If you know anything about me, my favorite of all desserts are cheesecakes. I cannot explain my love for the creamy, sweet and thick center paired with the crunchy foundation of the crust; then there's the toppings which can be anything your heart desires.
I love cheesecakes of all kinds, including no bake, cheesecake parfaits, baked, store bought, homemade, you name it! What I particularly love about these cheesecakes are how simple they are to make, they are basically no fail, take little time to bake and cool, and needs no water bath!
A typical baked cheesecake is best when a water bath is used, and also takes quite a while to bake along with specific temperature changed to ensure no cracking. We will be baking these at 350 F and they can be removed immediately after baking, reducing cooling time.
Let's jump right into this delicious recipe, we hope you enjoy them as much as we do! We hope they can become a staple on your dinner table and during your holiday season.
1. Pre-heat oven 20 350 degrees F
2. Run graham crackers through a food processor until they become fine crumbs, or place graham crackers in a sealed bag and using a rolling pin crunch crackers until fine crumbs.
3. Add ground cinnamon and mix well with the crumbs.
4. Pour in butter over crumbs and mix well until it looks like wet sand.
5. Line cupcake pan with liners.
6. Add in 2 tablespoons of your crumbs into each cupcake liner.
7. Using the back of a measuring cup press down crumbs to make an even layer.
. With cream cheese at room temperature, crema together using a hand, or stand mixer. You can also you a whisk. Cream well until nice and smooth.
6. Add in sweetened condensed milk and mix well until thoroughly combined.
7. Add in zest of one lemon, juice of one lemon, vanilla and sour cream. Mix and cream until everything is combined. You can also substitute for 1 teaspoon of lemon extract for the lemon extract and juice. Mix well.
8. Add in one egg at a time and mix until incorporated. Do not overmix your eggs.
9. Place into oven at 350 F for 18 minutes.
10. Remove and set aside to cool completely before refrigerating.
11. After cooling, serve with canned fruit (I used canned strawberry filling), fresh fruit, caramel syrup, whipped cream, fruit compote or any topping of your choice.