Pop’s Favorite Cheesecake

This is another family recipe, from my grandmother. It was my grandfather’s favorite cheesecake. It’s a pretty simple recipe, and it tastes amazing. Feel free to garnish with any fresh fruit, fruit compote, or even caramel or chocolate if you like!

Or, you know, plain. However you serve it, it’s a super-light cheesecake (not nearly as dense as many cheesecakes) that’s also incredibly delicious.

Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

· 2 ¼ cups crushed graham crackers, separated

· 3 t butter

· 1 ½ cup sugar

· 3 8oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature

· 1 1/2 t vanilla

· 4 eggs

· 1 ½ pints sour cream

Directions

You’re going to need a springform pan for this one.

Grease the inside and bottom of the pan with butter (not the butter in the ingredients) and then take ¼ cup of the crushed graham crackers and dust the inside of it. Basically, it’s the equivalent of buttering and flouring the pan, but instead of flour we’re using graham crackers.

Melt the butter in a bowl, add in the remaining 2 cups of crushed graham crackers and mix. Press the mixture onto the bottom and sides of the springform pan and set that aside.

Add the sugar and cream cheese into a bowl (I just used the same one – one less bowl to clean) and beat with your hand mixer until well combined. Add in the vanilla and beat again, then add in the 4 eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.

Finally, take the sour cream and fold that into the mixture, mixing until everything is just combined. Don’t use your mixer for this step – just use a wooden spoon. You want to be gentle here. Pour the batter into your prepared pan.

Bake at 350 for 50 minutes. After 50 minutes turn off the oven but do not open the oven and do not take the cheesecake out. Leave it in the oven for another 2 hours.

After two hours, take it out of the oven and let it cool on a wire rack. Store in the fridge until you’re ready to serve!