Brown Sugar Apple Cheesecake Bars

So, the Husband and I have this friend:

See him there, in the sweet velvet jacket? His name is Brandon, and he has an awesome band called Stateside Menace. You should check them out. He also loves Futurama, and making fun of me. In a nice way.

Anyway, his birthday was this this week, and he loves food. He LOVES food, like a lot. I've never seen anybody get as excited about good food as this guy.

And so, for Game Night this week I knew that I had to top myself with the Desert of the Century. He really wanted churros, but they were not feasible so I told him I would surprise him.

This desert terrified me. You know I love cheesecake. So does he. But I've never made a cheesecake like this. This is the most cook I've ever been. I altered this recipe so much it's practically unrecognizable. I'll warn you- there's a lot of crazy steps in this recipe that I was skeptical of. But you have to go with it.

Just go with it. Because this thing doesn't look like much, but when you taste it--oh, when you taste it. You will forget all about your hard work.

Your ingredients: Sugar, Light Brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, apples, apple cider (I couldn't find apple cider, had to use apple juice), cinnamon, sour cream, heavy cream, and gingersnap cookies

First, process your gingersnap cookies into crumbs. And be aware that these cookies are not going down without a fight. I've never seen my poor food processor work that hard. It's like, if you asked a Gingersnap, "Do you want to be a delicious, crumby crust?" he would say "No!" like a two-year old throwing a fit.

Mix in your cinnnamon, brown sugar, and butter until your crumbs are moist. Press them into the bottom of your foiled 9x13 and put it in the freezer while your oven preheats. Once your oven is ready, wrap the bottom and sides of your pan in foil and bake that crust for 12-14 minutes, until it's browned and set.

While it's cooling, cook your apples. Melt 2 tbsp. of your butter and cook half the apples for about 3 minutes, throwing a tablespoon of brown sugar and cooking until they're browned. Put on a plate and repeat with the other half.

Once your apples are cooked, let them cool while you make the filling. Start by beating the cream cheese until it's really smooth. Add in the sugars and beat until combined. Add in the cider, vanilla, and cinnamon and beat. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beat one minute between each egg. Finally, beat the sour cream and heavy cream in until everything's smooth and there are no lumps. It looks delicious.

Pour 1/3 of the filling onto the crust, then layer in the apples. If you have too many, you can put the rest on the top once it cools. But don't weigh down your filling. Pour the rest of the filling on top.

Then, follow the baking instructions below. It's a little complicated, but totally, totally worth it. And then, maybe later, play a board game that looks like this:

Brown Sugar Apple Cheesecake Bars

Adapted heavily from Joy the Baker

Crust:

60 Gingersnap cookies

3 tbsp. light brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

8 tbsp. butter, melted

Apples:

4 tbsp. butter

3 Golden Delicious or Fuji Apples, sliced thin

2 tbsp. light brown sugar

Filling:

1 1/2 lbs. cream cheese, room temperature

3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar

6 tbsp. sugar

3 tbsp. apple cider

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tsp. cinnamon

3 eggs

3/4 sour cream

1/3 cup heavy cream

Crust:

Line a 9x13 pan with foil with some overhanging on either end. Put the gingersnaps in a food processor or blender and pulse until the cookies are crumbs. Add in the sugar and cinnamon and pulse until mixed. Add in the butter and pulse until the crumbs are moistened.

Put the crumbs into the pan and press them into the bottom of the pan. Put the pan into the freezer while you preheat the oven. Turn the oven on to 350°. Once it's ready, take the pan out of the freezer and wrap the bottom of the pan in aluminum foil and up the sides. Put it into the oven and bake it for about 14-15 minutes, until the crust it set and browned.

 

 

Set the crust aside to cool while you make the apples. Leave the oven on.

Apples:

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet. Once it's not foaming anymore, add half the apples and let them cook for 3 minutes, turning them once. Sprinkle them with 1 tablespoon of the brown sugar and cook until they're browned.

 

 

Spoon onto a plate and repeat with the other half of the apples. Set the apples aside to cool while you make the filling.

Filling:

Beat the cream cheese for 4 minutes, until it is light and fluffy. Add the sugars and beat for another 2 minutes. Add the vanilla extract, the apple cider, and the cinnamon.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating one minute between each egg. Finally, beat in the sour cream and the heavy cream. Make sure the mixture is smooth and there are no lumps.

 

 

Pour one third of the filling onto the crust. Layer in the apples- not too many, you don't want to weigh down your filling. Then pour the rest of the filling on top. Place the 9x13 into a roasting pan and fill the roasting pan with boiling water, so that it comes halfway up the side of the 9x13.

 

 

Bake for a little over an hour, until only the middle jiggles. Cut up and serve! And take a break, you deserve it.