I lost my go-to cheesecake recipe and was in a panic– I found this one, and it looked pretty standard, so I decided to use it. (I wanted to do some chocolate accents, so I added about 2Tbsp of dark cocoa to the crumb crust, and I made an “icing” of cream cheese, sour cream, a little lemon juice, and confectioner’s sugar… then had something “wet” to sprinkle chocolate shavings on top so they would stick. It worked out perfectly, and it was divine!
I had never heard of using a water bath when baking a cheesecake, but I have generally been frustrated with how readily they crack when they cool… so I tried it. NO CRACK!
I live by myself, so of course, I gave slices of this cheesecake to a bunch of my friends over the few days after I baked it… two people have asked me, “if it’s not a big-deal old family secret or anything, can I PLEASE have the recipe for this awesome cheesecake?”
Ingredients :
Sugar Cookie Base:
½ cup butter, room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 ¼ cup flour
¼ cup rainbow sprinkles
Cheesecake Layer
4 (8 oz) bricks PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
Sprinkle Whipped Cream Garnish
½ cup heavy whipping cream
1 ½ Tbsp powdered sugar
2 Tbsp rainbow sprinkles
optional garnish – sugar cookie pieces.
Directions :
Preheat oven to 325°
Cookie Crust
Lightly spray a 9 “ springform pan with cooking spray, set aside.
Prepare crust first by beating butter and sugar together for 1-2 minutes until fluffy. Add in egg and vanilla, mixing until smooth. Add in salt and baking soda and mix until incorporated, scraping sides as necessary.
Finally add in flour until just combines and stir in sprinkles.
Press cookie dough into the bottom of prepared pan.
Cheesecake Filling
Clean mixing bowl and beat cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Add in vanilla and one egg at a time, mixing in between each until just combined. Don’t over-mix and don’t forget to scrape the sides and bottom of bowl during mixing.
Pour cream cheese mixture over cookie base.
Bake in oven for 55-60 minutes until center is almost set.
Remove from oven and allow to cool. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.
Whipped cream
When cheesecake is chilled you can make your whipped cream by mixing you heavy cream and powdered sugar in mixing bowl with whisk attachment until stiff peaks form. Add in sprinkles and mix until combined. Pipe or spread whipped cream on top of cheesecake, garnish with sugar cookies if desired.
