Apple Streusel Cheesecake

Crust:

1 sleeve graham crackers, crumbled

3 Tablespoon white sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 Tablespoon butter, melted

Filling:

3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened

½ cup white sugar

3 eggs

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Half jar of EZPZ Pie Filling

¼ cup caramel topping (optional)

Streusel Topping:

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup butter, softened

DIRECTIONS:

1.            Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, stir together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter. Press into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.

2.            *Cut apples from EZPZ Pie Filling in smaller pieces and place on top of cooked crust. Drizzle pie glaze and/or caramel topping on top of apples.

3.            In a large bowl, combine cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Blend in vanilla; pour filling on top of the apples in the crust.

4.            Blend together streusel topping ingredients until fine crumbs form. Evenly spread over top of cream cheese filling.

5.            Bake in a preheated oven for 75-80 minutes. Keep another pan of water in the oven to provide moisture. Keep cheesecake in the oven for 2 hours to cool. (Chilling it too soon can cause cracks.) Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving, preferably overnight.

* If you prefer you can put half of the cream cheese filling in the crust, followed by the cut up pieces of EZPZ Pie Filling, then top with the remaining half of the filling. I’ve made it both ways and it turns out great either way.

Note: We have a nut allergy in our house so I leave out nuts in most recipes. If you prefer them you can add pecans in the crust (1/2 finely chopped, leave out some of the graham crackers) and/or put them in the streusel topping.