Caramel Apple Cake Pops

These tiny caramel apple-inspired pops are made out of apple flavored cake and cream cheese, which are dipped in caramel and finely chopped peanuts. To make these you will need:

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

8 egg yolks

3/4 cup milk (or 1/4 cup apple cider and 1/2 cup milk)

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 large apple, diced

8 oz cream cheese, softened

14 oz caramels

1 1/2 cups finely chopped peanuts

32 lollipop sticks

First, I made the cake. I adapted a yellow cake recipe I found on Allrecipes.com. Instead of 3/4 cup milk, I used 1/4 cup apple cider and 1/2 cup milk. I also added a teaspoon of cinnamon and one large apple, diced. The apple was added by hand after all the other ingredients were combined.

Once the cake was baked and had cooled, I crumbled it into pieces in a large mixing bowl. Then I added 8 oz. of softened cream cheese and combined with a rubber spatula until incorporated. Next, I put the mixture in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. While I was waiting, I unwrapped 14oz of caramels and placed them into a microwave-safe bowl. I also finely chopped 1 1/2 cups of dry roasted peanuts and placed them onto a plate. Please note - If the peanuts are not finely chopped, they will be likely to slide off the pop, and take the caramel with it.

I rolled the mixture into one-inch size balls and placed them on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Then I inserted lollipop sticks about three-fourths of the way into the balls. Next I melted the caramels in the microwave in one minute intervals until smooth. I dipped the balls into the melted caramel, trying to cover as much as the ball as possible. Then I quickly rolled the bottom half in the crushed peanuts, and the pop back onto the wax paper-lined pan. Once all the pops were coated, I placed the baking sheet into the refrigerator for 3o minutes. The recipe should make around 32 pops.