Caramel Apple Bark brings together everything you love about caramel apples in an easy to make, and easy to eat, chocolate bark. With just four ingredients and only 15 minutes of hands-on time, this decadent bark delivers big on both flavor and fun. Friends and family will be wowed when they see this incredible treat.
Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe
- Skip the sticks and messy dipping, all it takes to make this recipe is some microwaving, stirring and spreading.
- This bark gives that great caramel apple flavor without the awkwardness of eating a gooey caramel covered apple on a stick. If there is a neat and polite way to do that, please let me know!
- Bite size pieces! Caramel apples tend to be a giant treat. I love how this bark delivers the same flavors in easy to manage bit size pieces.
- It’s fun! Plain and simple, this is such a fun treat for all, no matter how young or old.
Caramel Apple Chocolate Bark
When it comes to festive fall treats, it’s hard to beat this fun Caramel Apple Chocolate Bark. Everything you love about caramel apples, in an easy to make, and easy to eat, chocolate bark.
I don’t know about you, but everytime I see a caramel apple I think “ohhhh, I want one!” and then I think no, never mind, they are so messy and flat out awkward to eat. Even when you take them home and cut them up, they are still just a mess.
Then in walks Caramel Apple Bark, all neat and easy to eat. And I’m totally here for it. Move over apples on a stick, there’s a new caramel apple treat in town.
How To Make Caramel Apple Bark
Let’s discuss the ingredients you’ll need, and the steps you’ll take, to make this delicious chocolate bark. If you want to skip my discussion, tips and answers to frequently asked questions, just scroll to the bottom for the printable recipe.
Ingredients
- Granny Smith apples – Granny Smith apples are the best choice, in my opinion, because the tartness balances the sweetness of the caramel so well. They also have a nice firm texture and crunch. If you can’t find Granny Smiths, I’d try Honeycrisps or Pink Ladys.
- Semi-sweet chocolate – Semi-sweet, or even dark chocolate, are perfect for this recipe. I find milk chocolate just to be too sweet with the caramel.
- Pretzels – Whatever your favorite mini pretzels are, go with those.
- Melting caramels bits – If you can find the Kraft Caramel Bits, they are great for melting. If you can’t find them, the traditional square caramels will work just fine. I don’t recommend using a caramel sauce, they simply do not set up the same way, which means it will be quite messy. The Kraft caramels are made for recipes like this.
How To Make This Bark
- Prepare a large cookie sheet (approximately 13” X 18”) by lining it with parchment paper.
- Melt 2 cups of chocolate chips in the microwave. Start with 30 seconds on high power, then remove and stir well. Cook for an additional 15 seconds on high power, then remove and stir well. Repeat as needed. Only cook them until you can stir the chocolate chips smooth. Spread this onto the prepared cookie sheet.
- Place the pretzels in one even layer all over the top of the chocolate.
- Melt the caramels in the microwave. Just like with the chocolate chips, start with 30 seconds on high power then stir well. Continue cooking for 15 second intervals stirring well in between. Cook until smooth with some bubbles.
- Dice the apples. Pat them with paper towels to remove excess moisture. The dryer you can get the apples, the better things will stick together.
- Mix the diced apples into the melted caramel. Pour this mixture evenly over the chocolate base, then carefully spread.
- Place the pan into the refrigerator and allow it to chill for 30 minutes.
- Melt the remaining ½ cup of chocolate chips, using the same method as before, and drizzle melted chocolate over the bark.
- Return the bark to the refrigerator for at least two hours, until completely set.
- Remove from the fridge and cut it up into pieces and serve immediately.
Serving and Storage
This is a treat that really is best served soon after making and chilling. At room temperature the caramel can become a bit messy, so I don’t recommend that you leave this sitting out. While you can refrigerate leftovers, the texture of the apples and pretzels doesn’t really improve with time. It’s ideal to serve it the same or following day.
More Recipes To Try
Caramel Recipes
If you love caramel as much as I do, here are some additional recipes to try.
- Caramel Apple Pie
- Chocolate Caramel Cookies
- Caramel Apple Crumble
- Pumpkin Caramel Cookies
- Caramel Magic Cookie Bars
Apple Recipes
It’s apple season! Here are more tasty ways to put those apples to delicious use.
- Baked Cinnamon Apples
- Apple Fritters
- Dutch Apple Pie Recipe
- Apple Cobbler Recipe
- Baked Apple Cider Donuts
- Apple Fritter Bread
- Mini Caramel Apple Cheesecakes
More Chocolate Bark Recipes
Tried this recipe? I love to hear from readers who make my recipes! Please leave a comment and review below. If you have photos, tag me @lovefromtheoven on Instagram and Pinterest.
Caramel Apple Bark
Ingredients
- 3 Granny Smith apples (medium to large size)
- 2 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (divided)
- 3 cups pretzels
- 17 ounces Kraft Caramel Bits (Approximately 1 and 1/2 bags of 11oz Caramels)
Instructions
- Prepare a large cookie sheet (approximately 13” X 18”) by lining it with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Melt 2 cups of chocolate chips in the microwave. Start with 30 seconds on high power, then remove and stir well. Cook for an additional 15 seconds on high power, then remove and stir well. Repeat as needed. Only cook them until you can stir the chocolate chips smooth. Spread this onto the prepared cookie sheet.
- Place the pretzels in one even layer all over the top of the chocolate.
- Melt the caramels in the microwave. Just like with the chocolate chips, start with 30 seconds on high power then stir well. Continue cooking for 15 second intervals stirring well in between. Cook until smooth with some bubbles.
- Dice the apples. Pat them with paper towels to remove excess moisture. The dryer you can get the apples, the better things will stick together. Mix the diced apples into the melted caramel. Pour this mixture evenly over the chocolate base, then carefully spread.
- Place the pan into the refrigerator and allow it to chill for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, melt the remaining ½ cup of chocolate chips, using the same method as before, and drizzle melted chocolate over the bark.
- Return the bark to the refrigerator, ideally for at least two hours, until completely set.Remove from the fridge and cut it up into pieces. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
Meet Christi, Love From The Oven
I’m Christi I love sharing easy & delicious recipes that your family & friends will love. I’m a mom, baker, cookbook author and lover of sprinkles.
Use Cosmic Crisp Apples, they taste like a Honey Crisp Apple but have been developed to take a long time to brown when exposed to air. A truly wonderful apple.
I don’t know how I messed this recipe up so bad, but chunky caramel that didn’t stick to apples, runny mess from apples juices even after refrigerating and patting the apples dry. I wanted this to work but won’t be making them again.
I’m sorry this didn’t work out for you. From the sounds of it, I’m guessing you had some very juicy apples. That’s one of the challenges with fruit recipes, you can have a lot of natural variation, levels of ripeness, juice, etc. Did you use the Caramel Bits? And if so any chance they weren’t the freshest – sometimes they sit on store shelves a while. They tend to get harder to work with closer to their expiration date.
Awesome idea; however I used Werthers caramels and they never set up. Left me with a soupy mess. Will have to try with Kraft caramel bits!
Same question as another asked…do you do something with apples before dicing to keep them from browning?
Maybe dip in lemon juice?
You certainly can if you prefer!
How do u keep apples from browning? I want to try this recipe