Caramel Apple Cream Cheese Tart
Tart Granny Smith apples perfectly paired with caramel baking chips over a cream cheese and a sugar cookie-like crust.
Yield: 12 people
Calories: 400kcal
Materials
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 2/3 cup plus 1/4 cup sugar, divided
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 10 oz. bag Ghirardelli caramel baking chips
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. almond extract
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
- 4 cups Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
Instructions
For caramel layer:
- Microwave caramel baking chips at 30 second intervals, stirring between until melted. Let cool until room temperature.
For the crust:
- Preheat oven to 425°. Beat butter and 1/3 cup sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add flour, mix thoroughly. Spread onto bottom and up 1 inch on the sides of a 9-inch spring form pan.
- Spread cooled caramel on bottom of crust.
For cream cheese mixture:
- Beat cream cheese and 1/3 cup sugar with electric mixer until well blended. Add egg and extracts until thoroughly mixed. Spread evenly over caramel layer.
For the apples:
- In small bowl, mix remaining 1/4 cup sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Place apples in a bowl or in a bag, add sugar mixture to evenly coat apples. Arrange the apples over the cream cheese layer.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 375° and bake another 25 minutes or until center is set.
- Cool on wire rack. Loosed the sides of pan, cover, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Store leftovers in refrigerator. Enjoy!
Notes
I've also made this without melting the caramel baking chips. I spread half the bag on the crust, and I mixed the second half of the bag in with the chopped apples. This avoids having to wait for the melted caramel to cool to room temperature, so long as you don't mind that the chips maintain their form even after baking; in other words, they don't melt down in the oven. Tastes great both ways.
Nutrition
Calories: 400kcal