Published: Dec 3, 2022 · Updated: Dec 3, 2022 by Bea & Marco · This post may contain affiliate links · 166 Comments

Easy Cheesecake Recipe

Name: Easy Cheesecake
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 105 min
Ingredients: 3 cup digestive crumbs; 1/2 cup unsalted butter (, melted); 16 oz full fat cream cheese (, room temperature); 1 1/4 cup sour cream (, room temperature); 3/4 cup sugar; 3 tbsp all purpose flour; 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 3 large eggs (, room temperature); some berries of choice; some powdered sugar

Jump to Recipe

Inspired by Cheesecake Factory, this easy cheesecake recipe is a New York-style cheesecake that is rich, dense yet creamy, and not overly sweet, just like our amazing mini chocolate cheesecakes. Together with the sweet with a touch of the salty base, this is the cheesecake that you want to make to impress! And it's baked without the water bath method!

complete cooked cheesecake with mixed berries on a flat dark surface.

Save This Recipe!

We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!

Baking a cheesecake, more a big whole cheesecake like this is quite intimidating. Well, I'm here to tell you, it's not at all. It looks and sounds more difficult than it is.

This cheesecake is easy to make with just a handful of ingredients. Many of our readers who haven't even made cheesecakes before decided to try this recipe and it came out so successfully that they were so surprised! Now you know why this recipe is one of our readers' favorites, right? *wink!*

I'm going to share with you all my tips and tricks so you can make this amazing beauty with no problems.

Jump to:

Ingredients & Substitutions
Substitutions/Additions
Why This No Water Bath Method Works
How To Make Easy Cheesecake
Recipe Expert Tips
How To Serve & Store
Recipe FAQs
Explore Related Holiday Desserts
Watch The Recipe Video
📖 Recipe
💬 Comments

Ingredients & Substitutions

Biscuit crumbs - I love to use digestive biscuits as they are sweet but slightly salty. Perfect balance for the whole cheesecake. They're easy to find in Europe and despite the name, they're not horrible, at all! Trust me.

Cream cheese - Plain and full fat. Here in Europe, cream cheese comes in a tub instead of a brick. It doesn't matter how it comes, as long as it's plain and full fat, like when I use it for my creamy no-bake strawberry cheesecake and no-bake key lime pie.

Sour cream - Full fat. It's going to make the cheesecake's texture light and creamy, just like in my blueberry cheesecake bars.

All-purpose flour - It helps to get that dense yet creamy texture for this New York-style cheesecake. It also prevents the cheesecake from cracking, like in our cinnamon roll cheesecake.

See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.

Substitutions/Additions

SUBSTITUTION: Use graham crackers or any sweet biscuits (a touch of saltiness would be a bonus!).

SUBSTITUTION: Full-fat Greek yogurt works great also.

SUBSTITUTION: Any dry sweetener works great. You can even use brown sugar, or coconut sugar but just know that the cheesecake's color will be slightly darker. Don't use liquid sweetener as it will affect the cheesecake to set properly.

Chef's Tip: Don't use whipped cream cheese or the one for spreading.

Why This No Water Bath Method Works

Sliced easy cheesecake factory cheesecake.

Everybody says you need to use the water bath method when you bake a cheesecake or else it's going to puff up and crack. Well, guess what? That is totally wrong!

I've been making cheesecakes for years and never once have I used a water bath for my baked cheesecakes. I've made this big whole cinnamon roll cheesecake, pecan cheesecake bars, and our top hit mini cheesecakes (just to name a few) and regardless of their shape and sizes, none of them was made using the water bath.

I'm going to share with you my secrets on how to make baked cheesecakes without the water bath.

Less mixing - Mix the ingredients the least possible at every stage in the recipe. Mixing too much will incorporate air into the mixture and will make the cheesecake puff up while baking. And then as it cools down it's going to shrink and that different textures will cause the cheesecake to crack.
Low temperature - The most crucial part is not using the water bath for baked cheesecakes. We want to cook the cheesecake very slowly (mimicking the water bath cooking environment without the hassles). Not only the cheesecake will not crack but it will also have the smoothest texture.

How To Make Easy Cheesecake

Blend biscuits into a fine mixture, add butter, and mix. Pour into a 7-inch (18 cm) springform pan, and press to the base and the wall. Freeze for 30 minutes.
Using a handheld whisk on the lowest speed, whisk cream cheese until creamy.
Add in sour cream, vanilla extract, sugar, all-purpose flour, and lemon juice. Mix well.
In another bowl, lightly beat the eggs.
Pour the eggs into the cream cheese mixture and fold everything together using a spatula.
Bake in a preheated oven at 285ºF (140ºC), without the fan, on, on lower ⅔ rack, for 1 hour 45 minutes or until the edges have set and the center wiggles a bit when you lightly shake the pan. Cool completely at room temperature and chill for 8 hours. Decorate as you wish, slice, and serve!

Recipe Expert Tips

Make sure to use the ingredients at the temperature specified in this recipe. This is to make sure they mix easily with each other without having to mix too much. Mixing the ingredients too much will cause the cheesecake to crack.
Make sure to use the correct oven temperature. We want to bake the cheesecake at a very low temperature to avoid it from cracking. I always use a portable oven thermometer to avoid any problems. It's cheap by the way!
Chill the cheesecake for 8 hours to give it time to develop flavor with great texture. You won't regret it.

How To Serve & Store

Serve - Every great cheesecake needs time to develop that amazing flavor and texture. As much as you'd want to slice it once it cooled down, well don't. Chill it in the fridge for 8 hours, it's going to be worth it. Serve chilled. Don't leave the cheesecake outside of the fridge for too long (especially if you're in hot weather).

Store - In the fridge. It lasts up to 5 days. Freeze in portions (easier to grab the amount you need!) in an air-tight container. Frozen cheesecake lasts up to 2 months, although the texture could change slightly, especially the base. My family doesn't mind, so I freeze mine all the time. Thaw in the fridge.

Recipe FAQs

How long can I leave the cheesecake outside the fridge? I'm having a party and I want to showcase it!

I don't recommend having it outside the fridge for more than 20-30 minutes. It also depends on the temperature of your place (or where you're going to have the party). If it's cold or you're in winter, then it could be longer. If it's hot or you're in summer, then just take it out right before serving.

Why does my cheesecake puff up while baking?

It's because of these 2 reasons; the ingredients were over-mixed and the oven temperature was too high. Do refer to my tips above to easily solve this.

Why does my cheesecake crack? I follow all the ingredients and instructions.

If you didn't change any of the ingredients and follow all the instructions in the recipe, then the oven temperature was too high. Ovens are not made the same and their temperatures are mostly not accurate. That's why I use my portable oven temperature to get the correct temperature every time I'm using my oven.

Can I just slice the cheesecake when it has cooled down?

You can, yes. But why put so much effort just to rush it at the last step? Trust me, restrain yourself, it's going to be worth the wait.

My oven has the fan on by default, I can't switch it off. What do I do?

It's okay. Try reducing your oven temperature by 70ºF (20ºC).

How do I remove the cheesecake from the springform pan?

After 8 hours of chilling in the fridge, remove the springform part. Insert a small knife underneath the cheesecake crust and gently move it all around to help loosen the cheesecake from the pan. Using the same knife, lift the cheesecake a bit and insert a flat spatula underneath. Do the same in the opposite direction. Holding both spatulas, swiftly and confidently transfer the cheesecake to a serving plate.

If you tried this Easy Cheesecake or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the comments below!