Apple Cheesecake with Cinnamon Shortbread Cookies
The last time I made my Cinnamon Shortbread Cookies, I had a lot of cookies left over. I knew I would not be able to eat all of them. Stated more realistically, I knew I SHOULD NOT eat all of them. But, I had to do something with these cookies.
Apples immediately came to mind, not a big leap given how beautifully they worked in my Cinnamon Shortbread Apple Pockets. So, I decided to take both of these desserts and come up with yet another…Apple Cheesecake with Cinnamon Shortbread Cookie Crust.
The crust is as wonderful as you would expect. Then again, when you start with tasty cookies, it is not surprising. What I was uncertain of ahead of time was how the cooked apples would taste when mixed into the cream cheese batter.
Silly me to forget how perfectly well apples and cheese work together. Turns out the cooked apples and cream cheese complemented one another, beautifully. The cinnamon sour cream topping was a great way to finish the cheesecake.
Certainly not the best part of this cheesecake, but definitely a major bonus was that the cookies looked so much better in the dessert than around my waist!
| Apple Cheesecake with Cinnamon Shortbread Cookie Crust | | Print |
- Apples for filling:
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 Granny Smith apples, cut into medium size pieces
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Crust:
- 10 ounces Cinnamon Shortbread Cookies, see recipe on my website
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- Filling:
- 4 – 8 ounce packages cream cheese, softened
- 1¼ cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Topping:
- 1½ cups sour cream
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- For the apples in the filling:
- Melt the butter in a saute pan. Add the apples, sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon. Stir to coat all of the apples. Cook over medium low heat, covered until the apples are tender. Uncover and continue cooking until all of the liquid is absorbed. Cool completely.
- For the crust:
- Preheat the oven to 325°. Butter a 10” springform pan, line the bottom with parchment paper and set aside.
- Place the Cinnamon Shortbread Cookies into a food processor bowl fitted with a metal blade and process until the mixture is finely chopped. Add the melted butter and pulse on/off until well blended. Transfer crust mixture to the pan and pat evenly onto the bottom of the pan.
- Bake in 325° oven for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely before filling.
- For the filling:
- Beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes, scraping the bowl down as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla and mix until smooth. Remove from the mixer and fold in the cooled apples.
- Pour the filling over the crust and bake at 325° for 50 minutes. Remove from the oven while preparing the topping.
- For the topping:
- Stir together the sour cream, sugar and cinnamon. Pour evenly over the top of the cheesecake. Smooth the top, if needed. Bake at 325° for 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a cooling rack. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
- Remove the sides of the springform pan. Use a long metal spatula to help slide the cheesecake off the springform pan onto a serving plate.
- Betsy's tidbit:
- If you do not have time to make Cinnamon Shortbread Cookies, substitute 10 ounces of a store bought shortbread cookie.
- If the cheesecake seems to be sticking to the side of the springform, use a small metal spatula to go around the edge and then remove the side.
Additional time is needed for the apples to cool.
