Prep time: 3 hrs 30 min Cook time: 0 min Rest time: 30 mins Total time: 4 hrs
Makes: 4+ caramel apples
These animal-based caramel apples are dipped in date syrup and coated with dehydrated beef bits for a tasty crunch.
What you need to make Animal-Based Caramel Apples
Ingredients:
- Date syrup
- Ground beef
- Apples
Equipment:
- Cooking pan
- Mixing bowl
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Apple sticks
- Paper cupcake liners (optional – for placing finished apples on)
(for the full recipe, scroll to the bottom)
Substitutions
You can substitute raw honey (ASHLEYR for 10% off) for the date syrup, but it will have less of a caramel flavor.
How to make Animal-Based Caramel Apples
If a visual will help, watch the Instagram Reel for this recipe.
Dehydrate the ground beef.
Cook the ground beef in your cooking pan on the stovetop until done. Don’t add any fat while cooking.
Once the ground beef is cooked, drain out all of the fat.
Transfer the cooked ground beef to a plate. Pat the beef dry with a towel to soak up as much of the remaining fat as you can.
Transfer the ground beef on top of a piece of parchment paper on your baking sheet. Spread the pieces out in as thin of a layer as possible to promote even baking.
Dehydrate the ground beef in the oven at 200 degrees for 3-4 hours. You may have to rotate the pieces while cooking. I usually swirl everything around with a fork every 30 minutes or so or when I remember. The pieces should be hard and crunchy when done. I typically keep an eye on mine at about the 2-hour mark. Mine was done right around 3 hours.
Once the beef is fully dehydrated, remove the beef pieces from the oven and let them cool.
Note: make sure the beef pieces are fully cooled before adding them to the apples.
Make the caramel apples.
Pour your date syrup into a small mixing bowl. You don’t need to measure the amount as whatever you don’t use can be poured back into the container. I only used about 1/5 of the bottle to coat all of my apples.
Pull or cut the stems off of each apple, and insert the apple sticks (pointy side first) into the area where the stem was. Push the stick in until the apple feels sturdy to hold up using the stick.
Hold on to the stick and roll your apples in the bowl of date syrup, fully coating the apple. Hold the apple upside down (stick will be on top and pointing up) and allow the date syrup to run off the apple completely, forming a smooth glaze.
Add the dehydrated beef to the apples.
Instead of rolling the apple in the beef pieces, I recommend adding them by hand.
Note: these are messy! The date syrup is not hefty like your standard thick and goopy caramel and doesn’t hold add-ons as well. While eating, I had to add more date syrup to mine (squirted it onto the apple straight from the bottle before each bite) and top it with some of the loose beef pieces that didn’t stick to the apples.
Note: you may have some leftover beef pieces. These are great eaten alone or even with the date syrup. You can also use the leftovers to make my Animal-Based Cereal, Animal-Based Beef Cookies, or Banana Beef Muffins.
If you need a holding place for the apples before enjoying them, place the finished apples inside the paper cupcake liners.
Serve and enjoy!
Note: these can be stored in the fridge, but I highly recommend eating them fresh. The date syrup firms up a bit in the fridge, but not much.
Tips to make the best Animal-Based Caramel Apples
- Make sure the beef pieces are fully cooled before adding them to the apples.
- These apples are messy! The date syrup is not hefty like your standard thick and goopy caramel and doesn’t hold add-ons as well. While eating, I had to add more date syrup to mine (squirted it onto the apple straight from the bottle before each bite) and top it with some of the loose beef pieces that didn’t stick to the apples.
- You may have some leftover beef pieces. These are great eaten alone or even with the date syrup. You can also use the leftovers to make my Animal-Based Cereal, Animal-Based Beef Cookies, or Banana Beef Muffins.
- When finished, these can be stored in the fridge, but I highly recommend eating them fresh. The date syrup firms up a bit in the fridge, but not much.
A few of my other favorite sweet eats:
Jumbo Chocolate Cups with Salted Chunky Date Filling
Flourless Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Animal-Based Caramel Apples
Animal-Based Caramel Apples
Equipment
- Baking sheet
Ingredients
- 1 bottle date syrup
- 1 lb ground beef
- 4-6 apples
Instructions
- If you’re interested solely in the recipe, skip this bullet point and keep on reading. For those interested in sourcing nutrient-dense food, low-toxic household products, and discounts on brands that may support your AB journey, you may find value in my product guides. Head over to this page if you’d like to check them out. All are free (and always will be).
If a visual will help, watch the Instagram Reel for this recipe.
Dehydrate the ground beef.
- Cook the ground beef in your cooking pan on the stovetop until done. Don't add any fat while cooking.
- Once the ground beef is cooked, drain out all of the fat.
- Transfer the cooked ground beef to a plate. Pat the beef dry with a towel to soak up as much of the remaining fat as you can.
- Transfer the ground beef on top of a piece of parchment paper on your baking sheet. Spread the pieces out in as thin of a layer as possible to promote even baking.
- Dehydrate the ground beef in the oven at 200 degrees for 3-4 hours. You may have to rotate the pieces while cooking. I usually swirl everything around with a fork every 30 minutes or so or when I remember. The pieces should be hard and crunchy when done. I typically keep an eye on mine at about the 2-hour mark. Mine was done right around 3 hours.
- Once the beef is fully dehydrated, remove the beef pieces from the oven and let them cool.
- Note: make sure the beef pieces are fully cooled before adding them to the apples.
Make the caramel apples.
- Pour your date syrup into a small mixing bowl. You don't need to measure the amount as whatever you don't use can be poured back into the container. I only used about 1/5 of the bottle to coat all of my apples.
- Pull or cut the stems off of each apple, and insert the apple sticks (pointy side first) into the area where the stem was. Push the stick in until the apple feels sturdy to hold up using the stick.
- Hold on to the stick and roll your apples in the bowl of date syrup, fully coating the apple. Hold the apple upside down (stick will be on top and pointing up) and allow the date syrup to run off the apple completely, forming a smooth glaze.
Add the dehydrated beef to the apples.
- Instead of rolling the apple in the beef pieces, I recommend adding them by hand.
- Note: these are messy! The date syrup is not hefty like your standard thick and goopy caramel and doesn't hold add-ons as well. While eating, I had to add more date syrup to mine (squirted it onto the apple straight from the bottle before each bite) and top it with some of the loose beef pieces that didn't stick to the apples.
- Note: you may have some leftover beef pieces. These are great eaten alone or even with the date syrup. You can also use the leftovers to make my Animal-Based Cereal, Animal-Based Beef Cookies, or Banana Beef Muffins.
- If you need a holding place for the apples before enjoying them, place the finished apples inside the paper cupcake liners.
Serve and enjoy!
- Note: these can be stored in the fridge, but I highly recommend eating them fresh. The date syrup firms up a bit in the fridge, but not much.
Looking for some more easy sweet eats? Try one of these recipes:
Jumbo Chocolate Cups with Salted Chunky Date Filling
Flourless Lemon Blueberry Muffins
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Ashley Rothstein develops tasty, whole food, animal-based recipes that include a moderate amount of “minimally toxic” plant foods. To fix her own health issues, she bounced around between the carnivore, keto, and paleo diets for a few years. After experiencing and studying each diet philosophy, she learned she feels her best by merging the three and following an animal-based diet. As a glut at heart, she likes to channel her creativity and create meals that are healthy but also satisfy her inner gluttonous spirits.
