Cheesecake Recipe

Baking a cheesecake on Thanksgiving and Christmas has been a family tradition for us since the kids were old enough to eat cheesecake. There’s nothing like a nice, creamy tasty cheesecake! Now, I’m no cook! My wife can attest to that. However, anyone can cook the perfect cheesecake using this recipe. There are a million cheesecake recipes out there but this is the best one! Don’t take my word for it, give it a try and let me know how it went.

Preparation
Make sure to have a large pan big enough to fit a 9″ spring form pan in it. Fill it with approximately 1/2 inch or so of water.  Also, wrap the 9″ spring form pan with aluminum foil. Make sure it is nice and tight and no tears exist. This will keep the water from seeping into the 9″ spring form pan when placed in the water.

Ingredients
1 – 9″ spring form pan
toothpicks
1 stick of melted butter (to make crust)
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (to make crust)
3 eggs
1 pint (16oz) sour scream
3 packets of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 1/2 – 2 cups of sugar (depending on your sweet tooth)

Make Crust (optional)
1. Mix the following in a separate bowl from the cake mix:
– 2 cups of Graham Cracker crumbs
– 2 tbsp. of sugar
– 1 stick of melted butter
2. Spray PAM onto bottom and side of spring form pan
3. Press the crust onto bottom and 2 1/2 inches up the sides of the spring form pan
4. Let chill in the refrigerator while you mix the cake batter

Cooking Instructions
Leave all ingredients out at room temperature at least a couple of hours before starting. It is very important that the cream cheese is soft.

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Mix the following in a big bowl in the following order:
– Mix cream cheese and sugar first
– Add sour cream and vanilla and mix again
– Finally, add one egg at a time and mix after each egg
– Mix until nice a creamy
3. Pour the mix into the spring form pan, place the pan in the water. The water should only cover the bottom 3rd of the spring form pan. Put it in the oven.
4. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or when the cake begins to brown.
5. Turn oven off and let the cake sit in the oven for another 5 minutes. If the cake is brown or starting to crack too much, you can take it out.
6. Do the “toothpick” test in the middle of the cake to make sure it is cooked through. The toothpick should come out dry. If not, then put in the oven for a few more minutes and check again.
7. Let cool 15 minutes at room temperature, then loosen the spring sides.
8. Let cool another 45 minutes and sprinkle the leftover crust if desired.
9. Refrigerate over night.

I like my cheesecake plain just like NY cheesecake should be. Feel free to top it off with whatever delicacies you like but I strongly recommend you MAN UP and leave it alone. You won’t regret it. The picture in this post is a recent cheesecake I made for Christmas morning.

Enjoy eating your delicious cheesecake……..I know I will.