Easy Apple Pecan Cream Pie Recipe – Reinvent Grandma’s Old Standby

Amongst my grandmother’s recipes that I copied into my family cookbook, I found a wonderful old family recipe for pie using apples, pecans and a meringue topping.

Below is a re-interpretation of my grandmother’s apple pecan pie recipe that includes cheesecake filling instead of meringue. This no-cook recipe, now called Easy Apple Pecan Cream Pie, also includes many convenience food shortcuts so you can create a delicious dessert in half the time my grandmother needed.

Mile-high meringue and dotted pecans

My grandmother’s recipe for apple pecan pie was one of her ways of interpreting the well-known “food is love” aphorism.

She would stew her apples with a warm combination of cinnamon and brown sugar, and fold in chopped pecans so the filling was nicely dotted with pecan pieces.

Then, with a hand-held egg beater (not the electric kind), she would painstakingly beat the egg whites and sugar until they were smooth and beautifully glossy.

Her mile-high meringue was legendary within the family circle.

Undoubtedly, her recipe for apple pecan pie was a wonderful combination, but a bit time consuming for these rushed modern times.

Cheesecake filling in pecan pie?

Over the years, our family has developed a great love for cheesecake, which has been recorded in our family cookbook extensively in a section we of course we named “Family Cheesecake Recipes.”

Using a cheesecake filling instead of meringue means the recipe is way quicker to make, as well as satisfying our craving for cheesecake!

How to make Apple Pecan Cream Pie

Ingredients

• 1 graham cracker pie crust
• 1 can (21 oz) apple pie filling (or your own homemade apple pie filling)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon or allspice
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• Philadelphia Ready-To-Eat Cheesecake filling, original flavor
• Softened brown sugar & cinnamon, mixed together

Directions

Remove graham cracker pie crust from packaging.

Doctor up the apple pie filling with additional brown sugar and cinnamon or allspice.

(Note: Enhanced apple pie filling should have a darker color than it has directly from the can, so it will have intense enough flavor to compliment the cheesecake topping).

Once the filling has sufficient spices, add pecans and mix thoroughly.

Pour filling into graham cracker pie crust.

Spread softened Philadelphia Ready-To-Eat Cheesecake filling over top of filling.

Sprinkle mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon on top for garnish.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Variation

Layer apple pie filling, pecans and cheesecake filling.

I think my grandmother would approve of my new Apple Pecan Cream Pie recipe. It saves a ton of time yet is still in keeping with her good food-is-love tradition.

My recipe follows herPecan Pie recipe in my family cookbook, as hers is the rightful inspiration for the new version. You may wish to do the same thing and include a little story about your recipe’s evolution when making your own family cookbook.

Happy cookbooking,

Erin