Cheese cake with Graham Cracker Crust

So here's the cheesecake i was cooking along with the shortbread thumbprints. I had alot of fun with this, but i still think it needs a little work on my part to get it just right. as forewarning once again, try not to multitask too much. you really need to watch this to prevent the cracking (whic

h you will see in my final photo), and alot of the accidents you can avoid. My springform started to leak and make the oven smoke, so my cheese cake was cooked unevenly and cracked because i had to take it out mid-cooking to prevent fire. I would suggest wrapping tin foil around the base, just to be safe.

Onward!

Cheese cake with Graham Cracker Crust

Graham Cracker Crust

What You Need:

• 6 tbsp butter, melted
• 24 graham crackers
• 1/4 cup sugar

1. In a small saucepan or the microwave, melt 6 tablespoons of butter.
2. Place about 24 graham crackers in a plastic bag. Roll with a rolling pin until finely crushed. This may be done in small batches.
3. Measure 1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs into a medium bowl.
4. Add 1/4 cup of sugar to the graham crackers.
5. Add the melted butter.
6. Stir or blend together with your hands
7. Press into the pie plate or other pan.
8. To pre-bake the pie crust, bake for 8 to 10 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F. oven.

Tips:

1. Add a little cinnamon, nutmeg, or allspice to the crumbs for a spiced flavor.

Classic Cheesecake

4 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

4 eggs

HEAT oven to 325°F.

BEAT cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and vanilla with mixer until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust.

BAKE 55 min. or until center is almost set. Loosen cake from rim of pan; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate 4 hours.

Dont try to remove the spring form outer edge too soon or it will harm the cheesecake. let it cool a little bit on the counter, then put it in the fridge to let it chill. Leaving it in overnight is probably for the best. Also, really, don't try to mix this by hand, i tried, and failed miserably. use a fork, if you dont have a hand or standing mixer, and go slowly. As you can see from my picture, i added all the eggs at once, that was a reading error on my part, so try to read all of this slowly and get everything in where its supposto be.
Have fun!
Morgan~