Apple butter cheesecake is creamy and delicious. It has just a hint of spice, a great apple flavor and beautiful texture. This recipe is easy to make too, so it is sure to win you over.
If you are looking for a great new fall dessert, you are in the right place. Apple butter cheesecake has it all in an easy to make recipe.
This easy baked apple cheesecake adds apple butter with cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves to our favorite condensed milk cheesecake recipe. That recipe is so easy, I basically consider it no fail.
We have made a chocolate condensed milk cheesecake based on the recipe. The peanut butter toffee cheesecake is another great twist on the recipe as well.
The cheesecake is quick to put together, doesn’t require a water bath and it never cracks on me. Plus it tastes amazing, so there is little wonder that we keep going back to it when developing new recipes.
This version brings in the concentrated flavor of apple butter. You can make your own or buy a jar of already made apple butter from the grocery store.
Just make sure there is a fair amount of spice in the apple butter. If you can’t really taste the cinnamon, you may want to add a little more spice to your cheesecake to make sure it shines through in the end.
The apple butter does more than just bring apple, cinnamon and nutmeg flavor. It makes the texture of the baked cheesecake a little lighter but keeps it super sumptuous.
If you really like those warm baking spices, use gingersnap or biscoff cookie crumbs instead of graham crackers. That’s a great way to give an easy flavor boost.
I added a little cream cheese whipped cream around the edge to pretty it up a bit. It is not required, but highly recommended.
To say this cheesecake was a hit with my family is an understatement. They went absolutely crazy over it.
How to Ensure You Get a Smooth Cheesecake Texture
There are a few tips to help to make sure you get that smooth creamy cheesecake texture. You don’t want lumps of cream cheese in your final product.
Probably the most important step is also the easiest. Make sure your cream cheese is good and softened before you start.
Having all of your ingredients are room temperature will help to make sure they incorporate more easily. Plus it helps to make sure that cream cheese stays nice and soft.
Beat the cream cheese really well before adding anything else. This is your only real chance to get all of the lumps out.
Once you start adding more liquid, it gets harder to smush any remaining chunks of cream cheese. So make sure it’s softened, beat it well and scrape the sides of the bowl a few times before you move on.
Add the remaining ingredients a bit at a time to make sure they incorporate well. It’s worth taking a couple of minutes to do it right.
Once you start adding the eggs, keep the mixer on low. You don’t want to incorporate too much air at this point.
Too much air in the batter can cause bubbles to form. It can also cause the cheesecake to rise and fall, increasing your chance of a crack in the middle.
Once the batter is in the pan with the crust, give the cheesecake a couple of good taps on the counter before you put it in the oven. That helps get any air bubbles out.
Get Crack Free Cheesecake Without a Water Bath
How do you avoid a crack without a water bath? Bake the cheesecake low and slow and let it cool slowly too.
This allows the cheesecake to bake through evenly. It helps give it that amazing texture as well.
Cooling it too quickly can also cause a crack. Once it is set, I like to turn off the oven and crack the door open but leave the cheesecake inside.
After about ten or fifteen minutes, I move the cheesecake to the counter to cool to room temperature. Then it goes in the fridge to chill.
Avoiding any big swings in temperature and not overmixing the batter and both key to getting the perfect cheesecake without messing with a water bath.
More Great Apple Dessert Recipes
Apple spice gooey butter cake has all of the ooey gooey butter cake texture with spice cake and apple butter mixed in. It is a perfect fall treat that is easy to make and tastes unbelievable.
Creamy apple butter pie is silky and delicious. It has the texture of pumpkin pie, but with the flavor of apples and goodness of sweetened condensed milk instead!
Love this recipe? Give it a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review in the recipe card below!
Apple Butter Cheesecake
Ingredients
- 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs*
- 4 Tablespoons butter melted
- 16 oz. cream cheese softened
- 14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup apple butter*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F
- Place the graham cracker crumbs in the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan, add the butter. Mix together and press into the bottom of the pan. Bake for about 10 minutes.
- Make sure the cream cheese is really softened. Whip the cream cheese until completely smooth, being sure the scrape the sides of your bowl a couple of times. Slowly add the condensed milk, mixing until smooth. Stir in the vanilla.
- Add the eggs, one at a time mixing until just combined. You don't want to whip air into the mixture at this point.
- Mix in the apple butter until the mixture is uniform.
- Pour onto the crust. Thump it on the counter a couple of times to get out any big air bubbles.
- Bake until the middle doesn't jiggle, about an hour.
- Let cool to room temperature and then chill at least a couple of hours, preferably over night.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
Andrea Nine
Monday 26th of September 2022
Oh Carlee, this looks and sounds amazing!
Carlee
Monday 26th of September 2022
Thank you!
Sandy
Wednesday 24th of November 2021
Nice trick to know!!