Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

Fall is my favorite season, and not just for the beautiful Fall foliage and crisp weather.

Tis the season for comfort foods, game day recipes, and decadent desserts!

And one of my all time favorite Fall flavors… it’s not pumpkin… but apples.

I mean, is there anything better than a spiced caramel apple? Oh, I know… how about creamy cheesecake bars topped with those spiced apples, a crumble topping, and drizzled with caramel sauce?

I’m practically drooling already! And the best part? These cheesecake bars don’t need any special springform pan, and don’t need a water bath, so they’re much easier to make than traditional cheesecake.

How to make caramel apple cheesecake bars?

This is just an overview; the full ingredients and directions are in the recipe card toward the bottom of this post.

1. Make shortbread crust. I find turning the cookies into crumbs is easiest when done in a food processor. However you can add the cookies to a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin or something similar.
2. Spread crust into baking pan. Spread the crust into an even layer, and chill. I like to use the bottom of a drinking glass to make sure it’s nice and flat.
3. Mix cheesecake filling. You’ll need a mixer for this step (either a stand mixer or hand mixer), because a whisk just won’t get the mixture creamy enough.
4. Pour over crust.
5. Make spiced apples. This is just stirring together chopped apples, lemon zest, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
6. Top cheesecake with apples.
7. Make crumble. You can do this with a food processor or by using a pastry cutter (or two forks).
8. Sprinkle over the top and bake. Once baked, let the bars cool a bit, then chill for 15-30 minutes.
9. Drizzle and serve. Drizzle the bars with caramel.

Variations of this recipe

• Crust – if you’d prefer a graham cracker crust, or to use a different flavored cookie, you certainly can. Biscoff cookies are one of my favorite alternate cookie crusts for this recipe! Just follow the same ratio of cookies to butter as listed in this recipe.
• Cream cheese – for the best results, use full-fat cream cheese, and make sure it’s softened. Low-fat cream cheese can work, although I found it lacked the wonderful creaminess. I don’t recommend fat-free cream cheese.
• Apples – less sweet and more tart apples work best for this recipe, but if you would prefer a sweeter apple, honeycrisp would be my recommendation.
• Crumble topping – if you’d like, you can use a food processor to make the crumble (although if you want whole oat pieces for texture, add those after you’ve pulsed the crumble). If you want to use old-fashioned oats instead of quick oats, you absolutely can.
• Caramel sauce – to make this dessert a little easier, I’ve written it with a store-bought caramel sauce, but if you want to take these bars to an amazing level, try my browned butter salted caramel, or no-fail caramel sauce!

Making cheesecake bars ahead of time

We prefer to enjoy this dessert recipe chilled, so it’s a natural make-ahead recipe, since the bars have to cool in the refrigerator.

However, if you’d like to serve these bars warm, then it’s slightly a make-ahead recipe, since they still need to chill a bit, in order to slice the bars cleanly.

The entire recipe can be made ahead though, and kept chilled for up to 4-5 days.

Storage

Leftover cheesecake bars should be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to 4-5 days. For optimal storage, don’t add the caramel sauce until you’re ready to serve.

Freezing

If you’d like longer storage options, these bars freeze well! Make sure they’re cooled completely, then add to a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months.

Thaw in the refrigerator, then drizzle with caramel before serving.