To be honest, it has never really occurred to me to cook with pretzels. Every once in a while, I’ve seen a recipe for Pretzel-crusted this or that and I’ve definitely watched an episode or two of Chopped in which pretzels were one of the mystery ingredients…but I don’t generally think of them as more than a snack food staple in my pantry.

That’s actually one of the reasons that I thought it would be fun to do this post–to stretch my culinary imagination a bit.

Trying to figure out what to make, I had a “eureka!” moment. My nut-allergic son rarely gets to eat fun, frivolous carnival food like Caramel Apples because they are generally coated with peanuts. I threw a handful of pretzels in my food processor, dipped some apples in melted caramel and then in the pulverized pretzels. Voila! Nut-free caramel apples which still have the salty-sweet element which is generally provided by roasted peanuts.

Now, clearly, Caramel Apples are not the healthiest snack option…but a candy-covered apple is surely better than a plain old candy bar, right? And besides, allergic kids should get to experience some fun food as well!

Sweet & Salty Caramel Apples)

1 cup pretzels (I used Snyder’s Snaps)

4 medium apples

1 bag chewy caramels (about 6-7 ounces)

2 Tbsp milk

4 wooden popsicle sticks

1. Pour pretzels into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until they resemble coarse bread crumbs. Transfer to a shallow bowl.

2. Wash and dry popsicle sticks and insert one into the stem side of each apple.

3. Unwrap caramels. In a small saucepan, melt caramels and milk together over medium heat, stirring constantly until melted and completely smooth. Turn off heat.

4. Dip each apple into melted caramel, turning apple around in the mixture to make sure that you get the whole surface. Roll immediately in crushed pretzels.

5. Stand apples up on a plate in the refrigerator until you are ready to eat.