Say goodbye to hard, sticky and super-sugary caramel apples!

Even though apples are a staple fruit we eat all year around, caramel apples are considered a Fall sweet treat. One of the down sides of eating caramel apples is that the caramel tends to get stuck in our teeth. To solve this problem, you can make a healthier caramel by replacing brown sugar and butter with dates and tahini (ground sesame seeds), as feature in this week’s recipe, Natural Caramel Apples. You will be consuming natural caramel-like ingredients to make your faux caramel apple good for your entire body, in addition to preventing cavities!

This zero cholesterol recipe of natural caramel apples is good for your teeth and helps reduce cholesterol (ldl-bad cholesterol) as well.

Natural Caramel Apples

Continue to keep the doctor away by spicing up your apple a day!

Yield: 4 (1 small apple)

Ingredients:

•    2 cup pitted dates

•    1 teaspoon vanilla extract

•    2 Tablespoons of tahini

•    1/8 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk

•    4 small apples

•    Optional: 1 cup of a variety of nuts, chopped (hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, almonds, etc.)

Directions:

Warm the dates in the microwave for 2 minutes (remember to use a microwave safe bowl). Put the warm dates in a food processor and add the vanilla extract, tahini, and almond milk to the dates. Process the caramel-like mixture for able about 30 seconds until the mixture reaches a smooth consistency that you can spread on an apple (To make a smoother consistency caramel, add 1 tbsp of almond milk at a time). Use a spatula to spread the caramel around the apple.

Optional: roll the apple in chopped nuts (press the remaining nuts onto your apple).

Your caramel apple is complete! Refrigerate until ready to eat OR if you want the caramel to get harder. If there is leftover caramel, save it for a caramel dip!

Nutrition Information Per Serving (without nuts):

Calories: 202 kcal
Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 0 mg
Carbohydrate: 43 g
Dietary Fiber: 5 g
Protein: 3 g
Sodium: 9 mg