Simple Cheesecake Recipe

A simple cheesecake recipe can sometimes be hard to find. You want a cheesecake recipe which is delicious yet, simple…easy, but flavorful. It’s a tough balance; at least it was until I found this simple cheesecake recipe. It’s so easy!

While the flavor is simply plain, it gives you so many options as to what to use for topping. Want a cherry cheesecake? Try this recipe with a can of cherry topping (better yet, some fresh cherries!)

Maybe chocolate cheesecake is more “your speed”. This recipe with a hot fudge glaze or sauce is a great addition. Experiment with it. Have fun, bake limitlessly, and love every inch of this simple, simple cheesecake recipe!

Yield: 8 slices

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 prepared graham cracker pie crust

Topping Ideas

• 1/2 cup sour cream (mixed with 2 tbsp sugar)
• 1 cup cherry pie filling
• 2 cups fresh strawberries
• prepared Jello gelatin
• a thin chocolate sauce

Directions

1) Mix cream cheese, sugar, sour cream and eggs.

2) Pour into premade pie crust.

3) Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes or until a 3 inch circle in center jiggles when you “give it a shake”.

4) Cool 3 hours or overnight.

5) Serve with desired topping…enjoy!

My personal favorite topping is a drizzle of chocolate sauce with some freshly sliced strawberries atop this delicious cheesecake. This recipe is perfect for any occasion where a cheesecake is needed in a short amount of time or when ingredients are running low… but cheesecake cravings are running high.

Any time, any day, any reason, any occasion, any slice, any way—it’s a yes to this simple cheesecake recipe. Give it a try for yourself.

Banana Split Cheesecake Recipe

Wow… this banana split cheesecake recipe is insane. The day I ran across this recipe was also the day I baked it; it just sounded so delicious! Who would have thought that you could take two completely different desserts and make one super supreme snack.

The trick is that this recipe is basically a banana cheesecake. The banana split part comes in the topping. What an overflow of toppings…but how tasty!

I’m sure you’re just dying to try this recipe out, just as I was, so why wait any longer. Go ahead… get started now.

Yield: 16 servings

Ingredients:

Crust:

• Non-stick cooking spray
• 1 cup packaged chocolate cookie crumbs (such as Oreo)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine, melted

Filling:

• 4 (8-ounce) blocks cream cheese, softened
• 1 (8-ounce) carton sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups banana; mashed and ripe
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs

Toppings:

• 1/3 cup canned crushed pineapple in juice, drained
• 1/3 cup strawberry sundae syrup
• 1/3 cup chocolate syrup
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
• 16 maraschino cherries, drained

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 325°.

2) To prepare crust, combine first 3 ingredients in a bowl; toss with a fork until moist. Press into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray.

3) To prepare filling, beat cheeses and sour cream at high speed of a mixer until smooth. Add 1 1/2 cups sugar, banana, flour, and vanilla; beat well. Add eggs, 1 at a time; beat well after each addition.

4) Pour cheese mixture into prepared pan; bake at 325° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until almost set. Cheesecake is done when the center barely moves when pan is touched. Remove cheesecake from oven; run a knife around outside edge.

5) Cool cheesecake to room temperature. Cover and chill for at least 8 hours. Top each serving with 1 teaspoon pineapple, 1 teaspoon strawberry syrup, 1 teaspoon chocolate syrup, 3/4 teaspoon pecans, and 1 cherry.

Yum! This delicious (yet unique) cheesecake recipe showcases all the delicious flavors a classic banana split in a new and exciting way. Your friends will be so shocked to see the cheesecake you made them and everyone will be just dying to know the recipe! It can be our little secret!

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Recipe

I love chocolate chip cookies. I also love cheesecake. What would you say if I said you could have both? Believe it because it’s true—you absolutely can with this delicious chocolate chip cheesecake recipe.

This recipe is perfect and I make it a lot at my home, for parties, gatherings, or just because. This chocolate chip cheesecake recipe has just enough chocolate to satisfy, but not so much that the creaminess of the cake is overwhelmed.

In addition, the extra chocolate on top of the cake is a nice little something extra. This chocolate chip cheesecake, a large glass of milk and I’m set! You will be too; just give it a try.

Yield: 10-12 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups chocolate wafer cookie crumbs
• 1/3 cup melted butter or margarine
• 24 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups miniature semisweet chocolate chips, divided
• 1/2 cup whipping cream

Directions:

1) Combine chocolate cookie crumbs and butter, stirring well. Firmly press mixture evenly over the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 350° for 5 minutes.

2) Beat cream cheese at high speed of an electric hand-held mixer until light and fluffy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

3) Stir in vanilla and 2/3 cup chocolate chips. Pour mixture into crust. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes; turn oven off and leave oven door ajar.

4) Leave cheesecake in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool a on a wire rack. Cover cheesecake, refrigerate, and chill 8 hours.

5) Melt remaining 2/3 cup chocolate chips in top of double boiler; gradually stir in whipping cream. Stir over low heat until thickened and smooth. Remove from heat and spread over cheesecake. Chill thoroughly.

Yum! Making the cheesecake is almost as fun as eating it and adding in the chocolate chips is a fun way to let kids help with this recipe. The fun is unlimited, but the slices aren’t. Luckily, you can make this recipe more than once! Enjoy!

Cheesecake Brownie Recipe

This cream cheese brownie recipe is a unique twist on two old fashioned favorites; the brownie and the cheesecake. Quite possibly two of my most favorite foods on the planet!

To most people a cream cheese brownie is a regular chocolate brownie with a surprise swirl of cream cheese found in every bite! The cream cheese, as expected, is very similar to the taste of cheesecake so it’s like you have two desserts in one! Really, what could be better.

This cream cheese brownie recipe has an amazing balance of richness (from the brownies) and lightness (from the cream cheese filling). It’s an excellent choice for any occasion and my family loves them! My mom calls them simply decadent.

Yield: 16 brownies

Ingredients:

Brownie Base-

• 2/3 cup (3 1/3 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into quarters
• 1 cut (7 ounces) sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature

Cream Cheese Filling-

• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• ¼ cup (1 ¾ ounces) sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg yolk

Directions:

1) For the brownie base: Adjust the oven rack to be in the middle-lower position and heat the oven up to 325 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray, coating it lightly. Also, if non-stick spray isn’t really your thing, you could also use parchment paper to line the pan. It gets the job done just the same, but without the grease.

2) Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl. Set the mixture aside.

3) In a medium heatproof bowl set over a pot of almost-simmering water, melt the chocolates and butter, stirring occasionally until it’s smooth. Remove the melted chocolate mixture from the heat.

4) Mix in the sugar and vanilla and then let it sit and cool slightly. Mix in the eggs (one at a time) mixing thoroughly after each addition.

5) Continue mixing until the mixture is completely smooth and then add the dry ingredients, mixing until just barely incorporated.

6) For the cream cheese mixture: In a small bowl mix the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and egg yolk until blended.

7) Pour half of the brownie batter into the prepared pan. Drop half of the cream cheese filling atop the brownie batter in the pan. Top that with some brownie batter and continue layering until all of the batters are gone.

8) Use the blade of a knife to gently swirl the two mixes together. All you need to do for that is to place the knife in the batter and move it around in an “S” motion. Be sure not to swirl it too much or you’ll get a brownie, where you can’t tell the difference between the cream cheese and the chocolate! If you do this right, it will create a marbled effect in your brownies.

9) Bake your brownies until the edges have slightly puffed up, about 50-60 minutes. When a toothpick is inserted, it should come out with many crumbs adhered to it…then you know the brownies are done!

10) Cool the cream cheese brownies for at least 5 minutes and then place them on a wire cooling rack and wait until they have reached room temperature.

11) Refrigerate for at least 3 hours (or 1 ½ hours in the freezer).

12) Remove from the refrigerator cut, serve, and taste the decadence!

13) Place the leftovers, if there are any, back in the refrigerator!

14) Enjoy!

This cream cheese brownie recipe is a favorite with the kids and the unique combination of “brownie meets cheesecake” will surprise your taste buds!