CARAMEL APPLE CHEESECAKE PIE

CARAMEL APPLE CHEESECAKE PIE

Good pie is like a good friend.  Always makes you smile, always welcome at your table, and makes about any day better.  It comes as NO surprise then that this wonderful recipe comes from a good friend, Mr. Jason Garcia, who recently made this recipe in its original dessert bar form.  I loved the idea so much that I borrowed the recipe from my friend and adapted it into pie form!  Special thanks to Jason for being not as sweet as this pie is, but for sharing it with Reader's Piegest!  Thanks, Jason!

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Pie

Ingredients:

Crust:

·         2 Cups Cinnamon Sugar Graham Cracker Crumbs

·         1/3 Cup Brown Sugar, Firmly Packed

·         ½ Cup (1 sticks) Butter, Softened

·         1 Cup Package of Pecan Pieces

Cheesecake Filling:

·         2  8 Oz. Packages Cream Cheese, Softened

·         3/4 Cup Sugar, Plus 2 Tbs., Divided

·         2 Eggs

·         1 1/2 tsp.  vanilla extract

Apples:

·         3 Granny Smith Apples,  Peeled, Cored and Finely Chopped

·         1/2 tsp.  Cinnamon

·         1/4 tsp.  Nutmeg

Streusel Topping:

·         1 Cup Brown Sugar, Firmly Packed

·         1 Cup All-Purpose Flour

·         1/2 Cup Instant Oatmeal

·         1/2 Cup (1 stick) Butter, Softened

Drizzle:

·         ½ Cup Caramel Sundae Topping for Drizzling After Baked

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a 9 inch pie plate with baking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and softened butter until mixture is crumbly.  Spread pecan pieces along bottom of the crust.  Press evenly into a pie plate, and baked for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 3/4 cup sugar in an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla extract. Stir to combine all ingredients fully.  Pour over warm crust.

In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg

Spoon spiced apples evenly over cream cheese mixture.

For the streusel topping, in a small bowl, combine all ingredients and sprinkle streusel topping over apples.

Bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until filling is set.  Drizzle with caramel topping and let cool.