Ingredients
For the Graham Cracker Crust:
▢1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs - 1.75c
▢4 tablespoons granulated sugar - 5T
▢5 tablespoons melted butter - 6T
For the Cheesecake Filling:
▢40 ounces cream cheese at room temperature (five 8 oz. packages; 2 1/2 lbs total)
▢1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
▢1/2 cup sour cream at room temperature
▢2 teaspoons vanilla extract
▢4 large eggs at room temperature
▢any desired cheesecake toppings
Instructions
Place oven racks in the center of the oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium sized bowl, stir graham cracker crumbs together with sugar and melted butter until well incorporated and mixture looks like damp sand. Using the bottom of a measuring cup, press crust into the bottom and half way up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake 7 minutes (or 8 minutes for thick crust option). Remove from oven and set aside.
Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.
In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, mix cream cheese 30 seconds 'til smooth. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and add in granulated sugar, sour cream and vanilla. Mix again until incorporated. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix again briefly
Crack eggs into a liquid measuring cup and using a fork, beat until well scrambled. With the mixer on low, slowly pour in the eggs into the cream cheese mixture and stop stirring once egg has been incorporated. Remove bowl from mixer and scrape the sides and bottom again, ensuring the entire mixture is smooth. If there are a few small lumps, try to fold in using the rubber scraper.
Once the batter is completely smooth and ready, tap the bowl on the counter for 30-45 seconds to remove as many air bubbles as possible. You should see them popping on the surface as you tap the bowl. Pour filling into the center of the graham cracker crust and gently smooth the top. Will be very full!
Bake for 30 minutes at 325 degrees. Reduce temperature to 250 degrees and continue cooking for 45 minutes more. Once this time has elapsed, turn oven off and keep cheesecake inside for another 30 minutes for some carryover cooking without opening the oven door. Crack oven door to let cheesecake cool slowly for one hour before removing. At this point, cheesecake should be slightly warm. Bring cheesecake to room temperature on the counter (3-4 hours) before covering with plastic wrap and transferring to the fridge.
Refrigerate until chilled completely (6 hours to overnight). To serve, open springform pan and remove collar. Decorate as desired.
Dip a sharp knife into hot water, wipe off any excess water and slice. I like to dip my knife in water between each slice to get really clean-looking pieces.
How can I adjust the crust ingredients to get a thicker graham cracker crust?
If you would like a thicker graham cracker crust, use 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs, 5 tablespoons granulated sugar and 6 tablespoons melted butter. Press into the pan and bake for 8 minutes.
Hot Mama Grade: tbd
Hot Mama Notes: This cheesecake better walk on water. Seriously, this is a crap ton of time and work. I think at this point, I would rather just try the water bath if it is shorter. Yikes. Just a lot of monkeying around with the oven and waiting. We shall see tomorrow when we eat it!! I did adjust for the thicker crust as I love crust. If making this recipe, you need to start very early in the day the day before you need the dessert. Foolishly, I started late the night before. I did not know as this is my first baked cheesecake. I'm more of a cookie, cake, pie sort of girl, so I didn't know!
Other notes from website:
Do I have to use a springform pan?
The best baking pan for this cheesecake recipe is a 9-inch springform pan and I don’t have a suggestion for an optional pan to use instead. You can definitely put this into a 10-incher, but definitely won’t fit into an 8. Splurge and get the springform pan. Or find a friend and borrow one.
I will say that I’ve readers bake this recipe in a 9×13 pan and it has absolutely worked! So keep that in mind as well. If you’re ok with cheesecake bars, then this is a great option for you.
Frequently Asked Questions + Baking Tips About Cheesecake
Why did my cheesecake crack?
There are several reasons why cheesecakes can get a grand canyon-sized crack down the center but through my recipe testing and research, I’ve found the main three reasons are: air bubbles, lumps in the batter and baking and cooling. Here’s how I’ve dealt with and adjusted my recipe to ensure these three things don’t cause any issues:
Air Bubbles: When you are using a hand or stand mixer, it has a tendency to incorporate air into any batter you make, not just cheesecake. Particularly after you add in eggs. When eggs get whipped, they hold that volume. So, we want to reduce the mixing time after we add in the eggs and remove any extra air bubbles. How do we do this? Crack all four eggs into a bowl and whisk with a fork before adding them into the cheesecake batter. Then, stir in the eggs last and mix until they are just incorporated. Then before pouring the batter into the graham cracker crust, tap the bowl on the counter for 30 to 45 seconds to remove as many air bubbles as possible.
Lumps in the Batter: Using room temperature cream cheese, eggs, and sour cream makes everything incorporate easier, thus more of a lump-free batter. Also, be diligent in scraping the sides of the bowl. You want to ensure the cheesecake batter is lump-free before adding in the eggs.
Baking and Cooling: Baking a cheesecake in a water bath helps moderate oven temperatures not only for baking but for cooling too. Since I hate water baths and think they should go die, I had to MacGyver this whole cheesecake recipe to ensure it was baking at a lower oven temperature for a longer period and also cooling very slowly. Once baking is finished and the oven gets turned off, you’ll notice the cheesecake still spends over an hour in the hot oven, not only to help finish baking it (called carryover cooking) but also to cool it gently and slowly. This is what gets you that beautiful, crack-free top.
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