Secret Recipe Club: Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

It's Secret Recipe Club reveal day!  In case you don't know, The Secret Recipe Club is a group of food bloggers who secretly make one of someone else's dishes and post them all on the same day at the same time.  This is my third month participating.  It's really fun, choosing a recipe to make, making the recipe, then reading about everyone else's recipes.  It's a great way to "meet" other bloggers and check out some great blogs that you never knew about before.

This month I was assigned the blog The Cookaholic Wife.  Nichole is a newlywed who likes to cook and write.  She has several recipes on her blog that caught my attention, like her Beef, Mushroom, and Spinach Lasagna, her Chipotle Chicken Burritos, and her Pretzel Crusted Chicken with Cheddar Mustard Sauce.  But in the end, I decided to go with dessert.  How could I see a recipe for Caramel Apple Cream Cheese Bars this time of year and not choose that?

I ended up making some changes to the recipe.  My bars have four layers: a graham cracker crust on the bottom, a cheesecake layer, a layer of spiced apples, and it's finished with a streusel topping.  Then the whole thing is drizzled with caramel sauce.  Are you drooling yet?  Here's the recipe.

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients:

1½ cups graham cracker crumbs

6 tbsp butter, melted

2 (8 oz.) pkgs cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

½ cup plus 2 tbsp sugar, divided

1 tsp vanilla

2½ cups apple, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice, divided

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup flour

¼ cup oats

4 tbsp butter

Caramel ice cream topping

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Coat an 8x8” baking dish with baking spray.

Combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter.  Press into the bottom of the baking dish. 

Combine cream cheese, eggs, ½ cup sugar, and vanilla.  Beat until smooth.  Pour over graham cracker crust.

Combine apples, 2 tbsp sugar, and ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice.  Layer apple slices on top of cream cheese mixture.

Combine brown sugar, flour, oats, remaining ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice, and 4 tbsp butter.  Mixture should be crumbly.  Sprinkle on top of the apples.

Bake 30-40 minutes or until center is set and top is golden brown.  Cool before cutting into bars.  Drizzle with caramel sauce.

Makes 9 servings.

Oh man, these bars are so good!  I don't have the equipment to make cheesecake (no springform pan), so making them in bar form is perfect for me.  I love the combination of the creaminess of the cheesecake layer, the tartness and sweetness of the apple layer, and the crunchy streusel on top.  They are the perfect dessert for apple-picking time of year!

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