Caramel Apple Cheesecake

Silky homemade cheesecake poured over a buttery graham cracker crust, baked with love, and topped with decadent oozing hot apple caramel sauce.

This Caramel Apple Cheesecake is an easy go-to dessert during apple season and Fall.

Well-paired flavors are great for family dinners or large gatherings, and the recipe comes together with basic and affordable ingredients.

Why This Recipe Works

• Delicious cheesecake with classic fall flavors of the apple caramel mixture. Light, sweet, creamy, and easy to make for Thanksgiving or just on a weekend. Easy to love and want more.
• Super short prep time – under 25 minutes and the oven does all the work for us. I’ve never had cracks with this recipe even though I don’t use a water bath.
• One of my favorite apple recipes to make every apple season and use homemade caramel sauce (that by the way stores well so you can use it in many other recipes too!).
• Balanced flavors. Apple, cream cheese, and caramel complement each other. None of the flavors is overly sweet or shining over the others. Very elegant flavor.
• No water bath or blind baking. Both methods are amazing baking techniques, but you don’t really need to make your life harder. My recipe works without any of it.

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Ingredients Notes

Crust

• Graham cracker crumbs. You can use regular or cinnamon graham crackers for the crust or even gingersnaps. Use sheet graham crackers, we need around 8 to make 1 1/2 cups of fine crumbs.
• Unsalted butter melted to bind the crust together. I also add granulated sugar to the crust mixture.

Cheesecake Filling

• Room temperature cream cheese, softened (4 blocks – 8 oz each). If by the time you need to cook, the cream cheese bricks are still too cold, thaw them in a small bowl with warm water for 10 minutes. Always use full-fat cream cheese and dairy for the best taste and texture.
• Other cheesecake batter ingredients: Granulated sugar mixed with brown sugar, eggs (as we make baked cheesecake recipe), room temperature full-fat sour cream (for extra fluff and smooth texture), and all-purpose flour to thicken the mixture and make it hold the shape.
• Vanilla extract for aroma and enhancing of the caramel apple flavor.

No time to make cheesecake? Use pre-made like Philly Cheesecake Mix.

Apple Caramel Topping

• Fresh apples, peeled and diced or cut into wedges. You can use canned apple pie filling to save time. The best apples to use are the combination of sweet and tart like Granny Smith and Honeycrisp or Fuji.
• Brown sugar. Molasses in dark brown sugar add even more caramel flavors. Light brown sugar has a less potent taste.
• Caramel topping. Store-bought or homemade.
• Ground cinnamon. Instead of cinnamon, you can use apple pie spice – works like a charm for apple desserts.
• Whipped cream for topping, optional. Make your own by beating heavy whipping cream with sugar or use a Cool Whip.
• More caramel topping for drizzling. Scroll down to see a quick tip on how to make some.

For exact measurements, please see my recipe card below.

Kitchen Equipment You’ll Need

• 8-inch Springform Pan. You can use a 9-inch springform pan as well.
• Parchment Paper to line the pan.
• Food Processor/Blender to crush the crackers into fine crumbs. If you don’t have a food processor, place the graham crackers in a freezer bag or Ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to crush them.
• Small saucepan to cook the homemade caramel sauce.
• Stand mixer with a paddle attachment.
• Optional, piping bag and tips for whipped cream decorations.

How To Make Caramel Apple Cheesecake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly grease the spring form pan and line it with parchment paper

1 – Make The Graham Cracker Crust

Mix sugar, graham cracker crumbs, and melted butter in a medium bowl. 

Press the mixture into the springform pan and up sides, the bottom of the measuring cup or a glass helps to press the crumbs into the pan and up the sides.

2 – Make Cheesecake Filling

Beat the cream cheese and both types of sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (or using an electric mixer and a large bowl) on low speed until smooth.

Add the eggs, sour cream, flour, and vanilla, mixing slowly until just combined.

3 – Bake The Cheesecake

Transfer the cheesecake batter to the prepared crust and smooth it into an even layer.

Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes until the center is set and just barely jiggly. For baking you can reduce the oven temperature to 300 F.  

Remove. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

4 (Overnight) – Chilling

Chill in the refrigerator for 6-8 hours or overnight before adding the topping.

5 – Make Caramel Apple Topping

Combine the apples, brown sugar, and caramel topping in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes or until the apples soften and the sauce bubbles and thickens.

Pour the topping on top of the cooled cheesecake.

6 – Decorate

Add whipped cream and more caramel on top of the cheesecake slices. Add whipped cream only over cooled apple filling otherwise, it will become runny and the look will be ruined.

Slice and serve.

Baking Caramel Apple Cheesecake Over A Water Bath

A water bath baking process allows the cheesecake to cook slowly and traps more moisture in the oven. It usually keeps the cracks away but does take more time (an additional 10 to 30 minutes of baking time).

It is optional!

To bake the cheesecake over a water bath you can use 2 methods:

• Simple method. Wrapped in 2 layers of aluminum foil springform pan goes on the middle rack in the oven. A baking dish filled with hot water goes underneath,
• Stacking method. Wrap the pan in 1-2 layers of aluminum foil. Stack the springform pan inside a 1-in bigger pan, and again in an even larger roasting pan filled with water like a Russian doll.

Once done, turn off the oven and let the cheesecake finish cooking for 30 minutes, then open the oven door and leave the cheesecake to cool for another 15-20 minutes.

Then, transfer the baked cheesecake to a wire rack and allow it to cool completely for about 1-2 hours.

Storage

Store any leftover Caramel Apple cheesecake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 days.

The cheesecake can’t sit out for more than 2 hours, it will start to “melt”.

Can I Freeze Apple Caramel Cheesecake?

Baked apple caramel cheesecake is good to freeze.

Freeze without toppings for 1 month, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap. It is easier to freeze and then defrost if you cut individual slices of caramel apple cheesecake as you can’t re-freeze the whole cheesecake again.

To defrost, allow the cheesecake to thaw in the fridge overnight, the next day prepare the toppings, decorate and serve.

Make Ahead

You can make the caramel apple cheesecake filling and crust 1-2 days ahead.

However, you can prep the homemade caramel sauce 2-3 weeks ahead, it stores well.

Do not assemble the cheesecake beforehand for the best flavor.

What to Serve with Apple Caramel Cheesecake

• Whipped cream and more caramel sauce
• As the main course, fall and Thanksgiving staple dishes with turkey or casseroles.
• A cup of your favorite tea, herbal infusion, or apple cider.

Substitutions

• Crust substitutions.

Oreo cookies, ginger spice cookies, or vanilla wafer crust are amazing crust options for this cheesecake. These crusts don’t require blind baking before adding the cheesecake filling.

• Special diet substitutions

Vegan cheesecake recipes can use vegan cream cheese and butter, coconut or soy yogurt, and coconut whipped cream.

Use gluten-free graham crackers and gluten-free flour like almond, amaranth, or buckwheat flour.

• Toppings. Chopped pecans (or your favorite chopped nuts), caramel drizzle, more cookie crumbs, Streusel topping, mascarpone, and whipping cream are classic toppings for this cheesecake. Make salted caramel sauce by adding salt or salted butter when you cook the sauce. For more festive colors, you can add cranberries to the topping.
• A beautiful way to layer the topping is to arrange the apple wedges like a big flower with smaller wedges in the center and bigger ones going toward the edges like petals.
• Add an additional layer of cooked apples before pouring the cheesecake batter.

Tips & Tricks

• An easy hack to release the cheesecake from the springform pan is to slide the knife around the edges before opening the pan.
• Caramel sauce gets dark and can burn quickly, so keep a close eye on it.
• Roll or grind the crackers until fine crumbs. It affects how well the crust will hold the dessert.
• Make sure to use room-temperature ingredients because room-temperature cream cheese and eggs are easier to combine until smooth.
• Don’t overbeat the cream cheese or eggs if you don’t want the cheesecake filling to crack or fall during baking.
• Never skip the chilling. 4-6 hours is a bare minimum, the most reliable chilling time for me is overnight.
• To easily cut a slice of caramel apple cheesecake, keep the cake cool but the knife hot (run it under hot water and dry, then slice the cheesecake).
• If the filling doesn’t spread evenly, put it in the fridge for a few minutes and try again.
• While the cheesecake is baking, do not open the oven door often to quickly check on it. You will let the hot air out and the temperature will drop.
• There is an alternative way to make caramel sauce: by cooking together caramel and evaporated milk.

Popular Questions

How Do You Keep Apples From Turning Brown In A Cheesecake?

Salted water and lemon juice keep apples fresh, soften them, and don’t let the apples brown quickly. However, it may affect the taste slightly, so don’t use too much lemon juice. Especially kids can taste it and not always love it.

How To Tell If The Cheesecake Is Done?

Your cheesecake is done when the internal temperature is around 150 F (check with a cake thermometer) and the whole surface is set EXCEPT for the jiggly center.

The overbaked cheesecake filling is likely to crack and taste too dense or even grainy.

Why My Cheesecake Cracks?

Baked cheesecakes may crack if it is too long in the oven or used overbeat cream cheese and eggs.

Baking a cheesecake slowly, at no more than 325F, and using a water bath helps to prevent the cheesecake from sinking or cracking.

If you love this cheesecake recipe, you’re going to love these other tasty cheesecakes too. Please click each link below to find the easy, printable recipe!

More Great Caramel Apple Recipes

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Homemade Caramel Apples

Caramel Apple Turnovers

Caramel Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting

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