Trick or Treat Caramel Apple Bites With Candied Bacon and Mealworms

I got the inspiration for these bite-sized treats from S_Alex77 , and her Chocolate Covered Apple Bites:
https://www.instructables.com/id/Chocolate-Covered-...

I love candied apples; but there's always too much apple, and never enough caramel. Enter the caramel apple bite! Bite-sized apple pieces dipped in caramel and covered in crunchy goodness! What crunchy goodness you ask? Well that's where the trick and treat part come in!

The treat: Candied Bacon!
The trick: Candied Mealworms!

These are a great treat for a Halloween party, or for anyone interested in Entomophagy.

What you'll need:

Ingredients:
-2 large Green Apples
-Caramel
1/2 pound of bacon.
-mealworms (I bought mine at a pet-smart, 100 for under $5)
-brown sugar
-maple syrup

Tools and prep:
-Stove
-Freezer
-mellon baller
-2 baking pans
-bread pan
-roasting rack
-waxed paper
-bowl
-mesh strainer
-paper plates (for easy clean-up)
-toothpicks

Toss the mealworms in the freezer overnight. This will dispatch them quickly and humanly.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

While the oven is warming up, use the mellon baller to ball your apples. I was able to get 10-12 apple balls from each large apple. Stick a toothpick in each apple bite.

We're going to set up a bacon assembly line. In goes the bacon, and out comes candied bacon goodness!

Cut the bacon strips in half. Save one half of that bacon for breakfast. Pour your maple syrup into a bowl, spread the brown sugar onto a plate, and line a baking pan with waxed paper

1: Dip bacon slice into syrup
2: Coat strip in brown sugar
3: place strips into baking pan

Repeat these steps until the pan is full.

Place the pan into the oven for 10 minutes. When the time is up, place the bacon onto the roasting rack over another pan, and place the bacon back into the oven for another 10 minutes. Let the first pan cool... we'll need it later.

Let the bacon cool on a plate, then break it into small bits and pieces. Set aside and try not to eat it all!

Mealworms are nutritious, and eaten all around the world. Now it's time for you (or a daring friend) to give it a try!

Take those little buggers out of the freezer, and use a strainer to separate the worms from their bedding. The strainer will remove most of the bedding,but not all of it. You'll have to pick the worms out by hand. Dump the remaining bedding from the strainer, and then use it to rinse the worms under the faucet.

You can place the worms back into the (washed) container they came in once they're thoroughly rinsed. Add brown sugar and shake 'em up until they're coated.

Remember that bacon tray? Filled with all the syrup and brown sugar? Get rid of the layer of bacon grease that's sitting on top, then spoon the syrup mixture into a wax-paper-lined bread pan. Add sugar-coated worms. Bake for 5 minutes.

Remove the worms with a fork and onto a plate. Let them cool for a minute. there will be syrup stuck to the plate, and some of the worms. With moistened fingers, remove any worms stuck in the syrup, along with the others onto a new plate.

I cheated and used caramel dip instead of the kind that actually hardens. We ate ours right away, so it didn't really matter. If you are taking these to a party, or are going to be waiting for guests to arrive, DO NOT use caramel "dip". Use the real stuff. You'll be glad you did!

Dip the apple bites into the Caramel, then roll them into either the candied bacon bits, or the mealworms, or both! If you'd like, stick the apple bites onto another apple for a fun and unique presentation.

Rest assured that these bites are absolutely delicious!
Be sure to enjoy these with your friends; Double-dog-dare them if no one steps up!