See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

• Graham Cracker Crumbs – This forms the classic graham cracker crust base, but you could also swap them out for Golden Oreo cookies for a sweeter crust.
• Cinnamon – This is my secret ingredient to add that nice and warm signature apple pie flavor to the crust.
• Unsalted Butter – Unsalted butter helps control the salt in your dessert. Also, melted butter helps combine the crust faster.
• Cream cheese – Use room-temperature cream cheese. It’s way softer and easier to mix. Also, do not use the variety in a tub. Use the blocks of cream cheese since they’re richer and smoother.
• Vanilla Extract – Make sure you use pure vanilla extract, not imitation, or you can try my homemade vanilla extract recipe.
• Cool Whip – Store-bought cool whip works just fine. But you can try my homemade cool whip if you want to avoid the store-bought one.
• Apple Pie Filling – It packs a lot of flavor, and is a big time saver compared to cleaning, cutting, and prepping whole apples. Our fried apples would work great as the filling too!
• Pecans  – You can also chop up and sprinkle any other nuts you like. For best flavor, be sure to toast the pecans using our easy tips and tricks.

Easy Instructions

Make the crust.