A trio made in Heaven! Caramel, apples and cheesecake!! Apple season is approaching soon, I couldn’t wait!
Ingredients:
Crust:
- 11 whole graham crackers
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup of butter, melted
Filling:
- 16 oz of caramel bits (approximately 1 1/2 bags)
- 1 can (5oz) of evaporated milk
- 3/4 cup chopped pecans
- 1 package (16oz) of room temperature cream cheese
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 room temperature eggs
- 1 1/2 cups chopped apples (gala, fuji or golden delicious) divided use
- 1 Tbs flour
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°
Place graham crackers in a food processor. Pulse until you have fine crumbs, pour into a bowl and add sugar and melted butter, mix well.
Press onto the bottom and a little up the sides of a 9″ springform pan.
Melt the caramels and evaporated milk in a small saucepan over low heat, until the caramels are melted and the mixture is smooth, stir often. Reserve 1/2 cup and pour the remaining mixture over the crust. Sprinkle on half of the pecans.
Beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup of sugar until smooth, add eggs, one at a time, beat until smooth.
Toss together the 1 cup of chopped apple, flour and cinnamon.
Fold into the cream cheese mixture.
Spoon the cream cheese mixture over the caramel crust and bake for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven.
Mix together the reserved caramel and the remaining 1/2 cup of apples. Spoon over the cheesecake and sprinkle with the remaining pecans. Bake for another 15 minutes. The center will look a little jiggly. It only completely firms up after being chilled overnight. When you take the cheesecake from the oven, run a knife along the edge, between the pan and the cake to loosen. Let cool completely.
Refrigerate overnight or for several hours until completely chilled before releasing the springform sides. I leave the bottom on, it’s difficult to remove and is barely visible. Serve and enjoy!
