Apple Cinnamon Cereal Cheesecake Bars

Perfectly piled no-bake apple cinnamon cereal cheesecake bars are great for parties, family desserts, and more! This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CerealAnytime #RealDelicious #CollectiveBias

Going back to school around here means a few different things depending on who you ask. For the kids, it means early mornings, early bedtimes, quick breakfasts, and long days with friends. For me it means packing lunches, clipping coupons, overstuffed grocery carts, and (finally) a little time to myself during the day to work on new recipes and crafts. Yes, I know I could instead spend that free time lazily binge watch Doctor Who while eating cookies on the couch just because I can, but what can I say? I’m a maker.

Anyway, that’s a total tangent and I really want to talk about getting into the school groove again in a few weeks. Cereal is big in our house for busy weekday mornings, and since love drawing recipe inspiration from what I have on hand, I recently decided to create these no-bake cereal bars that are full on fabulous! Did I also mention that they are ridiculously easy to make? It’s true, so check out the recipe below!

You will need:

2 packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
1 1/2 cups Cinnamon Toasters cereal
1/2 – 1 cup melting caramels
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 apple, cubed
1/3 cup brown sugar
squeeze of lime
3 packages graham cracker crumbs
1/2 stick of butter
cinnamon to taste
a 9×9 inch baking pan
freezer paper

The first thing we are going to do is make our filling, so combine cream cheese, yogurt, vanilla and cinnamon in a stand mixer, then set it on a medium-high speed for 2 minutes. Next, combine your apples, brown sugar, and squeeze of lime into a small sauté pan, and cook until they are soft. (For a detailed how-to, check out my easy tutorial here.) Once your apples are cooked and your cream cheese mixture is smooth, combine them, stir until evenly blended, then set aside.

With the filling made, it’s time to work on your crust. For this you are going to grind up your graham crackers, stir in some melted butter, and then press it all into the bottom of a freezer paper lined baking pan. Make sure it is firmly and evenly spread out, then spread on a layer of your cheesecake filling over that.

The third and final layer will be the amazing golden crumble topping that absolutely puts this recipe over the top! My inspiration here was the crumbles on top of a Dutch apple pie, and I think I did a pretty great job. I wanted to make it easy, and still tie into the idea of using what I already had, so the first place I looked was my cereal cupboard. I already mentioned that we load up on cereal during the school year out of convenience, but I also love getting a great deal and for that I reach for Post cereals. And they aren’t just for breakfast, either. Post cereals make great snacks for any time, and they have varieties for the whole family! When I opened my cupboard I had a few choices – Fruity Pebbles, Honey Bunches of Oats, or Cinnamon Toasters.

I went with Cinnamon Toasters because I feel like they most fit my recipe, and I’m so glad I did! To make your topping, you are going to crush up your cereal (not all the way, just a little), then mix in enough melted caramel to coat it evenly and begin to form little “bunches”. When you see the bunches start to form, spread it evenly over your cheesecake filling and press down firmly so that it sticks later when you are cutting into it.

Doesn’t that look delicious? If you are a caramel fan, you can add in an extra drizzle of it to finish the recipe, but it isn’t required. Now that the making is all done, set it in the fridge for 4-6 hours to firm up, then cut into squares and enjoy!