Caramel apple cheesecake cookie bars are the perfect welcome to fall baking!

Have I shared my families big news with you? My dad’s wolf-pack recently grew two sizes. Well, two very tiny tiny sizes.

A few weeks ago my father found two lost baby Chihuahua mutts wondering the streets where he works. My father works in a very dangerous area where dog fighting is rather common, so he couldn’t imagine leaving these little girls to fend for themselves. He gathered the combined weight of 5 pounds of all bone and set them on his lap for the duration of his day and brought them home to meet his two boys, giving them a forever home where they wont have to ever fend for food again.

Actually, I give it 2 months before the girls are on the comfortably plump size. 😉 My dad has a way of spoiling his pets.

Needless to say, this girls were taken to the vet, medicated and walked about the local pet store to be primped with pink skirts and collars, sweaters, pillows blankets and even pink socks for their tiny paws for when the weather turns bitter.

Seriously, I didn’t have this much pink growing up.  However, maybe I was the devious one who made sure the pink tennis skirt was hidden in the cart.

Handsome and I have full intentions of going back for the unicorn costumes before it’s too late.

Photographing the girls has proven to be very difficult!

So you will have to excuse the lack of puppy cuteness and just stare at these caramel apple cheesecake cookie bars instead. 😉

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Caramel Apple Cheesecake Cookie Bars

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Ingredients

For the dough:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup 2 sticks butter, at room temperature

For the cream cheese layer:

• 2 8- oz packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teas vanilla extract
• 2 large golden delicious apples
• 1/2 teas cinnamon
• 2 teas sugar

For the topping:

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup 1 stick butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

Instructions

For the dough:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour and brown sugar. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender, or a fork, until the mixture is crumbly. (You’re going for a sand type texture with coarse crumbles remaining). Press the dough evenly into a 13 × 9-inch baking pan. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

For the Cream Cheese Layer:

1. While the crust is baking, in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition, stopping if needed, to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla and mix until combined.
2. Don’t over-beat the cheesecake batter, just mix until everything is blended well. Pour the cream cheese batter over the crust.
3. Peel, core, and chop the apples into pieces. Toss the apples with the cinnamon and sugar.
4. Spread the apple chunks over the cream cheese mixture.

For the topping:

1. In a small bowl, combine the flour, oats, and brown sugar. Cube the butter and using a pastry blender, or fork, create a crumbly mixture (once again, not smooth – crumbly) and sprinkle heavily over the cream cheese layer. You may not have to use the entire mixture – or you may – you’r call.
2. Bake 25 minutes at 350 degrees F. Reduce the temperature to 300 degrees F for the last 5 minutes, or until cream cheese layer is set. Cool completely and serve with caramel topping if desired.

Notes

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This is week two of my 12 week endeavor for holiday themed baking! Please go check out the other bloggers participating in the 12 weeks of Christmas Cookies and prepare your jingles for jangling.