All-American Surprise Cheesecake Apple Pie Bites

Ingredients

Magic Shell® caramel topping

4 boxes (15-count) Fillo pastry cups

2 teaspoons salt, divided

1 cup room temperature water

2 unpeeled apples (we used Honeycrisp)

1 teaspoon apple pie spice

2 cans (14-ounce) fried apples, drained

1 package (8-ounce) cream cheese, softened

3 tablespoons butter, softened

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon apple juice

24 pieces caramel candy, crumbled

Squeeze some Magic Shell into a small bowl, then use a pastry brush to coat the inside of each pastry cup. Refrigerate.
Dissolve 1 teaspoon of salt in water. Slice unpeeled apples into small pieces and add to the water mixture. After 5 minutes, drain and rinse. Pat dry, put into a closed container and refrigerate.
Stir apple pie spice and remaining 1 teaspoon of salt into fried, drained apples. While stirring, gently chop the apples a bit with a spoon into smaller pieces. Set aside.
Using a hand mixer, blend cream cheese, butter, sugar, vanilla and juice.
Using a small spreader, coat the inside of the chilled cups with the cream cheese mixture.
Top with caramel candy crumbs, then dollops of the apple mixture. Return to refrigerator.
To serve, garnish with a small slice of apple.

Recipe Courtesy of

Culinary Adventurist Wendy Perry is a home economist, blogger and NC food artisan. (WendyPerry.com)