Homemade Caramel Apple Bundles

So...while make a trip to Costco the day before New Year's Eve, hubby and I were wandering down the refigerated aisle and lucky us, were met with a sample station sampling "Chudleigh's Caramel Apple Blossoms". We fell in love...at first taste. Who knew there could be so much flavor in such a little bite. Nonetheless, we loaded our cart with not one, but two boxes...we were set.

Set my foot!!! 24 blossoms in a house full of boys...okay a mom who can't resist them...let's just say we were addicted.

Went back last week to buy more...GONE!!! G O N E, gone. It is considered a seasonal item and therefore won't carry it till next year. UGH, whatever are we going to do. I went home and searched the internet high and low to find where I could buy these delicious tasty treats...no where, or at least in our state!

So what's a girl to do when she can't satisfy here addiction...find a way to make your own!!! I give you my own creation. (I will work on making them again and take pictures of each stage).

Homemade Caramel Apple Bundles

(can't really call them blossoms as I can't shape the pie dough that well).

Apple filling

3 Tbsp butter

4 Tbsp brown sugar

¼ cup water (you could substitute for another liquid)

3 apples (I used Gala cause that’s what I had) peeled, cored and cut into tiny pieces

1 Tbsp cinnamon

Homemade creamy caramel

½ cup sugar

3 ½ Tbsp butter

¼ cup half & half (recipe called for heavy whipping cream but I didn’t have it on hand)

I followed this gal’s instructions to a T and it worked perfectly.

Pour the amount of sugar you want in a heavy saucepan and
turn it on med-hi heat.
When you see the edges of the sugar
start to brown, stir it up a bit. It will be lumpy, but it will keep melting.
Stir it around,(and don't worry about stirring, that "no stirring rule" only applies when you are boiling sugar and water together) and when all the lumps are melted and gone, the caramel will be a nice dark amber.
This is when you add the cream. Stand back! It will splutter up at you like crazy and the steam can burn you, so be careful.
Add a little cream at a time, because it bubbles up high, and you don't want it to boil over. Add as much cream as you desire, depending on how stiff you want the caramel to be...the less cream you add the harder it will be as it cools. I wish I could tell you exact amounts....I just eyeball it everytime I make it, I never measure (sorry I can't be more specific).

After you add the cream, let it cook a bit....maybe about 3 minutes or so. Then, take it off the heat, add a couple pats of butter (maybe about one ounce or so), and a couple tablespoons vanilla. Stir and let cool.

You should have a nice, smooth, dark, creamy caramel...not grainy.

I then poured the caramel onto a large piece of waxed paper (you could use parchment) and cut it into the squares I would need to place on top of the bundle.

Bundle Crust

In an effort to save time, I used a ready made purchased pie crust. I rolled it out into the circle.

Cut it into 4 pieces.

Taking each piece I gently rolled it out just a bit and took my pizza roller cutting it into a smaller circle.

Place a dollop of apple pie filling in the middle.

Lay a piece of homemade caramel on top

Begin to fold the edges around.

I brushed the top of the bundle with the remaining apple filling sauce and sprinkled with sugar.

Bake 400 degrees for about 15-18 minutes (till just browned).

Enjoy…we certainly did!!!