However, many ready-made varieties contain artificial preservatives, flavorings, and high-fructose corn syrup.

I recommend taking the extra time to make the homemade caramel sauce.

It can be a little tricky to master but once you do you’ll love the flavor of homemade caramel sauce versus store-bought.

Caramel Apple Dip With Cream Cheese Recipe

TIP: When making a caramel sauce, pay careful attention as the color deepens from clear to amber.

If you allow it to cook too long, the sauce can become too dark and will have an unpleasant, almost “burnt” taste to it.

At that point, the only thing you can do is start over.

Caramel Apple Dip with Cream Cheese Ingredients

Crisp green and red apples, cut into wedges to serve
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1 8 oz. block cream cheese, softened
Salted caramel sauce* (recipe below or use your favorite prepared caramel sauce)
2/3 c. pecans, chopped

Salted Caramel Sauce Ingredients

½ c. heavy cream
1 c. white sugar
2 T. water
4 T. unsalted butter
1 t. fleur de sel salt

Caramel Apple Dip with Cream Cheese Directions

Preheat oven to the lowest setting.

In a glass bowl, toss sliced apple wedges with fresh lemon juice to prevent browning. Set aside.

To prepare the salted caramel sauce, warm the heavy cream in a small saucepan over low heat. (The goal is to slightly warm the cream because the cold dairy product can curdle when added to hot liquids).

Add the sugar and water to a heavy-bottomed oven-safe saucepan and stir to combine. Set spoon aside and do not stir the sugar mixture again.

Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. If sugar crystals remain on the sides of the pan, gently brush them back down with a moistened silicon baking brush.

Continue boiling until the mixture turns a nice amber color. If a dark spot forms on one side due to uneven heating, lift the pan and gently swirl until the color is even again. Return pan to the burner and reduce heat.

Slowly whisk in the warmed cream until thoroughly incorporated. Be very careful while doing so because the extremely hot sugar mixture will bubble up when the cooler cream is added.

Remove from heat and add butter and salt. Stir with a clean spoon until butter is totally incorporated into the mixture. Do not reuse the same spoon from earlier because reintroducing sugar crystals to the pan can cause your caramel sauce to crystallize as it cools.

Place the saucepan into the preheated oven until ready to use.

To assemble the dip, place block of softened cream cheese on a serving plate. Drizzle with caramel sauce and top with chopped pecans. Serve with crispy sliced apples and additional caramel sauce for dipping.

Salted Caramel Apple Dip Presentation

For a more decorative presentation, shape the block of cream cheese into a circle before topping with a liberal amount of caramel sauce.

Cover caramel-coated cream cheese circle entirely with chopped pecans, then arrange apple wedges around the cheese to form an edible “flower.”

The excess caramel sauce on the plate will help hold the apple slices in place.

Fabulous Caramel Recipes

We love caramel and these recipes do not disappoint!

Caramel Apple Crumbled Pie Recipe

Caramel Apple Crumbled Pie Recipe

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Caramel Heavenlies Easy Cookie Recipe

Caramel Heavenlies Easy Cookie Recipe

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Caramel Apple Round Up

Caramel Apple Round Up

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Easy Caramel Brittle Recipe

Easy Caramel Brittle Recipe

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Salted Caramel Strawberries

Salted Caramel Strawberries

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Salted Caramel Mocha Cake Pops #IDBaking

Salted Caramel Mocha Cake Pops

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Salted Caramel Pots de Creme with Whipped Cream and Sea Salt Recipe

Salted Caramel Pots de Creme with Whipped Cream and Sea Salt Recipe

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Gourmet Caramel Apples

Gourmet Caramel Apples

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Pumpkin Caramel Coffee Cake Recipe

Pumpkin Caramel Coffee Cake Recipe

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S'Mores Caramel Apple Recipe

S'Mores Caramel Apple Recipe

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Slow Cooker Caramel Spiced Apple Cider

Slow Cooker Caramel Spiced Apple Cider

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Reese's Pieces Caramel Cookie Bars

Reese's Pieces Caramel Cookie Bars

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My Must Have Caramel Apple Resources

Glass mixing bowl 

Small saucepan

Oven-Safe saucepan

Whisk

Pin Caramel Apple Dip with Cream Cheese to Pinterest

Although there are several steps required to assemble these tasty morsels, the results are well worth the effort.

I typically don’t share labor-intensive recipes like this but these are so good.

If you have some extra time you’ll be so glad you made these.

It takes some time to caramelize the onions, so this recipe is designed to give you plenty of left overs for your efforts.

What you don’t use in this recipe can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a week, or they can be frozen for later use.

They are great to have on hand, because they are absolutely delicious on sandwiches, in soups, or on top of your favorite pizza.

Savory Puff Pastry Bites with Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms Ingredients

1 package frozen puff pastry
2 eggs, beaten
flour, for rolling

Caramelized Onions:
4 large yellow onions
¼ c. unsalted butter
3 T. dry white wine
salt and pepper, to taste

Marinated Mushrooms:
8 oz. sliced baby Portobello mushrooms, cleaned and patted dry
¼ c. Marsala wine
salt and pepper, to taste
2 T. olive oil
8 oz. Applewood smoked cheddar, grated
3 T. fresh thyme, leaves only

TIP: Put the cheese in the freezer for 10 minutes before grating for best results.

Savory Puff Pastry Bites with Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms Directions

Thaw puff pastry overnight in the refrigerator.

In a medium glass bowl, combine mushrooms and Marsala wine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Toss to coat. Marinate for 20 minutes at room temperature. Drain excess moisture before cooking.

Heat 2 T. olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot, add marinated mushrooms and sauté until browned and tender, approximately 5 – 7 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl. Set aside.

To caramelize onions, slice off both ends and remove the papery outer layers. Cut onion in half lengthwise (from tip to root). Then cut each half across the middle to form four sections. Cut each section lengthwise into strips.

Tip: Don’t cut the onions too thin, or they may burn while cooking.

Over medium heat, melt butter in a large skillet with high sides. (For best results, do not use a non-stick pan). Add onions and stir with a wooden spoon until coated with butter.

Cook onions over medium heat for approximately 45 – 50 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so to ensure they cook evenly and don’t stick to the pan. The exact cooking time will vary based on several factors, including the age of the onions and how many you cook at one time.

Once the onions reach the desired depth of color, add white wine to deglaze the bottom of the pan. Add more liquid if necessary to scrape up all the brown bits and then salt and pepper the onions, to taste. Remove from heat and let cool in pan until ready to use. Once cool, transfer any unused onions to an airtight container for future use.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Cut thawed puff pastry dough in half and roll out on a lightly floured surface. With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the puff pastry sheet into 32 equally sized rectangles. (See picture). Transfer puff pastry pieces to a prepared baking sheet and place in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Repeat the above steps for the other half of the puff pastry.

Remove baking sheets from freezer and let sit for a couple of minutes before brushing each piece with the beaten egg.

Carefully arrange equal amounts of grated cheddar cheese, caramelized onions and sautéed mushrooms on each piece of puff pastry. Sprinkle each with fresh thyme leaves.

Place baking sheets in the preheated oven and bake for 10-15 minutes before rotating each baking sheet to ensure the pastry bites cook evenly. Continue cooking until the pastry is golden brown, approximately 8-10 minutes.

Yield: 64 appetizers
Total Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

MORE EASY PARTY APPETIZERS HERE

Pin Savory Puff Pastry Bites with Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms To Pinterest

These appetizers are crisp and delicious bites perfect for any upcoming holiday parties or as a side dish for your next family dinner.

Form small balls of rice from the leftover risotto and then roll the balls into flour, then egg and then panko. This can be a messy endeavor unless you remember to use one hand for the flour and panko and one hand for the egg.

If you don’t you’ll end up with panko crusted fingers.

Save a few calories by cooking these in an  Air Fryer. I started using an air fryer a couple years ago and I use it on an almost weekly basis. I love that it doesn’t require any oil, yet the air fryer cooks up food nice crispy just like you’d expect from cooking in oil.

It’s able to do this because there is a metal mesh cooking basket that allows the air to circulate completely around the food to evenly cook all your favorite foods.

 I love using the air fryer to “deep” fry foods. It saves lots of calories plus it doesn’t stink up the house like traditional oil frying.

I like to serve risotto balls with a side of marinara sauce, but they are just as delicious without the marinara sauce.

Pea & Sausage Risotto Balls Recipe

2 cups of chilled risotto
2 eggs, scrambled
2 cups of panko
1 cup of flour

Take a tablespoon of risotto and roll it into a ball. Roll all the risotto into similar sized balls.
Place the panko, flour and eggs into 3 separate shallow balls. Roll each risotto ball into the flour, then the egg and then the panko.
Place the coated balls into an air fryer and cook for 5-8 minutes until the risotto balls are crispy.
Serve hot.

Pin These Risotto Balls TO Pinterest:

Easy enough to make and only requires a few ingredients. These elegant appetizers look a lot more complicated than they actually are.

The trick is to use to prosciutto that is sliced thin enough to manipulate, but not so thin that it will fall apart as you work with it.

Prosciutto Baskets with Whipped Goat Cheese Filling Ingredients

12 slices thinly sliced prosciutto
4 oz. goat cheese, softened
4 oz. ricotta cheese
3 T. heavy cream
2 T. fresh thyme, leaves only
1/3 c. pistachios, chopped

Prosciutto Baskets with Whipped Goat Cheese Filling Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut prosciutto slices in half lengthwise to create 24 long, thin strips.

Spray a 24-cup mini-muffin tin with non-cook cooking spray.

Take one thin strip of prosciutto and place is across an empty cup, with the middle of the strip over the mid-point of the cup.

Press the center of the prosciutto strip into the bottom of the cup.

Carefully fold and wrap one end of the prosciutto around one interior side of the cup until it overlaps the prosciutto on the opposite side.

Repeat with the opposite side of the prosciutto so that the exposed muffin cup is covered to form a “basket.”

Repeat this process with the remaining 23 muffin cups.

Place muffin tin in preheated oven and bake for 9-10 minutes.

Keep an eye on them while they bake so they don’t overcook. The edges of the prosciutto will start to brown when ready.

Remove pan from oven and cool for a couple minutes before transferring each basket to paper towels to remove excess grease. Flip each basket after several minutes.

Once all excess oil has been removed, transfer baskets to a large plate.

In a small glass bowl, combine goat cheese, ricotta cheese, heavy cream, and thyme leaves. Stir or whisk until thoroughly combined.

Once prosciutto baskets are cool to the touch, transfer cheese mixture to a plastic sandwich bag. Cut a small tip off one corner and pipe cheese mixture into each prosciutto basket.

Top each cheese-filled basket with chopped pistachios. 

Transfer to a serving platter and serve immediately.

Tip: If possible, have your prosciutto sliced by your grocery store’s meat department instead of in the ready-sliced packages.

Servings: 24 appetizers
Total Prep Time: 30 minutes

More Appetizer Recipes

Fig Appetizers

Blueberry Goat Cheese Bites

Butternut Squash & Goat Cheese Rustic Pie

Arugula, Portabella & Feta Frittata 

4 Delicious Fig Recipes

Perfect Holiday Appetizers

Just toss all the ingredients into a slow cooker, turn it on, and viola! You have a tasty and delicious dish party-goers will love.

Adjust the amount of heat easily to suit individual tastes by increasing or decreasing the amount of hot sauce and jalapeno used.

My kids laugh at me because I leave all hot sauce and jalapenos out of my serving of chicken buffalo dip but add it in for everyone else. 

Although the serving suggestions offered below are gluten-free, this tasty dip can also be served with crackers or crusty bread.

Spicy Buffalo Chicken Dip

This spicy buffalo chicken dip recipe is a favorite in our house for parties and get-togethers with friends.  

Everyone loves the extra kick of spice, and it’s so easy to make.  You can definitely reduce the spice if you prefer, but we love to kick it up a notch or two.  

To make it even easier, you can mix this up using shredded rotisserie chicken!

Spicy Buffalo Chicken Dip Ingredients

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and black pepper, to taste
½ c. chicken broth
3 stalks celery, very finely chopped
2 8-oz. packages cream cheese
¾ c. Frank’s hot sauce
1 small jalapeno pepper, finely minced
6 oz. crumbled blue cheese, divided
1 c. Mozzarella cheese, finely shredded
3 green onions, tops sliced (optional)
1 small jalapeno, sliced (optional)

*Tip: You may need to add additional chicken broth before serving to achieve desired consistency.

MORE CROWD PLEASING APPETIZERS HERE

Spicy Buffalo Chicken Dip Directions

Season chicken breasts with salt and black pepper, to taste. Add chicken breasts, broth, celery, cream cheese, hot sauce, jalapeno pepper, and 4 oz. crumbled blue cheese to the crock of a 5 or 6-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or 6-7 hours on low.

30 minutes before serving, remove lid and shred chicken using two forks. Add shredded Mozzarella cheese and stir to combine. Add cover and continue cooking until cheese is completely melted.

Remove lid and garnish dip with remaining blue cheese, sliced green onions, or jalapeno, if desired. Keep warm and serve with celery stalks and carrot sticks.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 3-7 hours
Serves: 6-8

Make our spicy buffalo chicken dip with your favorite hot sauce and enjoy this at every party you host!

More Dip Recipes:

• Salted Caramel Apple Dip
• Spinach Tomato Dip
• Cheesy Spinach and Bacon Dip