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These Apple Cheesecake Bars are so good this time of year! Like an apple pie…but with cheesecake!
Since when are squats the new black? I mean, jeez. It used to be you could go to the gym, run a little, maybe do some bicep curls, and be done. Now?
Now you gotta do squats. Lots of them. With kettle balls. Have you ever seen a kettle ball? They’re labeled in kg so when the ball looks small, it really isn’t. I just thought I’d warn you so you don’t to go up to the rack thinking “oh this thing is light, I’ll pick up the bigger one” and then your arms pulls out of its socket. {Not that that happened to me or anything…}
And it doesn’t end there, oh no.
Did you know you’re supposed to hold the kettle ball out in front of you perpendicular to the ground while you do squats? Or, swing it between your legs? It’s like Go Go Gadget arms!
And in classes, it’s even worse. Squats, lunges, one legged squats, weights over head on one legged squats. These ladies must either have iron glutes, or they have permament grab bars in their bathrooms. Just sayin’!
So, in honor of my tons and tons of squats, and because I can’t sit down on my own, I made you Apple Cheesecake Bars.
I know, like with squats, there are 5,432 versions of these bars floating out there on the internet. But these are different, I promise.
Because of the crust. It’s always the crust!
The crust on these bars is a combo of Nilla Wafers and Graham Crackers. It gives the bars so much depth! Then it’s topped with an amazing cheesecake mixture (do you use sour cream in your cheesecakes? I almost always do, I think it gives such a creamy, delicious texture!) and apples with cinnamon and sugar.
And there’s crumble.
Lots of crumble.
Oh, crumble. It’s worth 3,245 squats with kettle balls, don’t you think?
You know what would be a great way to serve these bars? Topped with caramel sauce. Salted caramel would be even better. But, uh, I forgot in the photos.
They were good even without the caramel.
Apple + Cheesecake + Crust = my favorite Fall dessert! (Well, in addition to these. And these. And this.)
Do some squats, then make these to reward yourself. If you use a kettle ball, you can have 5. Right?
Apple Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 12 Graham Cracker Sheets
- 50 Nilla Wafer Cookies
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 12 tablespoons butter melted
For the Cheesecake
- 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 Granny Smith apples peeled, cored, and finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
For the Topping:
- 1 cup brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
- 1/2 cup butter softened
Instructions
- Line a 9x13” pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Make the Crust: Pulse graham crackers and Nilla Wafer cookies in a food processor until they are fine crumbs. Place in a bowl and stir in cinnamon and melted butter. Press into prepared pan. Bake for 8 minutes, while preparing filling.
- Beat cream cheese, eggs, sour cream, sugar, and vanilla with a hand held or stand mixer. Place apples in a small bowl and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon.
- Make the topping by mixing all topping ingredients in a medium bowl with a hand mixer.
- Pour cream cheese mixture over hot crust. Sprinkle with apples. Sprinkle evenly with topping. Bake for 40-45 minutes (mine took 43). Cool to room temperature and then chill for at least 3 hours before cutting.
Recipe Video
Other Apple Goodness:
Sweets from friends:
Caramel Apple Poke Cake by What’s Cooking Love
Biscoff Caramel Apple Cider by Something Swanky
Applesauce Cupcakes by Bakeaholic Mama
Last Updated on May 13, 2020
How long do these stay good in refrigerator if made ahead of time?
Probably about 3 days. You can also freeze them if you want to make them longer ahead.
I bake all the time for work and these cheesecake bars were immediately requested to be made again. This recipe is a keeper and I even omitted the sour cream on accident!
Ha, I’ve totally done that too!! Luckily it works with that boo-boo. Glad you enjoyed them!! 🙂
Made these, and they were divine. Looked just like the picture, but my son is not an apple fan. Was wondering if I could ommit the apples, and somehow incorporate golden oreos?
You can most definitely omit the apples and it’ll will still work. Adding Golden Oreos would be amazing too. You could use them in place of the apples or omit the crumble and use crushed cookies, or replace the grahams or Nilla Wafers in the crust with them!
Love the inspiration for flavor combinations..Looking to make white chocolate apple cheesecake..Hmmmm..Help
Have you an idea what I could substitute for the oatmeal? We have allergy issues with oats.
Question: What do you mean by “sheets” –2 squares? 4? I’ll need to translate that to premade graham cracker crumbs. Thanks, it looks delicious!
Four of the little squares. OOOH, how many translate to the crumbs? I so much prefer using crumbs!
These look awesome! Would you recommend only using granny smith apples? I just went apple picking and am trying to get rid of what I have!
I think you could use any apple, except red. Fuji or Macintosh or a yellow apple would be good too. I just really love Granny Smiths in pies and such! Enjoy!
I made this for my emergency room staff! They absolutely loved these bars!!! Only problem I need to make probably double or triple batches! The first batch was gone in 5 minutes!! It’s like apple pie meets cheesecake! A match made in heaven!!! Thank you for a great recipe!!!
Oooooooo…..yummy!!
I love using graham crackers as a crust but I haven’t tried mixing it with nilla wafers. I will try it for sure 🙂
It makes an amazing combo Lyuba!!
Ugh. I’m pretty much in denial that I might ever have to change my basic workout routine….although that time might definitely be here! Good for you….and thanks for these bars! 🙂
Ugh, I hate changing the routine! But it’s so worth it. Of course, I tried on Saturday and hurt myself. Sigh. 😉
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