These caramel apple roses are sweet, salty, buttery, and so pretty. Crescent dough, thinly sliced apples, and caramel are wrapped up into pretty roses, then baked until golden, flaky, and buttery.
Valentine’s Day is almost here, and I’m already planning out my sweet gifts to give to loved ones. This time of year, I always gift sweet treats. It’s a fun way to let everyone know how much I care.
Valentine pretzel rods, Valentine Puppy Chow mix, and festive chocolate peanut butter hearts are always on the menu, and now I’ve added another treat to the mix.
These caramel apple roses with sea salt are sweet, salty, and buttery, so pretty, and so much easier to make than you would think!
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- A Handful of Ingredients: It takes fewer than 10 simple ingredients to make this recipe.
- So Easy: These roses look fancy, but they’re actually very easy to make.
- Yummy Flavor: These roses are buttery and flaky with tons of apple, cinnamon, and caramel flavor.
- Great for Special Occasions: With their pretty appearance, these roses are perfect for any special occasion, especially Valentine’s Day.
Key Ingredients
You can find the full ingredient list and exact amounts in the recipe card at the end of the post.
- Crescent Dough: Crescent dough gives the roses a buttery, rich flavor with a flaky texture.
- Honeycrisp Apples: Honeycrisp apples are firm and sweet, perfect for this recipe.
- Caramel Sauce: Caramel sauce adds that classic flavor pairing to the apples.
- Sea Salt: Sea salt adds a salty note that perfectly accentuates the apples and caramel.
Variations
- Apples: Any sweet, firm apple will work. Try any of your favorites for different flavors.
- Caramel Sauce: Use your favorite high-quality caramel sauce. Ghirardelli is a great brand.
- Add Nuts: Sprinkle the roses with chopped nuts before baking.
How to Make Caramel Apple Roses
Step 1: Slice the apples in half and then into thin slices. Soak them in warm water with lemon juice.
Step 2: Make a rectangle with one package of crescent dough and cut it into 7 strips.
Step 3: Place apple slices on half of each strip. Then, brush melted butter and vanilla over them.
Step 4: Pour a strip of caramel over the apples, and carefully fold the bottom of the dough over them.
Step 5: Repeat with the remaining strips and roll into the shape of a cinnamon roll and place in a muffin tin.
Step 6: Bake at 375°F until golden. Then, remove the roses and place them on a wire rack to cool. Drizzle with caramel sauce and add a pinch of sea salt. Enjoy!
Expert Tips
- A pizza cutter is the easiest way to cut your crescent dough into strips.
- Keep your strips refrigerated as you work, taking only what you need.
- A mandolin is the best way to thinly slice your apples.
- Be sure to soak your apple slices in warm lemon water. It makes them pliable and prevents browning.
Caramel Apple Roses FAQs
Caramel apple roses are small pastries made by wrapping apple slices with crescent dough, rolling the strips, and baking them until golden to create a rose-like appearance.
Honeycrisp, Cosmic Crisp, Sugarbee, or any other firm, crisp, sweet apple are best for this recipe.
Ghiardelli Premium Caramel Sauce is widely considered to be the best store-bought caramel sauce for its thick, rich texture and sweet flavor.
Refrigerate these pastries for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
More Delicious Valentine’s Day Treats
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Caramel Apple Roses with Sea Salt
Ingredients
- 2 containers Pillsbury Refrigerated Crescent rolls
- 2 honeycrisp apples
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ⅓ cup Ghirardelli caramel sauce, might need more or less
- Optional: course Sea Salt, to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 and spray a regular size muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large microwavable bowl, fill ¾ full with water and microwave for 3 minutes, Add lemon juice.
- Wash and core the apples, slice the apple in half and then using a mandolin or knife slice the apple very thin and place in the warmed bowl of lemon water (this helps make the apples pliable and prevents them from browning).
- Unroll the first package of crescent rolls and pinch the seams together to create a rectangle. Roll out on a lightly floured surface until ¼ in thick.
- With a pizza cutter or sharp knife cut dough into 1 ½ -2 inch strips (you should end up with 7 strips for each crescent roll).
- Remove the apple slices from the water and place on paper towels to dry.
- Melt butter in a small microwave safe bowl, and mix in the vanilla.
- Take one strip of dough and place about 4-6 apple slices halfway down leaving the rounded top end of the apple halfway above the dough.
- With a pastry brush, brush melted butter mixture over the apples and the dough.
- Pour a strip of caramel about ½ tablespoon over the bottom of the apples leaving about 2 inches on each side of the strip of dough.
- Carefully fold the bottom half of dough over the apples, and sprinkle with sugar.
- Roll one end of the dough over on itself creating the shape of a cinnamon roll, and place in the prepared muffin tin.
- Repeat with remaining apples and strips, leaving the remaining crescent dough in the fridge until ready to roll out and repeat steps.
- Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes, or until dough is cooked in the center.
- Remove from oven and immediately take roses out of the muffin tin and set on a wire rack to cool
- Once cooled, drizzle the apples with additional caramel sauce and sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt.
Notes
- A pizza cutter is the easiest way to cut your crescent dough into strips.
- Keep your strips refrigerated as you work, taking only what you need.
- A mandolin is the best way to thinly slice your apples.
- Be sure to soak your apple slices in warm lemon water. It makes them pliable and prevents browning.
Nutrition
These caramel apple roses turned out amazing! They were so easy to prepare and delicious, can’t wait to make them for Valentine’s Day!!
These Caramel Apple Roses were so fun to make! My family enjoyed them with black coffee!
I made these caramel apple roses and they looked like professional pastries. The sea salt gave them a great balance, and they were almost too pretty to eat.
These were are so elegant and easy to make. Perfect Valentine’s Day dessert…love the pastry shell idea for these apple roses.
Tried them today and they were easier than I expected. Sweet, salty, and really fun to serve!
That’s what I’m talking about! My GF is going to love this for our V-Day dinner.
Ooh. These are so pretty! I love that they’re not difficult, either.