Recipe Challenge: Red, White, and Blue Chocolate Covered Apples + Meal Plan Monday Week 25

It doesn’t get more American than Red, White, and Blue Chocolate Covered Apples! Plus, I’ve got the Red White and Blue Recipe Challenge and another Meal Plan Monday below the recipe. 

I hope everyone had an awesome Father’s Day yesterday. We aren’t parents yet, but I did call my dad and wish him a happy day. We also went out with a bunch of friends to see the musical Wicked here in Denver last night. It was my second time seeing it, and it was just as great the second time! I recommend that you go if you get the chance.

Today’s recipe is my entry for the Red White and Blue Recipe Challenge. Every Month I host a recipe challenge with A Savory Feast and Bowl of Happiness, and the challenge theme is different every time. I had such fun putting together these Red, White, and Blue Chocolate Covered Apples and then styling this whole summer party table. My favorite color is blue, hubby’s favorite is red, and most of my blogging dishes are white, so I gathered up half my props cabinet and went to town.

When we first came up with the idea of this red white and blue challenge, I knew I wanted to do something a little out of the box. My first thought was something with the strawberries from my back yard, but they’re too small to dip well. My next idea was a red, white, and blue puppy chow, but then I saw that pop up on my Pinterest feed, so it’s already out there. So I finally decided that there’s nothing more American than Red, White, and Blue Chocolate Covered Apples, and went to town.

My favorite part of this challenge was collecting all the different fun sprinkles and making my own sprinkle mixture. You can definitely use just a single set of sprinkles, but I think it adds texture and interest to mix together several different shapes and sizes. I had a few on hand, and found a bunch on sale at my local craft store. (FYI: the round pearl sprinkles bounce off the plate and go all over your kitchen, so be prepared to vacuum later.) Sprinkles don’t really go bad, so I bet you can find them on clearance after the holiday and save them for next year as well. And the secret ingredient? Pop Rocks!! It’s like a burst of fireworks in your mouth every time you take a bite. You can’t get more Fourth of July than that right?

Some recipe tips:

I found these cute little paper lollipop sticks at the craft store while I was buying the candy melts and sprinkles. They were really easy to press into the gala apples, but granny smith apples are much firmer, and I had a heck of a time getting them into the apple. I finally had to stab a hole for each one with an ice pick and twist them in, but I broke a few cute paper sticks before I figured that out. So, if you’re going to use granny smith apples, you may want to find some wood sticks (like popsicle sticks), or use the solid lollipop sticks rather than these hollow ones. 

Also, I chose to use “lunchbox size” gala and granny smith apples for these treats. You end up with a nice personal-sized treat rather than some behemoth honey crisp chocolate apple that will feed you + 5 friends and take an entire bag of chocolate to coat. Our grocery store has a display of lunchbox sized apples, but I’ve also seen them sold by the bag as “snack size” or you can just select the smallest apples you can find. We also found that they were easier to eat if you sliced them rather than making an attempt to gnaw on them, but sometimes it’s fun to try anyways. Wrap these up with a cute square of cellophane and a red twist tie and you have an awesome gift!

Lastly, because you have to be able to dip the apples, you’re going to need to melt more chocolate than you’ll actually use to coat the apples. I had a bunch of extra chocolate left over, so I poured it out onto a sheet of parchment paper, sprinkled the top with the extra sprinkle mix and popped it in the fridge for a few minutes to cool before breaking it up into a super cute red, white, and blue candy bark!

Red, White, and Blue Chocolate Covered Apples

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• Author: Stephanie Powers
• Prep Time: 120
• Cook Time: 10
• Total Time: 130
• Yield: 8 1x

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Description

It doesn’t get more American than red, white, and blue chocolate covered apples!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 8 small “snack size” apples (gala, granny smith, etc)
• 2 (12oz) packages Wilton candy melts in the same color
• 1/2 cup of red, white, and blue sprinkles of your choice
• 2 packages red pop rocks
• 8 lollipop or popsicle sticks
• parchment paper
• medium glass bowl

Optional for Gift Wrapping

• 8 cellophane squares/treat bags
• red ribbon or twist ties

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

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Instructions

1. Remove stickers from apples, wash, and dry thoroughly.
2. Insert sticks firmly into the tops of the apples, making sure they’re secure.
3. Place apples in the fridge to chill for a couple hours. This will help the chocolate cure faster.
4. Prepare your workstation – Lay out a large piece of parchment paper, combine the sprinkles and pop rocks in a small bowl, and set out a large plate or tray inside a shallow box or tub to catch the extra sprinkles as they’re applied. (Sprinkles love to bounce everywhere!)
5. Remove apples from fridge and wipe off any condensation that has formed (water will cause the chocolate to seize up and become unusable.)
6. Once everything is ready to go, melt your chocolate according to the package directions.
7. I use the microwave: Add both bags to a medium glass Pyrex bowl. Microwave on 50% power for 1.5 minutes. Stir really well to encourage melting. Continue microwaving and stirring in 30 second intervals at half power until chocolate is completely smooth and melted.
8. Working with 1 apple at a time, hold the stick to dip your apple in the chocolate, and spin to coat completely, tilting the bowl of chocolate if necessary. Allow a moment for excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl.
9. Once chocolate layer has begun to set (this time may vary according to the temp of your kitchen and the temp of your apple), hold the apple over the plate/tray/box and slowly spin while using your hand to sprinkle with sprinkle/pop rock mixture until you’re happy with the look.
10. Place on a sheet of parchment until chocolate is fully hardened.
11. Wrap or store in an airtight container until ready to serve. (Note that exposure to refrigeration or humidity may cause the pop rocks to melt and lose their pop, so these may be best served the day-of if you’re in a more humid climate.)

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Notes

• The apples will taste great no matter what, but if you’re worried about looks, keep a few extra “test” apples on hand so you can learn how to get the prettiest apples.
• Extra dipping chocolate can be made into a chocolate bark. Pour onto a piece of parchment, add leftover sprinkles, and chill until set.
• Gluten-free: This is gluten-free as long as you check the ingredients of your sprinkles.
• Vegetarian: This is vegetarian.
• Vegan: Wilton candy melts aren’t vegan, but you should be able to thin some vegan chocolate with a bit of coconut oil and use your favorite vegan sprinkles.

We would love to see your favorite red, white, and blue recipes! Share them with us below and join us again next month when we will be hosting the Summer Crockpot Recipe Challenge! 

Meal Plan Monday 6/22-6/28:

Click Here for the (Now Mobile-Friendly) Weekly Shopping List Printable!

This meal plan is designed to feed approximately 4 adults at each meal or two adults with lunches left over. Feel free to double or add to it as needed.  **You’ll need to open it with the free Adobe Reader App (Android or iOS) to be able to use the check boxes on mobile, so install that first if you don’t have it already.**

Monday: Mustard Lime Chicken from Stir it Up with Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries from Nom Nom Paleo (gluten-free, low-carb)

Tuesday: Avocado, Tomato & Habanero Monterey Jack Grilled Cheese from Joyful Homemaking (vegetarian, gluten-free if using gf bread)

Wednesday: Crock-Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken by My Big Fat Happy Life (gluten-free if using gf flour and gf soy sauce)

Thursday: Baked Salmon with Garlic and Dijon from Natasha’s Kitchen (gluten-free)

Friday: BBQ Chicken & Pineapple Quesadillas from Simply Stacie (gluten-free if using gf tortillas)

Saturday: Date Night – Eat Out.

Sunday: Y.O.Y.O. (You’re on your own.)

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