Apple Cheesecake Bars
Apple Cheesecake Bars are layered with shortbread crust, creamy cheesecake, caramelized apples and crispy streusel topping. These cheesecake bars are the perfect marriage of flavors and textures and I’m officially obsessed!
If making a classic cheesecake (all that business with a special pan and water bath!) feels intimidating, cheesecake bars are the perfect compromise! They blend the flavors of classic cheesecake and apple pie with the most delicious streusel.
This is the perfect fall dessert to place on your Thanksgiving table!
Table of Contents
The Best Apple Cheesecake Bars
This may be the best dessert recipe that I’ve ever created! This combination of sweet and salty shortbread, creamy cheesecake, caramelized apples, and a brown sugar oat crumble is out of this world!
Apple cheesecake bars hit all the flavor and texture wickets and they would be perfect for Thanksgiving. They do require some work in that there are several components, but you can prep them in advance and refrigerate until ready you’re to serve.
As much as I love pumpkin pie, my true allegiance lies to the apples! I love everything from a classic apple crisp to apple crumb cake to apple cider cake and donuts. If it’s apple, I love it!
When I set out to create this apple cheesecake bars recipe, I knew they would be good but I was actually blown away when I tasted them. They’re so outrageously good! Apple cheesecake bars will be the pinnacle of your Thanksgiving dessert table.
If you need more turkey day inspiration, check out my Thanksgiving recipe collection.
How to Make Apple Cheesecake Bars
Apple cheesecake bars are so great because you can make everything with a hand mixer, no stand mixer needed!
Tools Needed
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Cream cheese. Full-fat brick cream cheese is the way to go. Don’t use whipped cream cheese or neufchâtel.
- Sugar. You’ll need brown and white sugar for this recipe.
- Eggs. Make sure they’re room temperature!
- Vanilla. Vanilla helps bolster flavor in the crust, filling, and apples.
- Cinnamon. You’ll need cinnamon for the apples and the streusel.
- Quick oats. I love the flavor that the oats give the crumble. You can use old fashioned oats if needed.
- Pecans. The pecans add a beautiful crunch the streusel, but they can be omitted.
- Butter. Butter in the crust and crumble adds great flavor and texture.
- Flour. Just good old classic all-purpose flour here.
- Sour cream. In my opinion, sour cream is the secret ingredient for truly silky cheesecake filling. Go with full-fat here.
The Process
- Make the crust. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with a hand mixer until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Mix in the vanilla, salt, and flour until crumbly. Press the crust in an even layer into the prepared baking pan and chill for 1 hour. Bake for 20 minutes, until lightly browned, and cool slightly.
- Prepare the apples. Melt the butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter is melted and foamy, add the diced apples and cook for 2-3 minutes, until slightly browned. Sprinkle in the vanilla, salt, and sugar and stir well. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until the apples get syrupy, then sprinkle in the flour. Stir well and cook for another 3-4 minutes until very thick. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.
- Make the crumble. Mix the flour, brown sugar, oats, pecans, pecans and cinnamon together in a small mixing bowl with a fork. Mix in the butter with your fingers until clumps form. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Make the cheesecake filling. In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Mix in the sour cream and the eggs and yolk, one at a time. Mix in the vanilla and beat until very smooth.
- Assemble the bars. Pour the cheesecake filling into the baked and cooled crust and spread into an even layer. Top evenly with the sautéed apples and sprinkle the crumble evenly over the top.
- Bake. Bake for 60-70 minutes, until the center slightly jiggles but is set. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature, then chill for at least 4 hours before serving the apple cheesecake bars.
Tips for Making Apple Cheesecake Bars
- Use room temperature ingredients. This is such an important tip, especially for the cheesecake filling. When you use cold ingredients, you end up with grainy cheesecake filling. Room temperature ingredients mix more easily and give you the best texture.
- Line the pan with parchment paper. Make sure there’s some overhang on all 4 edges so that the apple cheesecake bars are easy to remove from the pan and don’t stick.
- Choose the right apples. The best apples to use here are slightly tart, firm apples like pink lady or honeycrisp. They maintain the best texture while baking.
- Take time between stages. This means you can easily prep several steps in advance! Make sure to let the crust and the apples cool before assembling.
- Don’t over bake. Bake just until the filling is set, but the center wiggles a bit. If you over bake the cheesecake filling, it can get very grainy.
- Cool completely and chill before cutting. Let the apple cheesecake bars cool completely to room temperature, then chill until set before cutting so that the bars don’t end up runny. This recipe is best made in advance.
Make Ahead Instructions
I love this recipe because you can easily make it ahead of time! You can also break up the work into stages.
The apple cheesecake bars can be made to completion up to 3 days in advance and stored in the fridge until ready to serve.
You can prep the streusel up to 1 day in advance and store in the fridge in and airtight container. You can also make and prep the apples up to 3 days in advance and store in the fridge in an airtight container.
Storage Instructions
After baking, apple cheesecake bars can be stored in the fridge covered for 3-5 days.
You can also wrap the cut or uncut bars really well in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Just defrost in the fridge overnight before serving.
These Apple Cheesecake Bars are the ultimate fall dessert. They’re creamy, perfectly spiced, with a hint of crunch–perfect for Thanksgiving! If you do give this recipe a try, be sure to let me know! Leave a comment with a star rating below. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter and never miss a new recipe! You can also snap a photo & tag @JENNYGOYCOCHEA on Instagram. I LOVE hearing about & seeing your SMF creations!
More Apple Dessert Recipes to Try
Apple Cider Donut Cake
Apple Pear Crisp
Caramelized Apple Fritters
Apple Cider Donuts
Apple Pie French Toast Bake
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Apple Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, softened
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Caramelized Apples
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 medium apples (like pink lady or honeycrisp), peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Cheesecake Filling
- 16 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 egg yolk, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Streusel Topping
- 1/2 stick (2 oz) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350 F.
- Make the crust. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with a hand mixer until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Mix in the vanilla, salt, and flour until crumbly. Press the crust in an even layer into the prepared baking pan and chill for 1 hour. Bake for 20 minutes, until lightly browned, and cool slightly.
- Prepare the apples. Melt the butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter is melted and foamy, add the diced apples and cook for 2-3 minutes, until slightly browned. Sprinkle in the vanilla, salt, and sugar and stir well. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until the apples get syrupy, then sprinkle in the flour. Stir well and cook for another 3-4 minutes until very thick. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.
- Make the crumble. Mix the flour, brown sugar, oats, pecans, pecans and cinnamon together in a small mixing bowl with a fork. Mix in the butter with your fingers until clumps form. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Make the cheesecake filling. In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Mix in the sour cream and the eggs and yolk, one at a time. Mix in the vanilla and beat until very smooth.
- Adjust oven temperature to 325 F.
- Assemble the bars. Pour the cheesecake filling into the baked and cooled crust and spread into an even layer. Top evenly with the sautéed apples and sprinkle the crumble evenly over the top.
- Bake. Bake for 60-70 minutes, until the center slightly jiggles but is set. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature, then chill for at least 4 hours before serving the apple cheesecake bars.
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