This hot salted caramel apple cheesecake dip has a whipped sour cream and cream cheese base topped with homemade caramel apples and a streusel topping. It can be served hot or room temperature with apple slices or your favorite cookies.
Home-Cooked Caramel Apples
This dip differs from apple dips that use canned apples because it uses home-cooked apples and caramel sauce. The best thing about this recipe, other than the delicious taste, is that the apples and caramel cook very quickly!
Easy to Make Caramel Sauce
The caramel sauce is the secret ingredient for this recipe! And it is so easy to make salted caramel that you will want to use it for other recipes. It has six ingredients and cooks in only one minute. The brown sugar gives it the caramel color, so there is no prolonged cooking and no need to use a candy thermometer to check its temperature.
Apple Pie Filling
After the caramel is made, make the pie filling using a mixture of tart and sweet apples such as Granny Smith and Gala. Peel the apples and slice them thin to help them cook quickly. Then toss with lemon juice to enhance the apple flavor.
Cook the Apples
It only takes about 5 minutes to cook the applesโcooking in a skillet gives the apples a larger cooking surface which means they cook quickly.
- First, saute them in butter and sprinkle them with cinnamon and salt.
- Cook them until they begin to soften.
- Add apple cider and cook until most of the cider evaporates. The cider residue will sweeten and intensify the flavor of the apples.
- Finally, add the caramel sauce to the cooked apples.
Assemble the Dip
- Mix the ingredients for the cream cheese layer.
- Then butter a baking dish and add the cream cheese to it.
- Next, add the cooked apple layer.
- Finish by mixing the melted butter, sugar, and flour and sprinkling it on top to create the streusel layer.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until the streusel is crunchy and lightly browned.
Serve with Apple Slices or Cookies
This sweet dip is great with apple slices. And it also goes well with graham crackers, vanilla wafers, and baked pie crust slivers. When choosing a dipping cookie, choose one that is not too sweet or rich so as not to compete with the cookie-like streusel topping.
Serve Warm or Room Temperature
This dip is best when served warm right out of the oven. However, it is also delicious when served at room temperature if you need to make it ahead of time and donโt have time to reheat it. You can make it a day ahead and keep it in the refrigerator until your party. If you want to serve it at room temperature, set it out at least an hour before you want to serve it. To reheat, warm it at 300 degrees F for about 15 minutes or until warm.
Serves Six
This dip serves about six but can be doubled to serve a larger group. Remember that it is a rich dip and goes further than other dips.
Other Apple Recipes
Here are some other apple recipes you might enjoy:
- Apple Cider Cupcakes
- Apple Cider Doughnuts
- Grated Apple Pie
- Cinnamon Apple Moscow Mule
- Apple Dumplings
- Salted Caramel Apple Bars
- Easy to Make Apple Pie Stacks
How to Make Apple Cheesecake Dip
Ingredients
Caramel Sauce
- 6 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
- ยผ cup light corn syrup
- ยผ cup cream (heavy or whipping)
- โ teaspoon sea salt, fine grind
- ยฝ teaspoon vanilla extract
Apples
- 2 medium tart apples, peeled (such as Granny Smith)
- 1 medium sweet apple, peeled (such as gala)
- ยฝ teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 small pinch salt
- 1 ยฝ teaspoons salted butter
- โ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ยผ cup apple cider (or apple juice)
Filling
- (1) 8-ounce bar cream cheese, softened
- ยผ cup granulated sugar
- ยผ cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Topping
- ยฝ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- ยผ cup brown sugar, packed
Instructions
Caramel Sauce
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, butter, and corn syrup and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring the entire time. Boil for 1 minute.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cream, salt, and vanilla. Set aside.
Apples
- Peel and thinly slice the apples and toss them with lemon juice.
- Melt the butter in a nonstick skillet using medium heat. Add the apples, cinnamon, and salt. Saute for 3 or 4 minutes or until the apples soften. Add the cider and simmer until most of the cider evaporates. Add the caramel sauce and stir.
Filling
- Combine the cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Beat until smooth.
- Spread the mixture into the bottom of a buttered 9x7x3-inch baking dish (or equivalent size). Top with the apple mixture.
Topping
- Stir together the flour and brown sugar in a small bowl. Add the melted butter and stir to combine. Use your fingers to sprinkle small pieces on top of the apples. Bake for 25 minutes until hot and bubbly. Serve with apple slices, graham crackers, vanilla wafers, or other dippers.