Just in time for the fall season, Cocomels Coconut Milk Caramel Apples.
We're biased, yes, but OMG was this Cocomels Caramel Apple Recipe is good. Cocomels Coconut Milk Caramel Sauce is the perfect dairy free, indescribably delicious recipe which can be used in your favorite fall treats, AND year round!
Check out JJ's original Cocomels Caramel Sauce recipe below, and use it to this fall to make a vegan friendly version of seasonal favorite caramel apples.
Easy Dairy Free Caramel Apples
What you need:
- 1 to 1.25 pounds of Cocomels: unwrapped ones (around 6 pouches of Original Cocomels or Sea Salt Cocomels)
- 1/2 cup of canned coconut milk (not lite)
- Apples - this will cover about 4 apples, depending on their size
- Parchment paper cut into squares about 10", for every apple
- Some kind of apple stick (I like to cut up the apples at the end so a fork even works)
- A pot
- A heat-proof spatula
- optional but helpful - a candy or insta-read thermometer
Recipe:
- Prep the dipping area.
- Get apples washed (remove all fruit wax), and chill.
- Add coconut milk to the pot, on med-high heat, heat to almost boiling
- Slowly over about 5 minutes add the Cocomels to coconut milk while stirring. Careful - don't burn the Cocomel on the bottom of the pot. Depending on the pot you are using, this might be more likely to happen. That's why I use a copper pot, the heat gets well dispersed and I'm less likely to have super-hot spots where the Cocomel will burn. The idea here is to get all the Cocomels dissolved in the coconut milk and boiling as a thick luscious sauce. If you add them too quick they become a big hunk and it takes longer.
- Once all the Cocomel is dissolved, boil the sauce on medium heat until its temp reaches 230 degrees F. See my rigged method of using an insta-read thermometer… candymaker tricks. If you don't have a thermometer it is about 10 minutes-ish of boiling. Don't let it burn - stir. What we are doing is evaporating out the water from the coconut milk we just added. The more we evaporate out, the stiffer the Cocomel will be. It's sauce now, we want to get it to chewy, but not hard and brittle - so don't boil for too long.
- When Cocomel sauce reaches about 240 degrees F (or your best guess) (230 for Boulder, CO altitude) , remove from heat and get ready for dipping.
- CAUTION - THIS IS HOT LAVA! 240+ degrees and sticky. Serious burns are possible if you are not careful. Kids should be closely supervised, smaller ones should stay clear.
- Get your apples from fridge, insert stick
- Dip into Cocomel, covering apple up to the stick.
- Put on parchment square, fold up sides to keep as much hot Cocomel on the apple as possible
- Let cool fully - about 1 hour
- Remove parchment slowly - if still sticky, let cool for longer
- Use parchment paper to smooth the Cocomel and even out the coating.
- Enjoy your apples! See advanced moves below...
Advanced Moves
- Roll in nuts (or whatever your heart desires) - I like roasted pecans (300 degrees F for 6-10 minutes)
- Chop into pieces
- Roll onto apple
- Sprinkle with cinnamon
- Slice apple for easy consumption
- WOW!
- What else can you roll these in?
Adventure Move: Dairy Free Caramel Apple Dip
- Use your leftover Cocomel sauce as a dip for…. stuff.
- I tried a tortilla chip. Surprisingly good.
- I also tried Mary's Gone Crackers
- A Fennel stick (nope, that one went too far)
- What else could you dip in Cocomels sauce?
Let us know how it goes! Teach us your Cocomels tricks and tag @jjscocomels on social media!
Enjoy, JJ
(updated Sept 2021)