I recently came across this recipe for at least the second time. I found it several months ago in an issue of Taste of the South and added it to my ever-growing stack of recipes to try. This past week, I found it again and felt the overwhelming need to make them as soon as possible.
These bars are a wonderful combination of cream cheese, cashews, 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. I like the use of cashews in the crust. Cashews, to me, are quite neglected in the baking world. They show up every once in a while, but not nearly often enough for my taste.
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 pretty close to perfection.
By the way, if your local store doesn’t have apple butter, King Arthur has a very nice one that I used in this recipe. Strangely enough, I ordered apple butter from them when I first found this recipe. I can now attest to its shelf life, as it was still in date when I finally got around to using it. For those more industrious, you may want to make your own.
There is something about these bars that is vaguely reminiscent of fall. I think I generally associate apple desserts with cooler weather. If your summer is anything like mine has been, you are doing some serious jonesing for cooler days. Maybe these can hold you over until the leaves start falling and the temperatures start dropping.
Cream Cheese and Oat Bars
Recipe from Taste of the South.
Yield: one 9″x 13″ pan
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups quick-cooking oats
2 cups chopped cashews
1 & 3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided into 1 cup and 3/4 cup
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, melted
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups prepared apple butter
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9″x 13″x 2″ baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Combine flour, oats, cashews, 1 cup sugar, and baking soda in a large bowl. Stir in melted butter. Reserve 1 & 1/2 cups of mixture for topping. Press remaining mixture into bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Set pan on wire rack to cool.
Beat cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer. When mixture is creamy, add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add lemon juice and vanilla extract. Beat until combined.
Spread apple butter over cooled crust. Spread cream cheese mixture over apple butter. Top with reserved oat mixture. Bake 35-40 minutes or until cream cheese layer is set. Cool completely before cutting into bars.
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July 31st, 2010 at 11:44 am
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!
July 31st, 2010 at 11:49 am
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!
July 31st, 2010 at 12:18 pm
What a perfect bar cookie! I would love to have one right now. Thank you for sharing!!!!
July 31st, 2010 at 1:11 pm
Those look wonderful! I can almost taste them…
July 31st, 2010 at 2:41 pm
Que verdadera delicia, esto tiene que estar delicioso. Saludos
July 31st, 2010 at 4:57 pm
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.
July 31st, 2010 at 6:59 pm
These look really, really good!!
August 1st, 2010 at 2:38 am
Ooooh look at these; they look luxurious and oh so inviting!
August 1st, 2010 at 6:26 am
I agree–cashews should be used a lot more…and of course cream cheese is always a must too
August 1st, 2010 at 3:02 pm
Ahhh these look delicious. I really like cashews – agree that they are underused!
August 1st, 2010 at 5:10 pm
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.
August 1st, 2010 at 7:48 pm
These look incredible. Glad you gave my favorite nut, the cashew, some love here.
August 2nd, 2010 at 7:18 am
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?
August 2nd, 2010 at 11:09 am
those bars look so sinfully good! wow….now I’m hungry again….sigh
August 2nd, 2010 at 11:41 am
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!)
August 2nd, 2010 at 1:04 pm
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.
August 2nd, 2010 at 1:55 pm
love the flavor combo in these.
August 3rd, 2010 at 7:44 am
Chrissy, I am not a fan of pumpkin, but I’m sure that pumpkin butter would work just fine.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:49 am
I love that these bars are half crust, my favourite part!
August 4th, 2010 at 8:49 am
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.
August 6th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
oh my…what a perfect combination.
August 6th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
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!
August 8th, 2010 at 3:42 am
ils sont trop gourmands ces barres et doivent être drôlement succulents
bonne journée
August 9th, 2010 at 2:16 am
Mmm these look amazingly good, they look so yummy!!
August 9th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Yum! I totally agree that cashews get sadly neglected too often!
August 10th, 2010 at 2:02 am
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!
August 10th, 2010 at 11:40 am
oh yum! must make these stat!
August 11th, 2010 at 6:39 am
oh my sweetness! This might be the last dessert I ever want! It looks absolutely delicious.
August 11th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
Cashews don’t get used nearly enough, in my opinion. What a great recipe!
August 11th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Love the combination of cashews and oats. These bars look fabulous!
August 19th, 2010 at 7:19 am
Cream cheese and anything is amazing. But these bars look seriously amazing. Like really. I need to be making these!
August 19th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
These look so amazing! I plan on making them soon =)
August 21st, 2010 at 1:43 pm
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!
August 21st, 2010 at 8:46 pm
These look mouth-watering-ly good! Cream cheese is one of my favorite dessert add-ins
September 1st, 2010 at 4:19 pm
As mush as I love chocolate… I always like a good apple dessert. This sounds amazing!!
September 1st, 2010 at 4:19 pm
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.
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:15 pm
Loving all the different flavors and textures in these bars. They look like a definite must bake.
September 6th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
These look and sound delicous! I can’t wait to make them sometime soon!
September 15th, 2010 at 11:05 am
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.
September 19th, 2010 at 11:22 am
Mmm, this sounds so good! Great photos!
September 29th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
These were absolutely devine… Will definitely make them again. Thanks for sharing the recipe with us
October 21st, 2010 at 10:57 am
Some of these recipes my mother had. : ))) Thank you for having them. <3 Great great recipes! I am gonna make these … just sound yummy
October 23rd, 2010 at 7:54 pm
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.
November 3rd, 2010 at 9:04 am
I will have to try these…they look amazing!
November 19th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
Oh, these look incredible! I will definitely add these to my list of new recipes to try! Thanks
December 9th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
Oh My.. one look at these , and I am sold.. I will make these and report back with my findings
February 9th, 2011 at 11:30 am
Mmm, apple butter, cream cheese…I’m in! I’ll have to try this ASAP
December 27th, 2011 at 1:54 am
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 ?
December 27th, 2011 at 7:57 am
Rhea, I think a jam could work.
February 4th, 2012 at 3:06 pm
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. I buy it direct at MexicanVanilla.com
Keep up the great posts Jennifer!