Easy Cheesecake Recipe

Mini cheesecakes are perfect for a crowd or party!

To Make Mini Cheesecakes: Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. Place 1 tbsp of graham cracker crust (can crumble store-bought if needed) into each liner and press down. Pour 1/4 cup of prepared cheesecake batter into each liner. Bake 15-20 minutes at 350°F.

Making a homemade graham cracker crust is easy if you get the right melted butter-to-cracker ratio! This one took me a while to figure out, as too much butter can make the crust wet and not enough butter can make the crust dry and crumbly. This is my perfected Graham Cracker crust that is equivalent to a store-bought crust.

Graham Cracker Pie Crust vs Graham Cracker Cheesecake Crust

Keep in mind a store-bought crust is ideal for a 16 oz cream cheese recipe that fits a pie pan. Anything more should be baked in a springform pan that is deep, hence the more use of cream cheese.

How to Make a Graham Cracker Pie Crust like the store-bought crust: Combine 9 crushed graham crackers (one sleeve) with 5 Tbsp of melted butter and press into a pie pan.

To make a tall Graham Cracker Crust for larger cheesecakes: Combine 15 crushed graham crackers (2 cups crushed crumbs) with 9 tbsp of melted butter and press into a 9-inch springform pan.

Having ingredients at room temperature prevents lumps in a cheesecake batter. I tend to focus on the cream cheese as that is the base of a cheesecake, so make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature or that it’s softened. A cheesecake batter shouldn’t turn lumpy if you add cold heavy cream; it’s the addition of sour cream that can tend to make the cheesecake batter lumpy or any other dairy solids, like yogurt or thick liquids.

How to bring cream cheese to room temperature quickly: microwave every 8 oz of cream cheese for 30 seconds (cut into fours).

As much as you would like to smooth things out when beating a cheesecake, over-mixing it can ruin it! I’ve learned the hard way. It wasn’t until I mixed it too well that I realized my cheesecake batter looked like a small curdled mess. Baking a curdled cheesecake doesn’t make it better either. It’ll just look like a farmer’s cheese crumb with little curds once baked.

Having the cream cheese at room temperature also helps with the smoothness of a cheesecake batter without the need to beat it too long. It’s okay to beat the cream cheese alone for a good minute, but once the other ingredients come into play, it’s best to just beat the cheesecake batter only until combined.

Cheesecake is best chilled in the refrigerator. Leaving a cheesecake at room temperature is not as enjoyable and firm as a chilled cheesecake. Keep refrigerated for up to one week.

Absolutely! You can freeze a cheesecake! If the Cheesecake Factory sells frozen Cheesecake slices, then cream cheese is safe enough to freeze!

To freeze a Cheesecake: Cool the cheesecake in its pan completely on a wire rack or heat mat. Wrap with plastic wrap and place into the freezer. Add the cheesecake topping before serving.

To freeze leftover cheesecake slices: place cheesecake slices on a tray and freeze slices solid, then wrap individually and freeze.

Frozen Cheesecakes can keep up to 3 months. They are best frozen without a pie filling topping. However, Cool Whip or whipped toppings freeze well.

This easy cheesecake recipe has only three ingredients for the filling, plus the crust!

Filling:

• Cream Cheese- Use 16 oz of softened cream cheese to fit a pre-made store-bought pie crust.
• Eggs- this recipe calls for two eggs.
• Condensed milk- 1/2 can of condensed milk makes the perfect cheesecake batter without running over the crust. Anything more reaches above the crust.

Crust:

• Graham Cracker Pie Crust- Use store-bought or make your own graham cracker crust with one sleeve of crackers and 5 tbsp of melted butter.

The best way to tell if a cheesecake is done is by how wet it looks. A perfectly baked cheesecake typically rises on the edges and may get a yellowish hue. The very middle is the only place that should look slightly wet. If the cheesecake is too jiggly, it needs more time. A cheesecake should look underdone but not too wet.

Some reasons behind a cracked cheesecake can be one of the following:

• Over-baked- I’ve noticed the longer a cheesecake bakes, the more cracks it tends to get.
• High Oven Temperature- cheesecakes should always be baked at low temperatures, as cheese tends to be a dense ingredient.
• Releasing the baked cheesecake from the springform pan on time- if your crust didn’t go high up the sides, it’s likely the cheesecake batter got baked to the sides of your springform pan. Run a knife through the sides to free your crust from gluing to the sides, then cracking.