Cheese and Apple Cubes

Cheese and Apple Cubes. image: Essy Roz

Cheese and Apple Cubes. image: Essy Roz

The days are bright and the skies are blue.
Although it’s cold outside, there’s a fresh feeling of a new beginning.

I decided to take the classic cheesecake I’ve had in my head and give it a new beginning, a wintery and good beginning.
A beginning that will turn it from a cheese and apple cake to cheese and apple cubes that any cup of tea will make a perfect fit for.

My cheese-apple cubes are the most fun treat to have next to a big indulging cup of tea.
They are a vivacious and sweet bite that excites anyone who meets it.
They’re base is crispy and crunchy,
The cheese layer is soft and moist,
The apple cubes are filled with pure and sweet juice,
And the top crumble layer gives something extra to every bite.

For this amazing bite I chose wonderful golden apples.
Soft and sweet,
Apples that gives in to the heat and to the soft cheese,
Provide a sweet and good experience,
And make every bite dreamy and enjoyable.

This is an easy and fun recipe that turns into an insaneee bite!
It’s the type of recipe that’ll bring freshness and spice things up in the kitchen,
And it’s super, I repeat it’s super easy and good.

A few instant minutes separates between you and enormous fun. 

Days of happy & indulging bites to us all 🙂

Cheese and Apple Cubes. image: Essy Roz

Cheese and Apple Cubes. image: Essy Roz

Cheese and Apple Cubes. image: Essy Roz

Cheese and Apple Cubes

Ingredients: suitable for a baking pan size 20*30 cm (8” * 12”) 

• 2 golden apples peeled and cut into cubes

For the cube base:

• ½ cup almond butter (For alternatives, have a look at “A little extra From Me”)
• ⅓ cup maple syrup (For alternatives, have a look at “A little extra From Me”)
• 1¼ cups oat flour (For alternatives, have a look at “A little extra From Me”)
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of salt

For the cheese layer:

• ½ cup cream cheese / heavy cream cheese / soy cheese
• 1 egg (For the vegan version, have a look at “A little extra From Me”)
• 2 tablespoons sugar (For alternatives, have a look at “A little extra From Me”)
• ¼ cup almond flour
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon (If you like it)

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) on turbo mode and line a baking pan size 20*30 cm (8” * 12”) with parchment paper.
2. Begin by making the base: in a mixing bowl put all wet ingredients, almond butter, maple syrup and salt and mix well.
3. To the bowl add oat flour and baking powder and mix until forming a sticky mixture. I recommend starting mixing by using a spoon and once crumbs of dough are formed continue by using your hands until receiving a ball of dough. If the mixture is too sticky and moist add 2-3 tablespoons of flour and mix until receiving a dough that’s comfortable to work with.
4. Cut out a small ball the size of a ping pong ball out of our big ball of dough, put it aside for now, we will use it for the crumble.
5. Roll out the dough between two parchment papers the size of the baking pan until it’s ½cm (0.2”) thick, the thickness should be even all throughout the dough. Then peel away the top sheet of parchment paper.
6. Using the parchment paper, move the rolled out dough to the baking pan and cut the dough’s brim to fit the pan (Take a sneak peek at the pictures below).
7. Move on to the cheese layer: in a mixing bowl put all ingredients, cream cheese, egg, sugar, almond flour and cinnamon and mix well until forming a smooth cheese mixture.
8. Smear the cheese mixture evenly on top of the rolled out dough and spread the pre-cut apples on top of the cheese layer.
9. Take the small ball of dough that we kept aside and crumble it over everything using your hands or a grater. This would be the time to sprinkle a little cinnamon over everything if you like it.
10. Put the pan in the oven and bake for between 12-18 minutes until everything is tanned and beautiful.

Take out of the oven, cool for a little while, cut into magical squares and eat 🙂

A little extra from me:

• Can be kept in a sealed box for 4 days (The crispiness goes away as time goes by).
• You can use any type of apple that you like.

Substitutes for the base:

• Maple syrup can be substituted for Agave.
• Almond butter can be substituted for peanut butter / Cashew butter. The flavor of the butter you choose will affect the taste of the base. Using almond butter will provide the best outcome.
• Oat flour can be substituted for 1½ cups of almond flour.
• Click here to see how to grind oat flour at home.

Substitutes for the cheese layer:

• For a vegan version egg can be substituted for cornflour.
• Sugar can be substituted for maple syrup. If you choose to make that change, add 2 tablespoons of almond flour.
• Almond flour can be substituted for oat flour.

How to grind oat flour at home 🙂

The bowl of wet ingredients of the base. image: Essy Roz

Bowl of wet ingredients of the base after mixing. image: Essy Roz

Add the dry ingredients to the bowl. image: Essy Roz

Our dough ball. image: Essy Roz

Place the dough ball on baking paper. image: Essy Roz

Roll out the ball of dough between two baking sheets. image: Essy Roz

The dough rolled between two baking papers. image: Essy Roz

Transfer the dough to the baking pan using the baking paper. image: Essy Roz

We will remove the baking paper and cut the dough according to the size of the baking pan. image: Essy Roz

Ingredients of the cheese layer. image: Essy Roz

the cheese layer. image: Essy Roz

Spread the cheese filling over the rolled dough. image: Essy Roz

The base layer and above it a uniform layer of cheese filling. image: Essy Roz

Sprinkle over our apple cubes. image: Essy Roz

Grate the dough we kept aside for the crumble. image: Essy Roz

Cheese and Apple Cubes. before baking. image: Essy Roz

Cheese and Apple Cubes after baking and cut into magic squares. image: Essy Roz

Cheese and Apple Cubes. image: Essy Roz

Cheese and Apple Cubes. image: Essy Roz

Cheese and Apple Cubes. image: Essy Roz