Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

This dessert was so delicious! It was like a mixture of cheesecake and apple crisp with a cookie crust. Yum!

Printable Recipe

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

Crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened

Cheesecake Filling:
3 (8 oz) pkgs cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar, plus 2 Tbsp, divided
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Apples:
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Streusel Topping:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup butter, softened

Drizzle:
1/2 cup caramel topping

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 forks until mixture is crumbly. Press evenly into a 9x13 baking pan lined with foil. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 3/4 cup sugar until smooth. Add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Mix well. Pour over crust.

In a small bowl, stir together apples, remaining 2 Tbsp sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture.

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for the streusel topping. Sprinkle over apples. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until filling is set. Drizzle with caramel topping and let cool. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serves 24

Recipe adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

Cookies & Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes

I can't think of a better combination than Oreos, cheesecake, and cupcakes. These were so delicious! Oh, and for cheesecake, these were actually pretty easy to make.

Printable Recipe

Cookies & Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes

1 pkg oreos, divided (12 coarsely crushed and 27-30 whole)

2 lbs cream cheese at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

4 large eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten

1 cup sour cream

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 275. Line muffin tins with paper liners. Place one cookie in the bottom of each liner.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese at medium speed until smooth. Gradually add sugar until combined. Beat in vanilla. Drizzle in eggs a little at a time until combined. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in crushed cookies by hand. 

Divide filling among cups, filling almost to the top. Bake until set, about 22 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 15 minutes. Remove from muffin tins and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

Makes 27-30 cupcakes 

*The original recipe calls for 42 cookies to make 30 cupcakes but there were 39 cookies in one package of Oreos so I made 27 cupcakes.

Recipe adapted from Handle the Heat

Past Recipes:

One year ago: Loaded Baked Potato Salad

Two years ago: Rustic Chicken and Herbed Cornmeal Dumplings

Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Cupcakes

This recipe has been moved to The Traveling Circus.

Click the link below for the recipe

Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Cupcakes

Oreo Cheesecake Bars

Printable Recipe

Oreo Cheesecake Bars


crust:
23 oreo cookies
2 Tbsp melted butter

cheesecake:
12 oz cream cheese at room temperature
6 Tbsp sugar
6 Tbsp sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
12 oreo cookies, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 325. Line an 8x8 baking dish with foil. Place the oreo cookies in a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Add melted butter and pulse until moistened. Transfer to prepared pan and press down to form the crust. Bake for 10 minutes.

While crust is baking, prepare the cheesecake. Using the paddle attachment, add cream cheese to the mixer and beat at medium-high speed until light and smooth. Add sugar and mix until well combined. Blend in sour cream, vanilla, and salt. Beat in egg and egg yolk until well combined. With a rubber spatula, stir in chopped oreos. Pour mixture into crust. Bake for 40 minutes until set around the edges and slightly wobbly in the center. Let cool at room temperature for 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

recipe adapted from Annie's Eats

Cheesecake

My husband made cheesecake for his family on Christmas Eve. He has a large family so he made 3 cheesecakes. He was pretty much baking all morning. This is the best cheesecake ever!  I'm a cheesecake lover so it's not very hard to please me. But after trying this cheesecake I'm always disappointed by other cheesecakes. It's that good!  Cheesecake is always a little time consuming to make and I've heard a lot of people say they've made it and it hasn't turned out right. If you follow this recipe it will turn out great. It's so good. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Printable Recipe

Cheesecake
adapted from Barefoot Contessa, Food Network

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (10 crackers)
1 Tbsp sugar
6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
2 1/2 lbs cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 whole eggs, at room temperature
2 egg yolks, at room temperature
1/4 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Topping:
frozen berries, thawed (any kind)
sugar to taste

Preheat oven to 350. To make crust, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter until moistened. Pour into a 9-inch springform pan. Using your hands, press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan and about 1-inch up the sides. Bake for 8 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

Increase oven to 450. To make filling, mix together cream cheese and sugar using a paddle attachment on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce the speed of the mixer to medium and add the eggs and egg yolks, 2 at a time, mixing well. Reduce the mixer to low and add the sour cream, lemon zest, and vanilla. Mix well and pour into the cooled crust.

Bake for 15 minutes. Turn the oven down to 225 and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn the oven off and open the door wide. The cake will not be completely set in the center. Let the cheesecake sit in the oven with the door open for 30 minutes. Take the cheesecake out of the oven and let sit at room temperature for another 2-3 hours, until completely cooled. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to serve, remove the cheesecake from springform pan by carefully running a hot knife around the outside of the cake. To cut cake, make sure the knife is hot by running hot water over it. If the knife is cold it will tear the cake.

To make topping combine thawed berries and desired amount of sugar. Serve over cheesecake.

serves 12-15