3 Cheesecake Recipes

I love to eat cheesecake and so I thought I would share a few recipes with you. I hope you like them! :)

3-step Cheesecake

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

½ cup sugar

½ tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

1 graham cracker pie crust (6 oz.)

Heat oven to 325°F.

1.     Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs; mix just until blended.

2.     Pour into crust.

3.     Bake 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. Garnish as desired. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Fudge Cheesecake

1 ½ cups vanilla wafer crumbs, (about 45 wafers, crushed)

½ cup powdered sugar

¼ cup cocoa

1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted

3 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

¾ cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

1/3 cup sour cream

3 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. vanilla extract

¼ tsp. salt

1 cup dark chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

1 cup peanut butter chips, melted

Hershey’s Fudge Topping (optional)

Whipped cream (optional)

1.     Heat oven to350°F. Combine vanilla wafer crumbs, powdered sugar, cocoa and melted butter in medium bowl. Press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of 9-inch springform pan. Bake 8 minutes; cool.

2.     Beat cream cheese and granulated sugar in large bowl until smooth. Add eggs, sour cream, flour, vanilla and salt; beat until well blended.

3.     Place half of batter in separate bowl. Stir melted chocolate into one bowl of cream cheese mixture and melted peanut butter chips into the other. Spread chocolate mixture in prepared crust. Gently spread peanut butter mixture over chocolate mixture. Do not stir.

4.     Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until center is almost set. Remove from oven to wire rack. With knife, loosen cake from side of pan. Cool completely; remove side of pan. Cover; refrigerate.

5.     To serve, drizzle each slice with fudge topping and top with whipped cream, if desired. Cover; refrigerate leftover cheesecake.

Blueberry No-Bake Cheesecake

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

6 tbsp. margarine, melted

1 cup sugar, divided

4 pkg. (8 oz. each) Philadelphia Neufchatel Cheese, 1/3 less fat than cream cheese, softened

½ cup blueberry preserves

Grated zest from 1 lemon

1 pkg. (16 oz.) frozen strawberries, thawed, drained

1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip Lite Whipped Topping, thawed

1.     Mix crumbs, margarine and ¼ cup of sugar; press firmly onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan. Refrigerate while preparing filling.

2.     Beat Neufchatel cheese and remaining ¾ cup sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add preserves and lemon zest, mix until blended. Stir in blueberries. Gently stir in whipped topping. Spoon over crust; cover.

3.     Refrigerate 4 hours or until firm. Garnish as desired. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

How to make it with fresh blueberries:

Place 2 cups blueberries in small bowl with 2 tbsp. sugar; mash with fork. Add to Neufchatel cheese mixture; continue as directed.