Caramel Apple Blondie Cheesecake Bars

Easy Caramel Apple Blondie Cheesecake Bars have a cream cheese filling, surrounded by apple blondie bars, and drizzled with caramel topping. No one will be able to resist the creamy cheesecake paired with fresh apples, nuts, and gooey butterscotch chips!

Apple blondie bars with cheesecake filling

There are a lot of apple cheesecake bar recipes out there, but I wanted something EASY! I didn’t want to bake multiple layers separately, make a shortbread crust, or have a syrupy, overly-sweet apple layer.

Apple blondie cheesecake bars fresh apple chunks balances perfectly with the cream cheese, and the butterscotch chips give an extra boost of caramel sweetness. To round out the caramel apple flavor, drizzle slightly warmed caramel ice cream sauce all over the top.

If you love caramel apple pie or apple cheesecake, save yourself the extra work and time and make this easy caramel apple cheesecake bars!

Ingredients needed

Autumn means apples are in abundance! Just like gluten-free apple crisp or apple crisp without oats, all the ingredients are commonly stocked and ready for the perfect fall dessert!

• Sugar
• Vegetable Oil – Any preferred oil may be substituted, like coconut or canola oil.
• Eggs
• Flour – Use regular all-purpose or gluten free flour. If making these gluten-free, I recommend using Cup4Cup gluten free flour.
• Cinnamon
• Baking Powder
• Apples – Any baking apples will do, such as Granny smith, golden delicious, honeycrisp, fuji, or gala. See below for more suggestions.
• Nuts – Chopped walnuts, pecans, or almonds
• Cream Cheese – Light or full fat
• Vanilla Extract
• Caramel Ice Cream Topping, for topping

How to Make Apple Blondie cheesecake Bars

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Add eggs, sugar, vegetable oil, and vanilla to a large bowl. Stir to combine.
2. Add flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Mix well. The dough will be very thick, similar to cookie dough.
3. Stir in chopped fresh apples, butterscotch chips, and chopped walnuts. Reserve 2 cups for topping and press the remaining dough in bottom of 9X13″ baking pan.
4. For the cheesecake layer beat together cream cheese, egg, sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth.
5. Spread cheesecake mixture over bottom layer of apple bars.
6. Dollop spoonfuls of reserved topping over top of cream cheese and bake until filling is set and toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Can I make apple bars gluten-free?

Yes. I have made this recipe several times, both traditionally and gluten free. To make gluten free apple blondie bars simply swap out the flour with a gluten free all-purpose brand.

My preferred brand is Cup4Cup because it mimics the taste and texture of regular flour the best. Since gluten free flour doesn’t absorb moisture as readily, I find they usually need 5 minutes longer baking time. 

The other ingredient to watch out for when making gluten-free apple bars are the butterscotch chips. Many brands add barley, so it’s important to read the labels carefully. Guittard or Hershey’s brand are clearly labeled gluten-free.

Can I Add Icing?

Yes. A cinnamon frosting would go perfectly on these apple cheesecake bars and I have just the recipe for you! Use the cinnamon glaze frosting from this Snickerdoodle Bars recipe. It will be a match made in heaven!

For a simpler topping, use ice cream caramel sauce topping or make your own homemade version!

Can these be frozen?

Yes. Cool the Apple Cheesecake Bars completely, and do one of the following:

• Cover 9X13″ pan of cooled apple bars with plastic wrap. Wrap around the entire pan with plastic wrap, even underneath, to make sure they are well protected in freezer and don’t take on any off-putting smells or taste. Cover the top with foil and freeze up to 3 months. OR
• Cool apple bars completely and slice into bars. Layer cut bars, laying flat, in a gallon-sized freezer bag with a piece of wax paper or parchment in between the two layers. Close securely and freeze up to 3 months.

Do Apple bars need to be refrigerated?

Yes, to store them for longer than 8 hours. Otherwise, wrap the cooled pan securely in foil and leave out at room temperature. If storing longer than 8 hours, make sure the bars have completely cooled before covering and storing in the refrigerator. 

What are the best apples to use?

My personal favorite to use for apple desserts are Golden Delicious because they have a perfectly balanced flavor, not too sweet or too tart. There are other great options, though!

The apples listed below are known to be good for baking because they hold their shape, have great flavor, and don’t turn mushy.

• Honeycrisp
• Granny Smith (these apples are tarter so may want to pair with something else)
• Jonagold
• Braeburn
• Pink Lady
• Golden Delicious – My favorite to use in gluten-free apple cobbler and apple crisp as well!

Click here to see the
step-by-step web story instructions for this recipe!

More Favorite Fall Desserts

• Fresh Apple Cake is extremely moist spice cake with has chunks of fresh apples and a quick brown sugar praline glaze drizzled on top.
• Pumpkin Delight is an almost no-bake pumpkin dessert with layers of chocolate crust, cream cheese, pumpkin lush, and cool whip. 
• Sugar Cream Pie has a gloriously thick, creamy, vanilla custard, sprinkled with a dusting of cinnamon.
• No Bake Halloween Spider Cookies are a no bake peanut butter, rice krispie cookie that are naturally gluten free.
• Pumpkin Pie Cake layers butterscotch blondies, pumpkin pie, and a fluffy cake all covered in whipped cream cheese frosting.
• Concord Grape Pie with streusel topping has step-by-step instructions full of tips and tricks for making homemade grape pie filling.

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