Recipe—Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

Talk about a match made in heaven! Two classic American desserts coming together to make one heck of a fabulous and indulgent dish. This delicious recipe is perfect for all the holiday social events this time of year. I recently made it for my office party and it was a hit. I cut the squares pretty small so that they were easy to handle and could be eaten as a finger food. This reminds me a lot of Dutch apple pie á la mode. You have the crisp topping drizzled with syrupy caramel, the soft spiced apples, and the creamy sweet cheesecake layer all over a buttery crust. This is a great recipe to keep in mind come Christmas since you can prepare it a day or two in advance giving you some extra time with your guests on Christmas day. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

CRUST INGREDIENTS
2 c flour
½ c brown sugar
1 c butter, softened
½ tsp cinnamon

CHEESECAKE FILLING INGREDIENTS
3-8 oz packages cream cheese
3/4 c sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

APPLE LAYER INGREDIENTS
3 apples peeled, cored, and finely chopped
3 tbsp sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg

STREUSEL TOPPING INGREDIENTS
1 c brown sugar
1 c flour
½ c oats
½ c butter, softened
1 c caramel topping

STEPS

• Preheat oven to 350º.
• In a mixing bowl combine the flour, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon and mix with your hands until crumbly.
• Line a 9” x 13” baking dish with foil making sure to go up the sides. (The helps you to easily remove the final cheesecake from the dish making it a breeze for cutting into bars.)
• Press the crumbly mixture into the bottom of the lined pan making sure it is an even thickness.
• Bake crust for 15 minutes.
• In a large mixing bowl use an electric mixer to beat together the cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.
• Pour the cream cheese mixture over the warm crust and using a rubber spatula carefully spread it so that it is an even layer.
• In a small bowl stir together all the apple layer ingredients.
• Sprinkle the apples over the cream cheese layer.
• In a small bowl combine the streusel ingredients and using your hands mix until crumbly.
• Sprinkle the streusel over the apple layer.
• Bake for 40–45 minutes.
• Allow the cheesecake to cool and then drizzle with the caramel sauce.
• Once cheesecake is room temperature store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
• To serve, carefully lift the finished cheesecake from the pan by holding the edges of the foil.
• Transfer to a large cutting board and cut into bars.
• Serve cold.