Apple Cobbler Cheesecake Bars
Apple cobbler or cheesecake for dessert? Why not both! These Apple Cobbler Cheesecake Bars are a tasty way to end a chilly Autumn day!
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Back in the middle of the summer, we made our yearly trip down to Maryland to visit Laura’s family. Friday is reserved for eating Maryland blue crabs on the back deck while Saturday brings a potluck picnic with her whole family. (And Laura’s family is huge! I think we had 30+ people there this year…and that’s only part of one branch of her family tree.) Our contribution to the picnic was a batch of cheesecake bars. I mean it’s cheesecake, and it’s bite-sized. How can you go wrong there?
In keeping with the seasonal flavors, I’ve updated those cheesecake bars from this summer to create these Apple Cobbler Cheesecake Bars. They’re essentially a cheesecake bar base with diced apples and cobbler crumble on top. And they are so freakin’ good! Of course, I’m a huge sucker for all things apple and cinnamon, so these Apple Cobble Cheesecake Bars had my name written all over ’em.
You guys might remember that we have a couple of apple trees growing in our backyard. We planted them when we moved in about 6 years ago (geez…time flies), and we’ve been getting a couple apples from them each year for several years now. We have to fight the squirrels though! We also have a cherry tree and a nectarine tree. But here’s my problem: our nectarine tree is getting rather large. And tall. And I’m not tall enough to get up to the nectarines at the top. (What can I say? I guess I just prefer low-hanging fruit.)
During our drive down to Maryland, we noticed a number of peach orchards along the highways. Well, I should say Laura noticed them. I was busy dodging 18-wheelers trying to pass each other while going up a mountain. (That’s one of my biggest pet peeves about road trips!) But all of the peach trees we passed were cut-off on the top. And that made me realize that maybe we should go in and cut the top off of our nectarine tree. Now I know peaches and nectarines are different, but they’re still pretty similar. So I need some advice. Should we prune back the top half of our nectarine tree like they do in the peach orchards? (Kathy, I’m looking at you here!)
But back to these Apple Cobbler Cheesecake Bars. I grew up with my grandma making apple cobblers (and blackberry cobblers…and peach cobblers…) throughout the summer and fall and well into the winter, too. Over time, I’ve updated her recipe to include oats in the topping because I love the rustic flavor toasted oats bring to the cobbler once it’s baked. So I’m thinking these Apple Cobbler Cheesecake Bars would work with all sorts of fruit. However, given that we’re in the middle of Autumn, bring on the apples. Maybe next year we’ll be nibbling on Nectarine Cobbler Cheesecake Bars! Enjoy the season, my friends!
Apple Cobbler Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
For the Graham Cracker Crust
- 7 full-sized graham crackers
- 3 Tbsp brown sugar
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
For the Cheesecake
- 16 oz. cream cheese room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 Tbsp sour cream
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp apple pie spice see note
For the Apples
- 2 Granny Smith apples peeled and diced
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
For the Crumble Topping
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup old-fashioned oats
- ¾ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
- {optional} powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
For the Graham Cracker Crust
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Line an 8”x8” baking pan with parchment paper; set pan aside.
- Using a food processor or mini-chopper, pulse the graham crackers until finely ground. In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and melted butter. Stir until fully combined.
- Press the crust mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. (Tip: A flat-bottomed glass helps pack the crust mixture down evenly.)
- Bake crust at 350°F for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
For the Cheesecake
- Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until completely smooth (about 3 minutes).
- Add the sugar and mix well. (Tip: Don’t forget to scrape the bottom and sides of the mixing bowl to fully incorporate the sugar.)
- Add the egg and additional egg yolk; mix until well combined.
- Add the sour cream, vanilla and apple pie spice; mix until well combined.
- Pour Cheesecake filling on top of the Graham Cracker Crust.
For the Apples
- Using a medium bowl, add diced apples, brown sugar and cinnamon; toss until well combined.
- Sprinkle the diced apples evenly over the cheesecake filling.
For the Crumble Topping
- Using a small bowl, add flour, brown sugar, oats, ginger and salt; mix until well combined. Add butter and stir until well combined.
- Crumble topping over the apples.
- Bake at 350°F for 1 hour and 45 minutes, tenting with foil after 1 hour. (See note below.)
- Remove from oven and let cool for 30 minutes. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours, or until cold, before slicing and serving.
- {Optional} Dust tops of bars lightly with powdered sugar before serving.
Notes
I would love to have fruit trees in the backyard, that would be so nice. I love that you combined two of my favorite desserts. These bars look amazing!
You should totally go plant some fruit trees in your backyard, Dawn! That’s what we did when we moved into this house ~6 years ago. Of course, it takes a number of years to get those trees mature enough to produce fruit, but they’re still a fun addition to the yard. 🙂 Thanks so much for the kind words! These cheesecake bars are one of my favorites, too!
Nectarines are one of my all-time favorite fruits. You’re so lucky to have them growing in your backyard! Maybe you could make friends with a helicopter pilot and he could hover over the tree and you could get the ones at the top? Or maybe pruning them is the right idea. These bars look amazing! I love that you didn’t skimp on the apples on top :). Have a great week, David!
So, yes, we do have a nectarine tree in the backyard. But the part I didn’t say is that we’ve yet to get an actual nectarine off of that tree. We left all of the buds on the tree this year, and we had tons (dozens?) of little nectarines…but they all fell off when they were about 1″ big. Not sure what happened there, but I was sad. Maybe next year! Thanks so much for the kind words, Kelsie! Hope your week is going well so far, my friend!
Nectarine cobbler bars? Yes! I need to see those! Though, this apple version looks amazing and I bet tastes even better 🙂 I can practically smell them now. P.S. If you brought these cheesecake bars to a picnic, you’d be invited every single time 😉 Have a wonderful week, my friend!
Haha! Nectarine cobbler does sound kinda fun, doesn’t it, Dawn? 🙂 But that would mean we’d have to actually get some nectarines off of that tree. This was the first year that things looked promising, but those darned nectarines all fell off after about a month or so…long before they were ready. Maybe next year, right? In the meantime, I’m ok with settling for apple cheesecake bars instead! Thanks so much, my friend! I hope your week is going well so far!
I imagine you fighting with the squirrels for a few apples/nectarines, and this might be very hilarious. David, you have a year to practice climbing the nectarine tree fast or otherwise the squirrels will always beat you hah. Also, although we might not always agree on some things (e.g. lavender issue), you’re so right about cheesecake. You cannot go wrong here (Well, in your case it must be a lavender cheesecake). Anyways, I do love this seasonal addition. But what’s next? Pumpkin cheesecake?
Oh gosh, you know all about me and fighting the random critters in the backyard for my fruits/veggies. I finally had to give up on strawberries, although every year I kinda want to try those again. Darned chipmunks! Pumpkin cheesecake does indeed sound delicious, Ben! In fact, I think I posted one about this time last year. Haha! Thanks so much, my friend! I hope your week has been going well so far!
Hi David! Thank you for this perfect Fall recipe! Plus, it’s two desserts in one. I would think topping the tree would be okay, it is what they do in orchards to aid in picking the fruit. Plus I think it encourages the tree to branch out rather than up. I’m no expert so you’d better do some research before wacking your tree!
Yeah, I think I agree with you about trimming that tree back, Dorothy! I’m going to do some reading, and I think it’s best to trim fruit trees back in the dead of winter…at least that’s what we read/do for our apple trees. Hopefully next year, we’ll actually be talking about some nectarines from that tree! In the meantime, though, we can occupy ourselves with these cheesecake bars. We have apples coming out of our ears (from local orchards…not our trees) right now, so I’m been making all sorts of apple treats lately! Hope your week is going well so far. I’ll hop over and respond to your email shortly, too! 🙂
You have combined two fabulous desserts-apple crumble and cheesecake! These bars have to be crazy delicious!! Adding oats to the crumble topping means the topping is more crumbly and crunchy! Which is Yay!!
Why thank you so much, Deepika! We’ve had a ton of apples around here lately as we got carried away picking apples at the orchards…so these bars were totally a result of that! But how can you go wrong when you combine apple cobbler + cheesecake? 🙂 Hope you’re doing well, my friend!
Sign me up – anything apple, anything cheesecake, any type of cobbler, this is my jam! It looks and sounds amazing! And definitely top that tree, I would think you’d end up with an abundance of low-hanging fruit!
I am right there with ya on the anything apple + anything cheesecake train, Laura! I’m also thinking you’re right about topping that nectarine tree. We’ll do some more research and then see how it goes. Hopefully by this time next year, we’ll be talking nectarines! Stay tuned there! In the meantime, we can just gobble down apple cobbler cheesecake bars instead. 🙂 Thanks so much, my friend!
I actually prefer cheesecake bars than the whole cheesecake, so much easier to store and serve! Love these bars David, especially the topping!
I totally agree, Manali! Plus, another bonus of cheesecake bars? They’re easier for the chef to snack on without anyone else noticing. 🙂 Thanks so much, my friend!
We had a peach tree in our previous house and I always pulled the fruit off the branch with a hooked stick. Even if you cut off the top they still are large trees.
What a smart idea of combining two desserts in one!
A hooked stick! That’s a fun idea…thanks for that one, Balvinder. I do think we probably need to chop that tree back a little bit, but you’re right that some of the fruit will still be pretty high. Stay tuned on that one for next year! In the meantime, we can just snack on apple cobbers and cheesecakes…or a combination of the two! 🙂
These look incredible! Love the addition of the oats, I am always trying to add oats to everything too. Have you tried mixing them into bread pudding, letting it sit overnight, then baking in the morning? Oh my, it’s incredible. Can’t wait to try your recipe soon.
Hey there, Katherine! Thank you so much for the kind words, my friend. I do love baking with oats, and I make a yummy oat sandwich bread with oats all over the top. Come to think of it, I haven’t made that bread since probably last Fall. I need to do that this weekend! So no, I haven’t tried oats in bread pudding…but that sounds amazing. I can totally see how that would work. Adding that one to the list soon, too! Thanks so much! I hope your week is going well. 🙂
Can you believe I don’t know anything about peach or nectarine trees! It’s too cold here and they wouldn’t survive the winters. We had an apricot tree once but it only lasted two seasons and then it died! Ask me about an apple tree and I’ll tell you what to do! 🙂 Now these apple cobbler cheesecake bars do look delicious! I love apple season…and let’s be honest…I love desserts! 🙂
Oh no! That poor apricot tree! I never thought about it being too cold in your neck of the woods for peaches, but that makes sense. I’ll do some googling, but I suspect topping that tree is the way to go here. And we always prune our apple trees in the dead of winter, so we’ll get out there and get that nectarine tree ready for next year. Cross your fingers! In the meantime, we’ll just have to eat cheesecake bars. Oh darn! 😉 Thanks, Kathy!
Wow, an apple tree, a cherry tree, AND a nectarine tree?! Sounds like you’ve hit the fruit jackpot! I love hybrid desserts like these – it makes being indecisive way easier 😉
Haha, yeah, I think we might have gotten a bit carried away when we moved into this house. We just went to the local garden city and got several fruit trees that sounded like fun. But now those trees are getting big! I’m crossing my fingers that we’ll be able to get some nectarines next year. We got cherries for the first time this year, but only about 6 of ’em. Haha! 🙂 Thanks so much, Mara!
Apple Cobbler with freshly picked apples… yes… cheesecake… heck yes! I’m on a plane headed to Maryland right now David, I’m hoping to get tons of Blue Crabs on this trip, they are soooooo tasty. Can you believe I’ve never made cheesecake bars?
Ohhh…I hope you enjoy your trip back home, Mary! I was flying yesterday, too. Our paths totally could’ve crossed! 🙂 Ok. Your homework while you’re back home (if you have time) is to make a batch of cheesecake bars. They’re so fun and tasty. And I bet you won’t have a hard time finding folks to help you eat those bars, too! Have a great trip, my friend!
I’m a sucker for all things apple & cinnamon too! I put cinnamon on almost everything. I’m not a huge cheesecake person, but these bars look delicious!
Cheers to cinnamon and apples! We’ve been making a bunch of apple sauce lately with our surplus of apples, and it’s seriously just apples, cinnamon and a bit of brown sugar. SO good! 🙂 Thanks, Nicole!
Truly, how can you go wrong when you combine two of the best desserts there are!! These look divine, David and so perfect for fall!
Haha! I couldn’t agree more, Marissa. Apple cobbler is one of my favorite Fall desserts, and cheesecake is one of my favorite all-year-long desserts! 🙂 Thanks so much!!
this sounds like such a tasty mashup! all the coziness of apple cobbler + the decadence of cheesecake makes this sound like the perfect fall dessert (:
Oh, you are so right, Heather! We have a ton of apples on our countertop, and I’ve been trying to come up with ways to use ’em. That’s when it hit me to combine 2 of my favorite desserts into one. Mmmm…apples. 🙂 Thanks so much, and I hope you have a great weekend ahead!!
Good Lord this sounds decadently delicious!
Thanks, Jeff! These bars are indeed decadently delicious…and perfect for this time of the year when we have, oh, 40+ pounds of apples sitting on the counter!