get along very well with chocolate. I understand it’s temperament. Chocolate and I have such a beautiful understanding of each other. Caramel, on the other hand, is a jerk. It has no respect for me and my prowess in baking. It makes a damn fool out of me every single time I use it. Jerk.

So you know what I did? I covered these beautiful little caramel apples in chocolate. Tons and tons of chocolate. Not just any chocolate, but some yummy Milk Chocolate M&M’s. And they are the #HarvestFun kind with the decorative bag and warm fall colors.

Take that you temperamental glop of sugar! Who’s laughing now? Me! Bwahahahaha. If you’re not a baker, I don’t expect you to understand my hatred for this particular sugary substance. Don’t judge me.

Anyway, once I got this caramel apple gooeyness into the fridge I decided to make something a little less sugary. I had some spare apples that never got dipped and thought I would turn my kid’s regular ol’ Mott’s Apple Juice into something a little more Fall-ish.

The mini Crockpot was still on the counter so I started filling it with anything and everything that reminded me of the autumn months. In went tons of apple juice, cinnamon, cloves, honey, and a little sugar. I wanted it to be a little extra treat for the kids, so I hallowed out some apples and set about making ‘cups’. It was actually super easy and totally cute.

I mean, c’mon. This took about 10 minutes from start to finish and the kids went bananas over them. I added a cinnamon stick and some star anise for a little added zing. These are perfect for kids and adults. I was surprised by how delicious the cider was. I was seriously just throwing things together but WHOA I’m obviously a super secret cider making specialist. The recipe to this little bad boy is below. You’re welcome.

Now go! Go and bring some Fall into your home. Turn your M&M’s and Mott’s Apple Juice into something extra special this season. And be sure to snag these coupons for M&M’s and Mott’s!

Remember, that caramel is a real jerk… so watch your back.