So, apples right? I love apples and I especially like baking with them. Not that I don’t appreciate a nice naked, low fat apple. I do. But with just a few, slightly more calorie dense additions, you can really improve not just the apple, but perhaps your entire outlook on life.
Larry loves apple pie and though I am working on it, I am not fond of making pie crusts. I have mentioned my grandmother’s ability to seemingly draw forth a perfect pie crust from thin air, but I am no where near as skilled as she. I like apple crisp because it is easier than pie. [ha! get it? easier than pie!] The addition of the cheesecake layer is pure inspiration in my book. You can let me know what you think.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 10 inch pie plate liberally with butter.
Peel and slice 3 large apples. You want enough apples to loosely fill the pie plate about 2/3. Combine the apple slices with a pinch of salt, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger and about 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon. 
Mix well and spread evenly in the pie plate, leaving plenty of gaps for the cheesecake filling.
Beat together 8 ounces of room temperature cream cheese or neufchâtel, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla and a pinch of salt. Beat until very creamy and pour over the apples, letting it settle into the empty spaces and spreading evenly over the top.
Finally, combine 1/2 cup each all purpose flour and oatmeal, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, 5 tablespoons softened butter, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and pinch of salt. I use a pastry cutter for this but you can use a fork or just your hands. Spread this mixture evenly over the top.
Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes – until the apples are nicely soft, the top is browned and there is bubbly sauce from the apples around the edge.
And then – you cut a nice big slice and eat it. Repeat as necessary.
I would say it should be kept in the fridge after the first day, but it didn’t last long enough to have to worry about it. Enjoy!
Oh man. That looks way good. Can we come for dessert tonight. Puuuuuuulease!!!
umm. YUM!
OK. I am so making this tonight!!!
Thanks, Dlyn.
can you see the drool on this post??? oh yum…gotta make this…thank you
This is tonight’s dessert. What a gorgeous treat!
good grief slap a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top while its still hot… To die for!
another drool moment than you Mam!
My goodness that sounds terrific!
Oh. I am SO making this!
And when it gets closer to Thanksgiving, I will post my awesomely easy pie crust recipe on my blog. Just for you. :)
MMMM That looks so good. The only thing missing is a scoop of ice cream. I am trying this soon.
Wow, that looks so good I can’t make it until I have enough guests to eat it all up! But I’m going to make it soon…
This looks terrific! Think I’ll have to give it a try. My kitchen is chock FULL of apples right now…..we pulled as many as we could off the two apple trees we have because of the snow expected tonight. I’m going to be makin’ lots of apple STUFF!
Oh I am so making this weekend…thnak you, thank you, thank you!
Looks amazing!
Country Girl Kate made this and said it lasted all of an hour in her house. Talked to Mental P. and she said she’d made it, it was the most delicious thing they’d ever had – she was saving a piece for her breakfast, and some “unknown” thief found it AND ATE IT!
With all these rave reviews, it’s on my weekend menu!!
Can’t wait!
greenjello – I can’t wait to see it!
I would say I am amazed at the response to this recipe, but I’m not really. It is so easy and the result is just sublime. I am making another one this weekend.
Thanks for all the links back to my blog too – I love my blogging buds.
I am soooo making this!
Say, where do you find cute pie plates like that? I went to a few places today looking and I couldnt find any adorable ceramic ones…
I am thinking I’m going to make this treat in a nice pie plate and offer it to the host of the housewarming party we are going to this weekend!
emmy – that pie plate actually matches my fiestaware dishes – my daughter gave it to me for Christmas last year. I believe she got it on eBay. They do have them in quite a few other colors too. hope you enjoy the recipe!
I LOVE ebay! I’ll have to get started scouring for one NOW!
In the mean time, I made this tonight for myself and my hubby and it was AMAZING.
And the bonus is that my home smells just incredible too! I love a relaxing saturday evening with good company and warm, apple pie scents wafting through the house.
This desert is totally going on one of the permanent recipie cards in my box. THANK YOU for sharing it with us! I anticipate it warming many holidays in the future!
Em
I made this today to celebrate my birthday (I always have cheesecake on my birthday!). It was SO good, and everyone else loved it, too.
A keeper for sure!
Thumbs up to you. This just made me hungry and now I’m craving it :]
ok i am one of those people i can barely stand from “allrecipes.com” who say “this was amazing, but i did this to it and that to it…” which totally deviates from the original recipe, but this is what i found:
it was amazing. i subbed splenda for sugar and if i had the brown sugar blend, would have done so further but i didn’t so i didn’t…used smart balance instead of butter…whole wheat flour instead of white flour…neufchatel cheese, which i would use fat free next time…tweaked it bc everyone in my family was dieting but i had so many apples, it was a perfect plan.
not one complaint. i have to say, my house smelled wonderful and i received the highest compliment from max “omg so yum.” high praise.
plus you should know – miss molly has been on the “one pop tart a day diet” since her surgery bc everything upsets her stomach — she had two helpings :)
two enthusiastic thumbs up and linky love from my blog.
pen
Glad to hear that you all enjoyed it – I have made it a couple times more myself ;)
And Penni – thanks for the link – always appreciate those. Recipe alterations are just fine by me and I am always glad if someone wants to pass them around, either here the comments or on their own blog, with a link back to the original. I love seeing what other people do with food!
I really like the sound of using cream cheese in an apple crisp!
Pingback: Chablis Ginger Pear Crisp – dlyn
Pingback: Apple Cheese Crisp dlyn | Green Tea Fat Burner
Pingback: Apple Walnut Kuchen – dlyn
Pingback: Apple Puffs – dlyn
Looked for this on DessertStalking and couldn’t find it. I’m linking back here to this post then.
WANT.
That looks fabulous! I’m so into other fruits and stuff right now…i wonder how that would taste with peaches or nectarines, berries? with a few minor changes, the possibilities are pretty endless! Thanks for the ideas!
Thanks Lindsey! I’ve made it with some diffferent stone fruits and pears – all really good, so yes there endless ways to do it. Have fun!
Here is the absolute no fail, 5 minute perfect pie crust recipe for you to try:) I guarantee your first one will come out looking perfect and tasting amazing.
1 food processor, preferably with pasty blades but any blades will do.
Throw all the ingredients into the food processor at the same time but in this order.
2 1/4 cups flour
1 stick of butter chopped. If the butter came straight out of the fridge then nuke it for 10 seconds so it’s softer and will mix better.
1/2 stick Crisco chopped.
Pinch of salt.
7-8 tablespoons of cold water. (By cold I mean, cold, get it out of the fridge type cold. It matters.)
Hit the button on the food processor and watch it whirl up into a ball of dough. Takes maybe less than a full minute.
Wrap dough in wax paper, or put it in a Ziplock bag and store in fridge for 15 minutes. (This step is super important. The flour needs time to absorb the fat otherwise your dough will crack when rolling.)
After 15 mins, remove from fridge, cut dough into two equal halves and roll out one for the bottom and one for the crust. Add any filling you like. Brush milk on top to give nice golden color to crust, or egg white if you want that shiny look. Don’t forget to brush milk around the edges to seal and poke a hole in the top to let the steam out.
Bake at 425 degrees for about 40-50 mins for a large pie or until crust is the color you like it.
I guarantee, the butter substitute instead of full Crisco, the ice cold water and allowing to rest in the fridge are the key components to no fail pastry.
You cannot roll pastry out twice for pies. Longer you work with it, tougher it gets. But you can cheat and roll it out a second time, then using a cookie cutter make shapes. Brush with milk, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Bake on a baking sheet, 425 degrees for 8-10 mins. Kids will luv ya! Try different toppings too, chocolate shavings, or jam before baking, or simple icing sugar and warm water mixed to drizzle over them. Using the leftover pastry ensures your pie actually makes it to the dinner table while you remain a hero.
Wonder if you could make this with mango’s!
Tootie – I am going to try this – thanks so much for taking the time to post it for me!
Richard – I think mangoes would be like heaven in this!