James Briscione and Brooke Parkhurst's fall foodie favorites

Brooke Parkhurst and James Briscione of The Couples Kitchen and co-authors of "Just Married and Cooking" shares these delicious fall-inspired treats!

Caramel apples
Makes 8 apples

Ingredients
8 apples, any variety
½ cup light corn syrup
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Optional coatings: chopped nuts, sprinkles, candies

Method
1. Wash and completely dry the apples. Insert a stick into the stem end of each.
2. Combine the corn syrup, butter, sugar, salt, and ¾ cup heavy cream in a saucepot. Place the pot over medium-high heat and cook until a candy thermometer registers 246˚f (firm ball). The caramel should be golden in color. Remove from the heat and carefully swirl in the remaining ¼ cup of cream and vanilla extract. 
3. Leave the caramel 5-10 minutes to cool, slightly. Dip the apples into the still warm caramel and roll to coat completely. Roll the apples in any of the optional coatings if desired. Place the caramel coated apples on a sheet of wax or parchment paper and leave to cool completely.

'Candied apple' oatmeal cookies
Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients
1½ sticks (6 ounces), unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon or orange
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups rolled oats, raw
1 cup dried apples, chopped

Caramel icing
1 tablespoon butter
¼ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup heavy cream

Method
1. Combine the butter, brown sugar, zest, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and continue mixing to incorporate fully.
2. Combine the dry ingredients in another bowl and mix well. Add half the dry ingredients to the wet and fold together. When fully blended, add the remaining dry ingredients. Stir in the apples.
3. Prepare a lightly greased baking sheet. Drop spoonfuls of the batter onto the pan allowing 1 to 1½ inches between. Bake in a preheated until the edges are golden brown and the centers firm, about 12 minutes
4. While the cookies cool, combine the butter, brown sugar and cream in a small pan. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Drizzle the mixture over the cookies.

Chicken sausage and sweet potato skewers
Serves 8

Ingredients
1 pkg (12 ozs) pre-cooked chicken sausages, browned in saute pan or on the grill
1 pkg (20 ozs) alexia sweet potato puffs, oven-baked
8 bamboo skewers

Method
1. On a wooden cutting board, slice sausages into 6 bite-sized rounds.  On the bamboo skewer, alternate pieces of sausage and alexia sweet potato puffs. Serve warm.

'Monster Mash' float
Serves 1

Ingredients
1 cup Trumoo orange scream milk
1 large scoop low-fat vanilla frozen yogurt or ice cream
1 cup chilled seltzer

Method
1. In a tall glass, pour in the milk. Add a scoop of frozen yogurt or ice cream. Slowly add seltzer to create foamy, web-like effect on top of the float. Serve immediately.