These apple cheesecake croissants are buttery, flaky, creamy, and packed with cozy fall flavor in every bite. Soft croissants are stuffed with sweet cream cheese filling, homemade cinnamon apples, and topped with a buttery pecan crumble and caramel glaze.
These stuffed croissants are a bakery-style dessert that looks fancy but is really so easy to make. If you love easy, delicious, impressive treats like these, try my peach puff pastry, coconut cream cheese dessert, or no-bake Oreo pie.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Flaky buttery croissants
- Creamy cheesecake filling
- Warm cinnamon apple flavor
- Easy bakery-style dessert
- Perfect for holidays and brunch
- Easy to customize
Key Ingredients
You’ll find all the ingredients and their exact amounts in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Croissant Rolls: They get crisp on the outside and soft inside while holding all the filling.
- Cream Cheese: Creates the rich cheesecake-style filling that makes the pastries creamy and indulgent.
- Powdered Sugar & Vanilla: Sweeten and flavor the cheesecake filling to make it smooth, light, and dessert-like.
- Green Apples: Bring a tart, fresh flavor that balances the sweetness and gives the filling a classic apple-pie vibe.
- Cinnamon & Allspice: Add warm, cozy flavors that make the apple filling taste extra comforting and fall-inspired.
- Butter, Brown Sugar & Honey: Combined into the caramel glaze, these ingredients create that sticky, golden bakery-style finish on top.
- Pecans: Add crunch and a nutty flavor that pairs perfectly with the caramel and apples.
Variations
- Use Different Apples: Try other apple varieties such as Honeycrisp, Braeburn, or Fuji.
- Use Different Fruits: Make the filling with diced peaches, plums, pineapple, or your other favorites.
- Berry Cheesecake Croissants: Use your favorite berries to make versions like these raspberry cream cheese croissants.
- Swap the Nuts: Use walnuts in place of pecans.
- Add Cozy Spices: Add a blend of nutmeg, apple pie spice, and extra cinnamon.
How to Make Apple Cheesecake Croissants
1: Bring the apple filling ingredients to a boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer until thickened and most of the liquid has evaporated. Set aside to cool.
2: Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Then, beat in the powdered sugar and vanilla.
3: Mix the dry crumble ingredients. Then, cut in cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the chopped pecans.
4: Cut an X in the top of each croissant and pull the corners back to make a pocket. Can make additional cuts as necessary.
5: Add a little cheesecake filling to each pocket. Then, top with a little apple filling.
6: Make the caramel glaze, and brush the croissants all over with it.
7: Top with crumble mixture and bake until golden brown and crisp.
8: Cool on a wire rack and serve warm.
Expert Tips
- Use tart green apples for the best flavor balance.
- Let the apple filling cool before adding to croissants.
- Don’t overfill the croissants, or they may split while baking.
- Serve warm for the best texture and flavor.
- Cut your butter into small cubes and keep it chilled until ready to make the crumble.
- Be careful not to cut all the way through your croissants.
- Use large croissants. They work best for accommodating all that yummy filling.
Apple Cheesecake Croissants FAQs
Yes. In most cases, canned apple pie filling works great as a shortcut for homemade filling.
Granny Smith apples work best because they balance the sweetness of the cheesecake filling and caramel glaze.
Avoid overfilling them and gently fold the edges back toward the center after filling.
Store leftover croissants in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Absolutely. Freeze the baked croissants in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Reheat before serving for the best texture.
Great Pairings for These Stuffed Croissants
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Apple Cheesecake Croissants
Ingredients
- 6 croissants, (bought from Sam's Club)
Cheesecake Filling
- 8 ounce cream cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Apple Filling
- 3 cups green apples, cored, peeled, and diced
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Carmel Glaze
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon honey
Crumble
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- 2 tablespoons butter, cold and fine cubed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°.
Apple Filling
- In a medium sauce pan add the apples, sugar, cinnamon, allspice, cornstarch and lemon juice. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
- Bring apples to a boil, and reduce heat to medium low, stirring occasionally.
- Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until thickened and most of the liquid has reduced down.
- Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Cheesecake Filling
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese on low for 2-3 minutes or until smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar and vanilla.
- Beat on low until the sugar is incorporated.
Crumble
- In a small bowl mix flour and brown sugar together. Cut in cold butter with the backs of forks or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse grained sand.
- Next mix in your pecans and set aside.
Prepare the Croissants
- Cut a slit down the center of the croissant until you get to the folded end, making sure not to go through the bottom side.
- Cut a slit horizontally, again making sure not to go through the bottom.
- Gently peel back the top, leaving the sides intact so you have a star shaped pocket in the center.
- Add about 2 tablespoons of cheesecake mixture to the pocket of the croissant.
- Add 2 teaspoons of apple filling over the cream cheese mixture.
- Carefully pull the star edges back towards the center of the croissant.
- Repeat with the remaining ingredients
Caramel Glaze
- In a small bowl melt the butter.
- Add the brown sugar, and honey, and mix until the butter is fully incorporated.
- Brush the bottoms of each croissant and place onto a foil lined cookie sheet, or into a pancake sheet pan.
- Brush the tops and the sides of the croissants with remaining caramel glaze.
- Sprinkle the tops with crumble.
- Bake at 375 for 16-18 minutes or until browned and hardened.
- Remove from the pan immediately and cool on a wire rack.
Notes
- Use tart green apples for the best flavor balance.
- Let the apple filling cool before adding to croissants.
- Don’t overfill the croissants, or they may split while baking.
- Serve warm for the best texture and flavor.
- Cut your butter into small cubes and keep it chilled until ready to make the crumble.
- Be careful not to cut all the way through your croissants.
- Use large croissants. They work best for accommodating all that yummy filling.
Nutrition
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