It was my daughter Courtney’s birthday a couple of weeks ago and she requested cheesecake instead of a birthday cake so I gave it a shot and it came out pretty good!  I don’t love cheesecake so don’t make it ever but this one was easy to make and tasted heavenly!  It wasn’t too cheesy tasting and it was light and fluffy in texture.  I will definitely make it again.

crust

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

5 tablespoons sugar

1/3 cup melted butter

filling

3 (8 oz each) packages cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 eggs, separated

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla

1  Preheat oven to 325.

2  For the crust, combine all crust ingredients and press against sides and bottom of 9″ springform pan.  (A measuring cup makes this really easy to do.)

3  For the filling, beat together cream cheese, sugar, 4 egg yolks, lemon juice and vanilla until well combined.

4  In another bowl, beat 4 egg whites until stiff and creamy.  Fold egg whites into cream cheese mixture.  Pour into crust in pan.

5  Bake for 35 minutes.  Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven for another hour with the door closed.

6  Freeze several hours before serving.  Remove from freezer and remove from pan before allowing cheesecake to thaw.

recipe from Plain Chicken