Maple Apple Pie Cheesecake Bars

I was shopping this weekend at the local farmers grocery store and I noticed about six different varieties of locally grown apples all perfectly stacked and displayed just waiting for me to grab a dozen or two and take them home with me. I love apples. They are a great grab and go fruit. Relatively low in sugar, high in fiber and packed with vitamins and nutrients, its no wonder the saying goes 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away!'.

Besides enjoying apples au natural, as is, mmm that first bite is always so perfectly crunchy and juicy... I love baking apples with some cinnamon and brown sugar to create an almost apple-pie filling type of dessert. Yum! So many ways to prepare apples - you can really go sweet or savoury...and pair apples with everything from pecans to pork. The sky is the limit, its just really a matter of what you are in the mood for.

So this weekend I am invited to a luncheon with some girlfriends and its my turn to bring the dessert. I have a basket of apples at home just waiting to be used in some shape or form...but I know the host of our luncheon is really into more decadent desserts. You know, things like rich creme caramels or creamy cheesecakes... so a simple apple crumble would simply just not do. Then I realised, perfect! Why not combine the two?! Yes! Brilliant. You'll definitely enjoy this one - its the perfect combination of two of the most popular desserts in America - Apple Pie and Cheesecake! How could you go wrong? This is what I'm bringing this weekend and I suspect I'll also be sending everyone the recipe once they take a bite into these incredibly delicious treats! Enjoy!

For the cheesecake layer of the recipe you need to get a bowl and whisk and place them in the freezer for approximately fifteen minutes so they can get nice and cold. Then you can whip some heavy cream on medium hight speed until its gets nice and bubbly. To the bowl add some powdered sugar and beat it on medium high until stiff peaks form, then refrigerate the mixture. Then let the cream cheese get to room temperature, and beat the cream cheese on high speed until it is whipped well. Next you can add powdered sugar and cinnamon and beat until it is well combined. Add in some heavy cream and caramel and beat on medium high for approximately one to two minutes. Then scrape down the sides of the bowl. Then fold in the whipped cream into the cream cheese. Now you can spread the cream cheese mixture on top of the cooled cookie base.

The Beyond Frosting website is by Julianne, a girl originally from Vermont, who relocated to sunny Southern California over four years ago. She is a developer for apparel during the day, likes to blog during the evenings and then snowboards on the weekends. She has loved and been passionate about the snow since first living in Vermont when she was five. Her other passion is baking which she also fell in love with at an early age. She always wanted to help her mom out in the kitchen. Her favorite desserts are cupcakes, soft sugar cookie recipes and cheesecakes. She loves food and photography, and enjoys being creative. She created the food blog after she completed some cake decorating classes in the summer of 2012. The site was a good place to keep track of her recipe ideas and creations. It didn't take her long to realize that she enjoyed baking and frosting and all the things in between. On the site you will find cooking tips and lots of dessert recipes to try, from brownie and bar recipes, cake decorating ideas, cake recipes, cupcake recipes, gluten free recipes and more.