Candied Apple Pie

By: Christy

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, right? Use that excuse to make this amazing apple pie recipe. But this is no normal apple pie... It is CANDIED apple pie. (Makes my mouth water just thinking about it LOL) You get the amazingness of apple pie with the added goodness of a toffee like crust, cheesecake, and a caramel nutty whipped topping. It looks super impressive and with a few short cuts and some stellar ingredients you are sure to knock your friends and families socks off with this recipe. Even better is that this time of year apples are super cheap and fresh. What other reasons do we need to convince you to whip up some of the best apple recipes?

Candied Apple Pie

Crust:

1/2 box of graham cracker crumbs (1 1/2 cups)

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup melted butter

1/2 to 3/4 cup caramel ice cream topping

chopped pecans (as much or as little as you like, I used about 1 cup)

Apple Filling:

1 bag of pre-sliced granny apples peeled (or 4-5 apples peeled, cored, and sliced)

5 tablespoons salted butter (if you used unsalted, add 1/4 teaspoon salt)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Cheesecake Filling:

1 bock of cream cheese (8 oz)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 cup of sugar

Topping:

1 small tub cool whip

caramel icing topping

chopped pecans

Combine the crumbs, sugar, cinnamon and melted butter. After mixing well, press into a 9 to 10 inch spring form pan (crumbs will only go up a small way up the sides of the pan). Bake at 375 for 6 minutes. Remove crust from oven and let cool. Once cool, cover the crust with caramel icecream topping and then sprinkle with chopped pecans.

In a skillet melt butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon and add apples and stir. Cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes or until apples are soft and tender. At this point reduce your oven temp to 350.

While the apples are cooling, make the cheesecake topping. Combine cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Then add the egg, lemon, and vanilla until fully blended. Pour over apple filling (it is okay if apples aren't completely cool, but let them sit at least 10 minutes before added cheesecake filling). Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheesecake is firm.

Refrigerate pie for at least 4 hours before serving. Top with cool whip, caramel topping and chopped pecans and swirl toppings with a knife to make a beautiful swirling design. Then slice, serve and enjoy!

Adapted from Good Morning America's "Pie of Emeril's Eye" 2000 contest winner, Mimi Hodge