Friday Food Craft: Cheesecake

I know some of you may be running to hide at the mere mention of cheesecake. It is something that I myself always considered too difficult to tackle. When you see recipes on tv and in books it usually involves spring form pans, water baths and more. Let's face it, I'm not always down for the theatrics. This recipe came from my friend Melissa whom got it right off of a cream cheese box years ago. I can't figure out why they stopped printing this recipe on the box, it's amazing. Better still? There are 4 ingredients in the actual cheesecake portion of this cheesecake. Best? It's probably the creamiest, most delicious cheesecake I have ever had!

So how do you make this amazing cheesecake? For starters you will need:

2 8oz. packages of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 whole eggs

You also need a graham cracker crust. Here's fantastic Holiday news: feel free to go out and buy one pre-made. If that doesn't suit you, you can use the graham cracker crust recipe listed on my Mounds Bars recipe.

Heat your oven to 325 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, or stand mixer, beat together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until well combined. Add in your eggs, one at a time, beating until fully incorporated after each. You should end up with a very smooth creamy "batter".

Pour your batter onto your graham cracker crust and smooth. Bake in 325 degree oven for 40 minutes, until center is ALMOST set (it will continue to bake slightly while cooling, do not worry if it looks a little runny to you, I thought the same but it came out perfect). Place on cooling rack and allow to cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. I refrigerated mine overnight (with visions of cheesecake dancing in my head).

That's it! You will have a perfectly moist and creamy cheesecake with no hassle :)

Serve plain or with fruit topping (you could also get really awesome and make a caramel or chocolate sauce!).