Caramel + Apples + Cheesecake = Yummy Goodness!!!

After spending a lazy week around the house that involved no cooking whatsoever unless you count heating up a BagelFul as cooking, I decided that I would whip out a cheesecake for the hubby since it was the last day of his vacation. So he requested a Caramel Apple Cheesecake concoction that I made a few months ago for Thanksgiving. Since he was going to handle the other part of dinner I focused solely on the dessert. I am sure that most people have seen cheesecake two ways. The first being the no bake kind that is really a no-brainer or the kind you bake that requires just a touch more effort. This is the latter but a much simpler version that does not require the use of a spring form pan. (If you don't know what that is don't worry about it). I am a cheesecake lover and figured I couldn't go wrong with those ingredients so here it is. Just a warning though...this is not one of my "original" recipes. I stole this from Paula "Butter Makes It Taste Better" Dean. She beat me to it.

Caramel Apple Cheesecake

Ingredients:
1 9" Graham Cracker Pie Crust
1/4 Cup Caramel Topping
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
lemon juice to taste
1 can of apple pie filling
2 eggs
2 8 oz packages of cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/4 cup crushed pecans or walnuts

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  
• In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract. Blend well until smooth.
  
• *NOTE* You can leave out the lemon juice if you like...if not then ->Add the lemon juice to the mixture. (You will want to taste the mixture often as you don't want to overpower it with lemon flavor)
• Once you have the flavor you like set this aside and open your can of apple pie filling.
  Spoon about 1/4 cup of the apples into the bottom of the graham cracker crust.
  Set the rest of the can in the fridge to chill while the cake bakes.
  
• Go back to the cream cheese mixture and add your eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated into the mixture.
  
• Pour your mixture in the graham cracker crust and smooth out.
  

• Place in the oven for approximately 30-35 minutes or until firmly set in the center.
  
• Once done, remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature.
  
• Once cool, take your apples and the caramel topping and place in a microwave safe container. Microwave in increments of 30 seconds or until you are able to mix the two together. Spread evenly over the top.
• Take your crushed walnuts/pecans and sprinkle on top of the cheesecake and around the edges for decoration.
  
• Place in the fridge to chill completely and serve!
  

POINTERS
* The nuts are completely optional just in case you have an allergy or you don't like the flavor.
* Keep a close eye on this as it cooks. No one likes burnt cheesecake.
* 1/3 Less Fat Neufchatel Cheese, the low fat "cream cheese" just is not going to cut it here. I didn't like the consistency or the flavor it produced. Besides, this is dessert...let go of the calories for this one. ;)