Cherry Cheesecake Dip

Tuesday was officially our preschoolers last day of school. We've been busy packing up the rooms, anticipating our last day of work come Monday. But we definitely made a point to have one last potluck together before vacation.

It's something we like to do every so often throughout the school year. Everyone pitches in and brings a large variety of our favorite foods. I chose one of my favorite dips, buffalo chicken dip and this fun cheesecake dip.

While trying to think of a different dessert I could bring, my mom's cheesecake came to mind. But I thought it'd be fun to put a little spin on and just make a dip instead. Dips are just much more fun if you ask me.

I searched around the store for those little graham sticks but didn't have much luck. So we used regular ol' graham crackers and they worked just fine. I think some were just even scooping it onto their plates and eating as is. I came back to the classroom with an empty pan, that's always a good sign.

For summer, I like the thought of lighter treats such as this one. You can even switch up the filling, we were all discussing the different variations. Blueberry would be one I would love to try!

Which flavor cheesecake do you like best? Go ahead and tell me below!


Cherry Cheesecake Dip

Ingredients:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
8 oz. tub Cool-Whip
21 oz. can cherry pie filling {or desired flavor}
Graham crackers, to serve with

Directions:
In a medium bowl, cream together cream cheese and powdered sugar. Add in cool-whip and mix until well combined.

Spoon filling into an 8x8-inch baking pan. Spread cherry filling over top of cream cheese mixture. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serve with graham crackers

Cheesecake for the Freezer

I honestly cannot take credit for this. My mom has always made her cheesecakes this way, it's a family favorite especially during the summer. We're not big traditional cheesecake fans, I will eat it more than she will but all that cream cheese is not something I'm big on. I like the fluffy whipped cream texture in this version.

While up at the river last weekend, my mom pulls out a container of prepared cheesecake filling from the freezer. She goes on to tell me that she had extra filling from the last time she made one and stashed it away in the freezer for another time. Genius! I have never thought of that before.

Instantly I bumped this up on my list for the month. It's too good not to share with you. We tend to make these cheesecakes more often throughout the summer just because it's such an easy dessert and I like to take advantage of the plentiful berries.

Since I can get two pies out of our batch of filling, I prepared one cheesecake for the freezer and then filled an empty container with the remaining mixture. Now when I need a quick dessert, I simply just need to add my desired toppings to the pie and we're good.

Freezer-friendly Cheesecake

Ingredients:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
8 oz. Cool Whip
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
prepared graham cracker pie crusts


Directions:
In a medium bowl, cream together cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla. Fold in whipped cream and mix together well. Divide mixture between two pie crusts. Do not add any toppings at this point. Cover and place in freezer until ready to use.

If you'd rather not put into a pie crust just yet, simply divide the filling into two containers. Cover, label and date and place into freezer until ready to use.

When ready to enjoy, thaw cheesecake and top with fresh fruit or desired pie filling. If you froze just the filling, after thawing, spread mixture into prepared pie crust and again, top with your choice of filling.

Makes enough for 2 cheesecake pies.

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

Every so often I'll get emails from friends and family members sharing recipes they love, whether it's something new they tried or an old family favorite. This happened to have come from my own dad. I'm not sure exactly where it came from, but I imagine it's a new one the girls in his office were passing around.

I kept spacing it off until this past weekend. Remember that box of apples I still have sitting in my garage? Yeah it's still there and pretty full. I think Saturday is going to be devoted to making pies for the freezer. I did at least put a couple of them to use in this amazing dessert.

I'm not usually a big fan of cheesecake, unless it's made the way mom makes it. With a little bit of cream cheese and whipped cream folded into the mixture. It's light, airy and fluffy; just the way I like it. But these I like, I love the depth of layers. The shortbread crust, cheesecake layer with apples on top and the crumbly topping. Oh and the caramel sauce on top is divine!

These would be perfect to take with you to Thanksgiving next week. Double the recipe to make a large 9x13-inch pan, plenty for everyone to enjoy. You won't be sorry.


Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients:

For the crust:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 stick butter, cubed

For the cheesecake layer:
12 oz. (1-1/2 pkg) cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

For the apples:
2 apples- peeled, cored and diced
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg

For the crumble layer:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 stick of butter, cubed

For caramel drizzle:
12 caramels, unwrapped
splash of milk

Directions:

In a bowl combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in one stick of cubed butter with a pastry blender, until crumbly. Press evenly into an 8x8-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven.

In another bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla together until smooth. Pour over the warm crust.

Combine diced apples with sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, sprinkle evenly over cream cheese mixture.

For the crumble topping, combine brown sugar, flour and quick-cooking oats in a bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over apple and cheesecake mixture.

Bake for 45 minutes until filling is set.  Before serving, make caramel drizzle. Add unwrapped caramels and milk to a double boiler, cook until caramels have melted and are smooth. Drizzle warm caramel sauce over cheesecake bars.