Dutch Apple Cheesecake

I don’t know how I’ve gone so long without posting a cheesecake recipe, but to start out I’ve picked a good one! You’d probably be surprised to hear that I never really liked cheesecake until about 4 years ago, until I tried this recipe. A friend of mine from grad school made this cheesecake, but she and her roommates just weren’t able to finish all of it. I knew that Derek liked cheesecake so I told her she could bring me the leftovers for him. I decided to just try a little bite of it, and that “little” bite turned into me eating half of the piece and immediately asking for the recipe! It was actually given to her by a friend, so I don’t know the original source (if it looks familiar to anyone let me know)!

That weekend I made my first cheesecake. And the following weekend Derek requested it again. And the following weekend as well! I went from thinking cheesecake was just “ehh” to thinking it was the greatest thing on Earth (next to peanut butter cups of course). It wasn’t until about a year ago that I started experimenting with different kinds of cheesecake (which will all make an appearance I promise), and now I can’t get enough.  I was thinking I was being cool, creative, baking blogger chick when I got the idea for this cheesecake, until I did a Google search and discovered that the Cheesecake Factory makes one just like it (of course they do)! Oh well, it wasn’t about to stop me. My true inspiration was the Dutch Caramel Apple Pie from Perkins (a restaurant chain located mostly in the Midwest).

I love apple pie filling because it’s so easy and I love the taste. I also love the taste of using fresh apples, but sometimes the pie filling is just so much simpler! I used my go-to streusel recipe for the topping, but I think it would taste great sprinkling some on top of the apple pie filling as well. My only complaint is that the streusel covering the top makes it a little more difficult to tell when the cheesecake is done, so make sure you double check with a toothpick. Drizzle some caramel on top and you’ve got a perfect fall cheesecake. Enjoy!

Dutch Apple Cheesecake
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Crust:
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 stick butter (melted)
1/2 cup sugar

Filling:
3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs
1 can (20 oz) apple pie filling

Streusel:
1 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar, then add melted butter, mixing with a fork. Press into bottom and slightly up sides of a 9 inch springform pan. Place in freezer for 10-15 minutes to set. In a medium sized bowl beat together cream cheese and sugar. Add vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg. Make sure you scrape the sides of the bowl with a spoon or spatula to fully incorporate all of the ingredients. Pour half of the batter on top of crust. Cover with can of apple pie filling, then reaming cheesecake batter. Using a fork mix together graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and cinnamon, then add melted butter. Sprinkle streusel over the top of the cheesecake. Place springform pan on rimmed baking sheet and place in the middle rack of the oven. Bake 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool fully (usually a few hours in the refrigerator) then drizzle with Hershey’s caramel syrup if desired.

~I’m sharing this over at Recipe Swap Thursday and Delicious Dishes~