The recipe
A Retro Apple Salad with a Taffy-Like Twist
Taffy Apple Salad is pure community-cookbook nostalgia: crisp unpeeled apples, crushed pineapple, miniature marshmallows and cocktail peanuts folded into a creamy dressing and Cool Whip.
The unusual part is the dressing. The reserved pineapple juice is cooked with flour, apple cider vinegar, sugar and egg until thick, then chilled before everything comes together. The source specifically notes using a mix of green Granny Smith and Red Delicious apples for contrast.
Why it matters
Why This One Is Worth Bringing Back
Taffy Apple Salad sits right in that wonderful category of vintage recipes that blur the line between salad, side dish and dessert. The apples bring crunch, pineapple and marshmallows make it unmistakably potluck-friendly, and salted cocktail peanuts keep the finished bowl from becoming one-note sweet.
The cooked pineapple-juice dressing is what makes this version especially worth preserving. It uses flour, vinegar, sugar and egg for a tangy-sweet base that is chilled before being folded with the fruit mixture and Cool Whip.
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Modern kitchen notes
If You're Making It Today
These are modern editorial suggestions, not changes to the archived recipe. When a variation comes directly from the original source, we will say so.
Plan for the overnight chill
The source chills both the pineapple-marshmallow mixture and the cooked dressing overnight before combining them.
Keep the apple skins on
The printed recipe specifically says to quarter, core and cut up the apples without peeling them.
Use contrasting apples
Contributor Janet Legg notes that she likes green Granny Smith and Red Delicious apples together.
Recipe card
The Preserved Recipe
Taffy Apple Salad
Ingredients
- 1 20 oz. can crushed pineapple drained; save juice
- 1 c. miniature marshmallows
- 1 Tbsp. flour
- 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
- ½ c. sugar
- 1 egg beaten
- 4 c. apples quartered, cored and cut up; do not peel
- 1½ c. cocktail peanuts
- 1 8 oz. Cool Whip
Instructions
- Combine pineapple and marshmallows. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Put the reserved pineapple juice in a saucepan. Add flour, vinegar, sugar and beaten egg. Stir and heat until thick. Cool in the refrigerator overnight.
- Add peanuts to apples. Mix in the pineapple mixture and the cooled sauce, then fold in Cool Whip. Refrigerate.
Notes
From the archive
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