We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
Advertiser Disclosure
Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
How We Make Money
We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently of our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Culinary

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

What is Taffy Apple Salad?

Tricia Christensen
By
Updated: May 17, 2024
Views: 7,171
Share

Taffy apple salad may be called a dessert or a side dish depending upon who is defining it. The dessert doesn’t contain caramel, but does have sweet ingredients that make it taste similar to caramel apples. For this reason, it’s a very popular dish in the fall months, though many enjoy making it during the summer too.

The basic way you make taffy apple salad is to use pineapple juice, eggs, flour, sugar and vinegar to create a caramel like syrup. This coats slices of apples, and small nuts like peanuts, walnuts or pecans. Many people also add canned pineapple chunks, reserving the juice to make the syrup, and a few recipes call for marshmallows. Once the syrup is combined with apples, pineapples, marshmallows and nuts, frozen whipped topping is added to complete the dish.

The result is a sweet, chunky and creamy salad that is really more oriented toward dessert. Taffy apple salad is a fairly high calorie version of a fruit salad, but it can be a great occasional treat. It is almost universally popular with kids, but if you plan to make it for a kids’ party, such as on Halloween, be certain that any kids you’re serving don’t have peanut allergies. When in doubt, either omit the nuts or use pecans or walnuts instead of peanuts.

The dish does take some prep time. Most people recommend that if you use marshmallows for taffy apple salad, you should probably combine the marshmallows and pineapple, and refrigerate them overnight. This will help the juice in the pineapple chunks to break down the marshmallows and makes the dessert creamier.

Some recommendations on preparations for taffy apple salad are that you refrigerate the syrup for at least a night before adding it to the chunks of pineapples and apples. Adding hot syrup isn’t recommended because it will diminish some of the crunch of the apples and may make them taste slightly stewed. Most people who offer recipes do suggest starting your preparation for taffy apple salad a day in advance of when you’d like to serve it.

You will find numerous recipes online for taffy apple salad. Most recipes are very similar with differences only in a few additions like marshmallows. You’ll also find recipes for this salad in some kid’s cookbooks, and in plenty of cookbooks for grownups too.

Share
WiseGeek is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.
Tricia Christensen
By Tricia Christensen
With a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and years of experience as a WiseGeek contributor, Tricia Christensen is based in Northern California and brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to her writing. Her wide-ranging interests include reading, writing, medicine, art, film, history, politics, ethics, and religion, all of which she incorporates into her informative articles. Tricia is currently working on her first novel.

Editors' Picks

Discussion Comments
By Lostnfound — On Jan 29, 2014

I've seen salads along these lines, but never heard them called a taffy apple salad.

This is one of those dishes that has a healthy name, but not much else to recommend it, as far as dietetic food goes. It does sound good, though, in spite of the marshmallows and cooked caramel-like dressing.

I can see where kids would like it. Anything with marshmallows and pineapple is usually a hit with the younger crowd. And with a grownup to help make the dressing, it might be a good dish for young cooks to start out making. I don’t know that I’d like it, though. Those marshmallows…

Tricia Christensen
Tricia Christensen
With a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and years of experience as a WiseGeek contributor, Tricia...
Learn more
Share
https://www.wisegeek.net/what-is-taffy-apple-salad.htm
Copy this link
WiseGeek, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

WiseGeek, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.