Sunday, November 4, 2012

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

Source: Six Sister's Stuff

Time: 1.5 hours

This is my first dessert to make it on the website! I don't bake much so I don't make a lot of desserts. But since this one took me so long to make I thought I'd add it on the blog. Although I'm not sure if I'll actually make it again. Not because it wasn't good, but because it wasn't chocolate!

Ingredients:

Crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup Smart Balance Buttery Spread Original Flavor, softened (could be substituted with butter or margarine) 

Cheesecake Filling:
3 (8 ounce) packages fat free cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup, divided
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

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

Streusel Topping:
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup Smart Balance Buttery Spread Original Flavor, softened (could be substituted with butter or margarine)

Caramel Topping:
1 cup Kraft caramels
1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a mixing bowl, combine flour and brown sugar.  Mix in Smart BalanceButtery Spread with a fork until mixture forms crumbs.  Press crumb mixture into a 9x13 pan, lined with foil and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. 

In a large mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese  and 1 cup sugar until smooth.  Stir in eggs and vanilla.  Pour cream cheese mixture over warm crust.

In a separate bowl, mix together chopped apples, 1/4 cup sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Spread mixture over your cream cheese layer.

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, oats and Smart Balance Buttery Spread.  Mix until crumbs form and sprinkle over apples.  Bake for 50-55 minutes or until filling is set.  Melt caramels and heavy cream in a microwavable bowl in 30 second increments, stirring each time, until smooth.  Drizzle melted caramel over your cheesecake and let cool.

Verdict: 
Other people enjoyed this dessert. I thought it was just ok. But i'm not a great judge of desserts that are not chocolate. To me, any dessert worth the calories has chocolate in it and this does not. I was looking to make a more "fall" dessert and this fit the bill. But it would have been so much better if it were chocolate! 

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