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slice of apple cheesecake on a plate with a drizzle of caramel sauce on top

Apple Cheesecake

This apple cheesecake features a sweet, creamy filling and is bursting with tart, crunchy apples. It's delicious!

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Servings 10
Author Kelsie

Ingredients

Crust

  • 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt

Filling

  • 3 medium Granny Smith apples peeled, cored and quartered*
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 8-ounce packages full-fat cream cheese
  • 4 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • caramel sauce and whipped cream for serving if desired

Instructions

Crust

  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Wrap a 9-inch springform pan in three layers of aluminum foil. Lightly spray the pan with cooking spray.
  2. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, melted butter, ground cinnamon, and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix until all of the crumbs are thoroughly saturated in butter. Press into the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides of the prepared pan. Set aside.

Filling

  1. Melt half of the butter in a large frying pan and add half of the sliced apples. Sauté apples over medium heat for 4 or 5 minutes, until apples have softened slightly and are just beginning to turn golden. Arrange the sautéed apples into an even layer on top of the crust.
  2. Sauté the remaining apples in the remaining butter, again until the apples soften a bit. Set apples aside.
  3. Combine the cream cheese, eggs, sugar, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer set to medium-low speed until very smooth, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl several times. Add the heavy cream and beat on low until thoroughly incorporated.
  4. Pour mixture over the apples in the prepared pan. Top the cheesecake filling with the remaining apples and press down lightly to submerge. Sprinkle the cinnamon over the top of the cheesecake.
  5. Fill a roasting pan** with a half-inch of water and put the pan in the oven. Set the cheesecake inside the pan and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 and bake an additional 65 to 75 minutes, until just the center of the cheesecake jiggles when you tap the edge of the pan.
  6. Remove cheesecake from the oven and cool on a wire baking rack for 2 hours, then loosely cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Serve with whipped cream and caramel sauce if desired.

Recipe Notes

  1. *Braeburns, Jonagolds, and Cortlands work as well if you can’t find Granny Smith.
  2. **Or use any pan with sides that is large enough to fit your springform pan inside of it.
  3. The water bath will be heavy so be careful when you take it out of the oven. I always leave the water bath in the oven until it’s fully cooled so I don’t spill hot water on myself.