A Tub Of Cheesecake Filling, Apple Pie Filling, And This Boxed Ingredient Make An Easy Cheesecake

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A classic New York cheesecake is the kind of recipe that takes time and patience, but a tasty cheesecake-style dessert can be put together with just a few ingredients. On TikTok, one creator dumps canned cinnamon apples, extra cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla into a baking tray, mixes the ingredients together, then spoons a layer of cream cheese on top. Once that layer is spread thick, the dry mix from a package of Betty Crocker Cinnamon Streusel Box Muffin and Quick Bread Mix is sprinkled over it. Butter is then grated on top before a streusel topping is added. "Grating the butter is such a good idea," wrote one viewer in the comments. 

The tray is baked at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for one hour, then the dessert is scooped out and served with ice cream. Servings can be finished with a drizzle of caramel. "This apple cheesecake dump cake might be the best thing on the internet," wrote one fan on Facebook.

Even with a short ingredient list, each one serves a purpose. Apples offer sweetness and spice to complement the tangy cream cheese. Betty Crocker's muffin mix bakes into a cake-like topping and absorbs some of the juices from the fruit. And butter melts into the streusel, helping it turn crisp and golden in the oven. 

Dump cheesecakes can be made with different flavors of store-bought cake mix, like vanilla or yellow, if you're not sold on the cinnamon streusel flavor. Some bakers have used cherry instead of apple for the fruit base or topped the cheesecake with whipped cream instead of ice cream. Others have suggested adding chopped pecans for extra crunch. For even more flavor, you could squeeze lemon juice over the apples or sprinkle brown sugar over the cream cheese. Because this dessert doesn't set like a traditional cheesecake, a serving spoon works better than a knife.

A 13.9-ounce box of the Cinnamon Streusel Box Muffin and Quick Bread Mix can be found at Walmart for just over $3. Customers rave about the mix but note that it can be difficult to find in grocery stores. However you make it, this creamy dessert is perfect for enjoying after dinner or alongside an afternoon cup of tea.