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Apple Butter Cream Cheese Oat Bars

If you love apple spice and cheesecake, do not miss out on these Apple Butter Cream Cheese Oat Bars!

an Apple Cream Cheese Oat Bar served on a white plate

Apple Butter Cream Cheese Bars

Apple Butter Cream Cheese Oat Bars are one of my all-time favorite cheesecake bars. The combination of a sweet, nutty oat crust and topping with cheesecake and spiced apple butter puts them firmly on the irresistible list.

These bars are a wonderful combination of cream cheese, nuts, apples, and oats. I hesitate to call the bottom layer a crust. It’s far too significant for that. It easily makes up half of the thickness of the bars, as you can see in these photos. And that same crust mixture is used as a crumb topping.

You can use any type of nuts you like in the crust. I have made these with pecans and with cashews, and they’re fantastic either way. Hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, and more would all be great choices to complement the other flavors in these bars.

apple cheesecake bars on a long white platter

The layer of apple butter between the crust and the cheesecake serves to add more flavor and a good dose of fall spices. On top of all that delicious crust and lovely apple butter, there is the cream cheese layer. It’s like a little layer of cheesecake that’s just the right ratio to make these beauties pretty darn perfect.

Tips for Success

  • Measure accurately. Use a kitchen scale to measure by weight if possible. If you don’t have a scale, use the spoon and sweep method for the dry ingredients and sugar.
  • Don’t over-mix the crust. Too much mixing will yield a tough, hard crust. Mix just until combined, and press the mixture evenly into the pan without compacting it too much.
  • Bring the cream cheese to room temperature. That will give you a smoother mixture.
  • Use homemade or store-bought apple butter. You can use store-bought or homemade apple butter. Store-bought is certainly a nice shortcut that I use when I don’t have time to make my own. If you’d like to make your own, try this Apple-Pear Butter. You can make it just with apples or use a combination of apples and pears for something a bit different.
slices of Apple Butter Cream Cheese Oat Bars on white plates

Although I’d happily take one of these bars any day of the year, the flavors are definitely reminiscent of fall. Whether you’re ready to ramp up your baking for cooler weather or you have a hankering for a spiced apple dessert some other time of year, it’s hard to go wrong with these Apple Butter Cream Cheese Oat Bars!

Find more cheesecake bars in the Recipe Index.

Apple Butter Cream Cheese Oat Bars

Yield 24 2-inch bars
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Additional Time 2 hours
Total Time 3 hours

Apple Butter Cream Cheese Oat Bars feature layer upon layer of deliciousness, from the nutty oat crust to the spiced apple butter to the sweet cream cheese.

an Apple Cream Cheese Oat Bar served on a white plate

Ingredients

For the crust and topping:

  • 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups (198g) quick-cooking oats
  • 2 cups (about 120g) chopped nuts, such as cashews or pecans
  • 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 
1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

For the filling:

  • 16 ounces (454g) cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 
2 cups apple butter*

Instructions

To make the crust and topping:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9″x 13″x 2″ baking pan.
  2. Combine the flour, oats, nuts, 1 cup sugar, and baking soda in a large bowl.
  3. Stir in the melted butter. Reserve 1 & 1/2 cups of mixture for the topping.
  4. Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.
  5. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.
  6. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool.

To make the filling:

  1. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the lemon juice and vanilla extract, mixing until combined.
  2. Spread the apple butter over the cooled crust. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the apple butter. Top with the reserved oat mixture.
  3. Bake 35-40 minutes or until the cream cheese layer is set. Cool completely before cutting into bars. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Notes

*Store-bought or homemade. If you don't have a recipe you love, see my Apple-Pear Butter.

Recipe slightly adapted from Taste of the South.

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    60 Comments on “Apple Butter Cream Cheese Oat Bars”

  1. Those look heavenly! You are right…all the apple and cashew talk makes me think of fall. You can’t go wrong with cashews. I may have to try these myself!

  2. these look amazing! i adore Taste of the South magazine and have so many of my favorite recipes from them. and i am also definitely ready for some fall weather!

  3. What a perfect bar cookie! I would love to have one right now. Thank you for sharing!!!!

  4. Those look wonderful! I can almost taste them…

  5. Que verdadera delicia, esto tiene que estar delicioso. Saludos

  6. Oh how tasty do THESE look! I know a recipe is a keeper when I come across it multiple times and, not only do I remember it, but I still want to make it. Yum.

  7. These look really, really good!!

  8. Ooooh look at these; they look luxurious and oh so inviting!

  9. I agree–cashews should be used a lot more…and of course cream cheese is always a must too 😉

  10. Ahhh these look delicious. I really like cashews – agree that they are underused!

  11. I just bought some cashews yesterday thinking I would hunt for a recipe to usethem in. So happy to see this one pop up on your site. The bars look divine…can’t wait to make them.

  12. These look incredible. Glad you gave my favorite nut, the cashew, some love here.

  13. Have you ever tried this recipe by subbing in pumpkin butter for the apple butter? I wonder if you can do a swap with those for something different?

  14. those bars look so sinfully good! wow….now I’m hungry again….sigh

  15. Fantastic and a little sinful. Can’t wait to make them (and by “make them” I mean throw them into that pile of recipes I have, just like you!)

  16. This will be perfect for teachers’ luncheons and all those fall get togethers. Chrissy’s suggestion about the pumpkin butter sounds great too! I will definitely have to try both.

  17. love the flavor combo in these.

  18. I love that these bars are half crust, my favourite part!

  19. These were good. Although I have to admit that I don’t like nuts. So I made them less the nuts. They were still really good and tasty though.

  20. oh my…what a perfect combination. 🙂

  21. Yum! And I must say, I’m notoriously bad at not cooking/baking in season, and have already made several autumn-type foods this summer. I’ll add this one to the list!

  22. ils sont trop gourmands ces barres et doivent être drôlement succulents
    bonne journée

  23. Mmm these look amazingly good, they look so yummy!!

  24. Yum! I totally agree that cashews get sadly neglected too often!

  25. Up at 3am feeding my bottomless pit (aka Hudson) and saw this recipe. I’ve been looking for a treat to make for my mom’s birthday next week, and this is perfect- she has an almost unnatural love of cashews! I’ll let you know how it turns out!

  26. oh my sweetness! This might be the last dessert I ever want! It looks absolutely delicious.

  27. Cashews don’t get used nearly enough, in my opinion. What a great recipe!

  28. Love the combination of cashews and oats. These bars look fabulous!

  29. Cream cheese and anything is amazing. But these bars look seriously amazing. Like really. I need to be making these!

  30. These look so amazing! I plan on making them soon =)

  31. I just had to come out of hiding and say that I love your blog! I look forward to every post and these just speak to me. Thanks for doing all this!

  32. These look mouth-watering-ly good! Cream cheese is one of my favorite dessert add-ins 😉

  33. As mush as I love chocolate… I always like a good apple dessert. This sounds amazing!!

  34. Oh yes and please excuse all my bad spelling errors! Of course I notice them as soon as I hit submit. I think I need a nap. 😉

  35. Loving all the different flavors and textures in these bars. They look like a definite must bake.

  36. These look and sound delicous! I can’t wait to make them sometime soon!

  37. I made these last night and brought them into the office today. I’m getting rave reviews! Some have described them as “divine,” “wonderfully rich,” and “superb.” I didn’t have enough apple butter (only 1.5 cups), so I added half a cup apricot preserves to make up for it. I also used regular rolled oats instead of quick oats, and it came out just fine. The texture of these bars are delightful — smooth and creamy on top and thick and chewy on the bottom. Definitely give these a try. You won’t be disappointed. And thank you, Jennifer, for posting this recipe for all of us to enjoy.

  38. Mmm, this sounds so good! Great photos!

  39. These were absolutely devine… Will definitely make them again. Thanks for sharing the recipe with us

  40. Some of these recipes my mother had. : ))) Thank you for having them. <3 Great great recipes! I am gonna make these … just sound yummy

  41. These are literally making my mouth water. I love cream cheese! I bet you could mix it up and put pecans in the crust and then a pumpkin butter layer. Yummy! Gonna try these real soon. Thanks for sharing.

  42. I will have to try these…they look amazing!

  43. Oh, these look incredible! I will definitely add these to my list of new recipes to try! Thanks 🙂

  44. Oh My.. one look at these , and I am sold.. I will make these and report back with my findings 🙂

  45. Mmm, apple butter, cream cheese…I’m in! I’ll have to try this ASAP

  46. hi…looks good but i don’t like apples in baking and anyway apple butter is not available in part of the world. Blueberry jam instead ? or apricot jam….what do you think ?

  47. Ok – that’s it, these have oats, so we can have them as a main course, correct!
    Great recipe! My secret ingredient in all my deserts calling for vanilla is my Mexican vanilla. It makes it so unbelievable. Keep up the great posts Jennifer!

  48. I agree, cashews are too often neglected. This gives me a nice recipe to try with cashews. Thanks.

  49. I was wondering about the pumpkin butter too. Trader Joes has a good one. As well as a honey apple butter. Now I’m wondering how their fig butter would work. I don’t tend to use cashews much because they tend to get rubbery in things. Usually go for macadamia or pistachio. The recipe really looks amazing. Can’t wait to make some!!

  50. Absolutely delicious. My sister and I make this every Thanksgiving and Christmas. 
    For some reason it’s difficult to find apple butter unless I make it. We substitute fig butter and/or raspberry butter, it is delicious. I let it set for day before serving, the  flavors are wonderful.

  51. I like Mexican cheese cake

  52. What is the sodium content in these bars? I really want to try them but have family members with a salt issue. Thanks

  53. Do you have a specific brand of apple butter you prefer?
    Thank you!

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