Making Toffee Apples (or Candy Apples for my American friends) is no easy feat when dealing with Paleo friendly sugars – making them red for one is near enough impossible due to the browning of coconut sugar. Secondly, coconut sugar loves to burn – it doesn’t handle like normal sugar – and I found that you have to throw out the regular sugar cooking temperatures and opt for the cold water testing method to get them right. Thankfully I’ve done all of the hard work so you won’t have to stand by your pan panicking about whether or not you’re going to ruin your beloved syrup.
These Poison Toffee Apples take a slightly healthier but eerie twist on the regular candy apple for a deliciously decadent Halloween treat.
Toffee Apples are sooooo easy to make and super quick too so please don’t be put off. They are sadly not a healthy treat, not by any means, but they are certainly healthier than the store bought ones themselves. I don’t know about you but when it comes to Halloween (or holiday seasons in general) I like to have a little bit of fun and indulge – but always on my own homemade treats of course.
I’ve made these vegan and Paleo friendly, and I used blackstrap molasses to add depth to the flavour, distract from the sweetness, and to add a little colour to the apples too. I’ve used a lot of natural food colouring but you really don’t have to go as wild as I did. If you’d prefer just drop the red – I liked the effect of having the red in there as it made the apples a little richer in colour but it really isn’t necessary to the overall colour.
These Poison Toffee Apples will definitely act as a showstopping centre-piece at any Halloween party and are perfect when coupled with my Ghostly Halloween White Chocolate Apples!
- 6-8 small Granny Smith apples
- 6-8 lolly sticks/skewers/tough twigs
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- ¼ cup raw honey or maple syrup
- 2 tbsp blackstrap molasses
- ½ cup water
- ¼ tsp vanilla powder
- 2 tbsp natural black food colouring
- 1 tbsp natural red food colouring (optional)
- Wash your apples and remove any stems by twisting them off. Gently skewer your apples with your sticks, firmly gripping the apple and pushing the stick no more than ⅔ of the way in to the apple. If any juice leaks out from the apple, blot with kitchen towel until the juice has gone. If you don't do this then you will find the chocolate will not coat your apple evenly!
- Line a baking tray with waxproof paper or non-stick baking parchment.
- In a saucepan over a medium heat, heat your coconut sugar, raw honey, black strap molasses, water, and vanilla powder stirring until the sugar dissolves. Clip a sugar thermometer or instant-read thermometer onto the side of the pan. Allow the syrup come to a full boil (do not stir) and cook the sugar syrup to just under soft crack temp stage - roughly 125°C/260°F. (Refer to the notes below to see how to check the syrup is ready.) If you find that your syrup is over done don't panic! Simply add a tbsp or two of water to the syrup and heat again until the desired texture is achieved.
- Remove from the heat and carefully stir in your black and red food colouring — the syrup will bubble up and sputter quite a lot so watch out!
- Dip and twirl your apples one by one through the toffee, shaking off any excess before placing on your lined baking sheet. Repeat until all of the apples are coated. Leave to cool for around 10 minutes before eating. Due to the nature of coconut sugar it is best to eat these on the day!
If you are finding it hard to coat the apples because the syrup has thickened then simply reheat the syrup on a low heat.
* All cup measurements used are UK cup measurements and so 1 cup = 250ml.
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