Vanilla Cheesecake with Graham Cracker Crust

After you go camping and you have leftover graham crackers...what to do?? So far I've made Martha Stewart's Key Lime Pies and now these yummy mini cheesecakes!

I've adapted this recipe from Tyler Florence's Ultimate Cheesecake recipe. Overall I halved the recipe. Instead of 1.5 eggs I used 2 eggs. Instead of 1 cup sour cream I used 1 cup of vanilla Greek yogurt. I omitted the lemon zest and vanilla extract. I reduced the sugar from 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup after reading a bunch of other recipes.

I didn't have any blueberries or fresh fruit to turn into a sauce to drizzle over the top so I put a little Strawberry Jam on mine.

These came out very soft unlike traditional cheesecakes. They freeze well. They are also delish out of the freezer and defrosted for about 10 minutes!

Vanilla Cheesecake with Graham Cracker Crust
makes 8 mini (6 oz ramekin) servings

Crust:

2 cups finely ground graham crackers

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

1 (8oz) block, softened cream cheese

2 eggs

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In a food processor pulse the graham crackers, cinnamon, and melted butter.

Spoon into the glass bowls and use another bowl to press the crackers in. Put it to the side.

Using an electric mixer or stand mixer, beat the cream cheese on low speed for 1 minute until smooth and free of any lumps. 

Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and continue to beat slowly until combined.

Gradually add sugar and beat until creamy, for 1 to 2 minutes.

Add vanilla yogurt, scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. 

Pour the filling into the crust-lined pan. 

Put the ramekins on the cookie sheet and then place in the oven. 

Place a large pan of water in the bottom rack of the oven. 

Bake for 30 minutes. The cheesecake should still jiggle (it will firm up after chilling). 

Crack the oven door and let the cheesecake sit for another 30 minutes. 

Chill in the refrigerator, loosely covered, for at least 4 hours. 

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Let the turkey have its day!! Happy Thanksgiving to all! I hope you spent it with your family and friends and had delicious things to eat.

This is my first cheesecake making experience. I'm quite certain my next cheesecake will go much smoother! For example, I will buy all 3 blocks of cream cheese at the same time instead of going out twice!

I purchased a springform pan months ago and have been waiting for a recipe that needs it. This recipe was a winner since I could use my food processor AND the springform pan. Here was the original recipe base and inspiration for the pumpkin cheesecake.

I omitted the cloves as I didn't have any, substituted the sour cream with plain Greek yogurt, reduce the white sugar from 1 1/2 cups to 1 cup, and used dark brown sugar instead of light since that is what I had.

I loved this crust and will be using this in the future for other pies and cheesecakes.

Lessons Learned

• Read all the directions. Seriously.
• Do research on cheesecake making - there are many techniques and only you can decide what will work best for you! Here some links: Prepared Pantry, Allrecipes
• Start with room temperature ingredients (take cream cheese out of the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour prior to using)
• The general cheesecake rule is 1 egg : 1 8oz package of cream cheese
• Beat the cream cheese for about 5 minutes so it is creamy, smooth, and light - otherwise you end up with lumpy cheesecake batter
• If you DO have lumpy cheesecake batter, whirl it through your food processor (or fine mesh sieve...if you have one)
• Adding flour makes it more cake like vs a more dense/creamy/rich/custard texture without it
• Reduced fat ingredients can prevent it from setting. Also - its cheesecake, don't worry about it being healthy
• It is done when the center (about 2 inches wide) is still jiggly but the rest of the cake is set (I have no idea if this was the case after the 1 1/2 hours was up, but it was lovely when I took it out of the oven at the end of the process)
• I put a pan of water underneath the cake to help with the moisture and humidity - ideally will also help reduce risk of cracking
• Preheat oven to 350F, put cake in, reduce heat to 250F. Cook 1 1/2 hours. Leave in oven for another 3 hours then see if it is close to room temp and then put into fridge - If you cook it like this, start early! Starting at 8 was not my most brilliant plan.
• Flip the base of the springform pan upside down - so the rim is underneath. This will allow you to run a knife between the cake and the bottom and easily slide it off. You also can use a circle cut out of parchment paper on the base as well.

  

  This edge should face down for easy of removal

Future Ideas and Inspiration

• Other cookies or crackers for the crust (biscotti, ginger snaps)
• Add different spices or nuts to the crust (ginger, walnuts, macadamia nuts)
• Making a plain cheesecake to top with a fruit compote (blueberries or strawberries!)
• Try it without the flour (texture test!)

Good luck, Happy Cheesecake Making/Eating, and Happy Thanksgiving!!

Add butter, brown sugar, & cinnamon

Press into pan

Fill pan with cheesecake, bake!

Delish!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

One 9" Cheesecake

Crust-
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (1 sleeve = 1 cup of crumbs)
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (heaping)

Filling-
3 (8oz) packages cream cheese
1 (15oz) can pumpkin puree
3 eggs
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon (heaping)
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg (heaping)
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (heaping)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350F

Crust

• In food processor pulse the graham crackers. Once pulsed into crumbs add the rest of the ingredients and pulse until combined. Press crust into the bottom of a 9" springform pan.

Filling

• Beat cream cheese until smooth. 
• Add pumpkin, eggs, yogurt, sugar and spices. Blend until combined. 
• Add flour and vanilla, and beat until well combined. 
• Pour filling into prepared pan.  
• Put cheesecake in and turn down heat to 250F. Bake cheesecake 1 1/2 hours. Leave it in the oven for another 3 hours, try not to open the door. Put it in the fridge overnight, serve chilled. Top finished cheesecakes with whipped cream.

The cheesecake can be stored in the refrigerator up to 2 days.

Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

My friend N. found this recipe online and really really really wanted me to make them. Since he bought me Oreos and chocolate chips the other day for the Slutty Brownies, I figured I could try these. I didn't find them to be as "cheesecake" as I was expecting, but they had an almost nougat-like, marshmallow-y center.

The Oreo crumbs do need to be in fine crumb form! I found that mashing them in a bag with a rolling pin just didn't do the job. So, I got to use my food processor! And wow did it make quick work of those yummy Oreos!

I used a cookie scoop when making these so they would be approximately the same size. I use my 1 tsp (?) cookie scoop. Its slightly smaller than the normal cookie scoop that most people have.

If you don't have a cookie scoop (aka small spring loaded ice cream scoops) and you make lots of cookies, I highly recommend investing in one. They are fairly inexpensive and make it much easier to create large batches of cookies.

The recipe was straight forward and easy to follow. I didn't make any changes to the recipe aside from halving it.


Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

Yield: about 4 dozen cookies

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup chocolate chips
1 cup Oreo cookie crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Cream butter and cream cheese until smooth.

3. Add sugar and vanilla extract. Mix until the ingredients are well-combined. Add flour and mix until flour is incorporated. Stir in the mini chocolate chips.

4. Put the Oreo crumbs into a bowl. Scoop the soft dough into about 1½ to 2″ balls and then roll in the cookie crumbs. Place the cookie balls on the baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the tops are slightly puffed.

5. Cool on the pan for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!