Harvest Apple Cheesecake Bites

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Nothing says fall like these Harvest Apple Cheesecake Bites! You will be “Thankful” that you made them, and so will your loved ones! A delicious, chewy cookie bottom with a yummy cinnamon cheesecake top! Absolute perfection!

We don’t live near family, so some years, we celebrate the season with friends. This year we are hosting a “Friendsgiving” dinner and I started looking for ideas of desserts to serve. While shopping at Walmart, I came across the NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® holiday cookie display. I saw several delicious varieties, all perfect for the holiday season. Some included Harvest Apple, Pumpkin Spice, Dark Chocolate Peppermint and Hot Cocoa with Marshmallow filling! I chose the Harvest Apple Cookie Dough which has apple pieces, apple-flavored filling and cinnamon with a sweet cookie dough. I just knew it would be perfect with cheesecake! This and the other varieties are available for a limited time.

I also picked up a couple of other flavors to keep on hand for easy desserts and last minute holiday gatherings. Scratch baking is awesome, but sometimes, we just don’t have the time. NESTLÉ® has all your baking needs covered for the season to help you express your love for others through baking. Bake this season even sweeter with this FREE PRINTABLE by NESTLÉ®, complete with a link for instructions!

Harvest Apple Cheesecake Bites

• 1 Package NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Harvest Apple Refrigerated Cookie Dough
• Cooking Spray
• 12 oz Light Cream Cheese (1 1/2 Blocks)
• 3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
• 1/4 Tsp Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat your mini muffin tin with cooking spray. Remove cookie dough squares from package and break apart. Press one square in each mini muffin cup. I used a muddler to form mini “cups”, but you can press them in with your hands instead. I expected more of a “cup” result, but after baking, they rose enough where there was only a slight indentation on top. Fill all 24 cups, then bake for 12-14 minutes. Do not over-bake or they will become firm and dry.

Yield: 24

After they are done, allow to cool completely. I waited at least an hour. You don’t want the warm cookie to melt the cheesecake filling. During the cooling time, set out your cream cheese to soften a bit. I like to cut mine in slices to speed it up a bit. I find that allowing to soften whole, results in soft, room temp cream cheese on the outside, with cool, firm cream cheese in the center. Measure out the powdered sugar and cinnamon.  With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Slowly add the sugar and cinnamon until well blended. If you are not ready to assemble, then cover and refrigerate the cheesecake filling in the mean time.

Now it is time to “frost” the cookie cups and make the Harvest Apple Cheesecake Bites! You can do this in a few different ways. First, you can just spread the cheesecake mixture over each one, as if you were frosting a cupcake. The next way is to add the cheesecake mixture in a sandwich baggie, cut off a small corner and pipe onto each one. I decided to use a cake decorating kit. I filled the applicator with the cheesecake, selected the tip I wanted and piped it onto each cookie cup. Afterwards, I refrigerated them for about 20 minutes before serving. 

For garnish, I topped the Harvest Apple Cheesecake Bites with a little fresh ground cinnamon. Store unused portion (if there is any!!!) in the refrigerator, in an airtight container.

There is lots of baking going during the holiday season. Have you stocked up on baking essentials? While at Walmart, I saw a couple of displays with everything to cover all of your baking needs over the next several weeks. So stock up with NESTLÉ® products now! 

I grabbed a couple of extra cans each of LIBBY’S® 100% Pure Pumpkin and NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk. I picked up a LIBBY’S® Pumpkin Bread Kit with Icing that was fantastic! I would have shared a photo, but the vultures my family devoured it before it even completely cooled! Not only will I be making Pumpkin Pie, but I also plan to make Pumpkin Chili and my famous Pumpkin Gingerbread Pudding in my crock pot! YUMMY! 

Be sure to check out more delicious holiday recipes on the Flavorful Moments Pinterest board and at VeryBestBaking.Com. I’d love to hear about your favorite baking recipe!

Harvest Apple Cheesecake Bites

So TIPical Me (www.sotipical.com)

A delicious, chewy apple cookie bottom, topped with creamy cinnamon cheesecake.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Ingredients

  

• 1 Package NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Harvest Apple Refrigerated Cookie Dough
• Cooking Spray
• 12 oz Light Cream Cheese
• 3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
• 1/4 Tsp Cinnamon

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Coat your mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
• Remove cookie dough squares from package and break apart squares.
• Press one square in each mini muffin cup.
• Fill all 24 cups, then bake for 12-14 minutes.
• Allow to cool completely. (Warm cups will melt the cheesecake)
• With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until fluffy.
• Slowly add the sugar and cinnamon until well blended.
• If you are not ready to assemble, then cover and refrigerate the cheesecake filling in the mean time.
• Pipe or spread cheesecake over cookie cups.
• Refrigerate about 20 minutes so cheesecake will set.
• Store unused portion in refrigerator, in an airtight container.

Notes

I used a muddler to form mini “cups”, but you can press them in with your hands instead. I expected more of a “cup” result, but after baking, they rose enough where there was only a slight indentation on top. Do not over-bake or cookie cups will become too firm and dry.
This recipe can be make with any cookie dough variety. Just omit the cinnamon if it does not go well with the flavor you select.