The Best Homemade Cheesecake – get the secret for the lightest and fluffiest cheesecake ever! Graham cracker crust, cream cheese, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and lemon juice. Super easy to make and everyone raves about it! Once you taste it you will know why!
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Pin This RecipeHomemade Cheesecake with No Water Bath
I’ve been making this cheesecake for years. The recipe came from a parent when my Mom taught school. This is truly The Best Homemade Cheesecake recipe on the planet! Chicken Legs says this is the best dessert that I make. He said other desserts I’ve made are good, but this is the absolute best!
What makes this cheesecake so great? It has a super light and fluffy texture. How does it get that way? The egg yolks are beaten in with the cream cheese and then the whipped egg whites are folded into the batter. That makes all the difference.
How to Make The Best Homemade Cheesecake
This dessert is easy to make with only a few simple ingredients. In a bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Pour graham cracker mixture into a springform pan. Using a measuring cup or bottom of a glass, press the crumbs into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Wrap the bottom of the pan with aluminum foil and set aside.
Place cream cheese in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add sugar and mix until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add egg yolks, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Mix well.
In a large bowl, beat egg whites with a hand mixer on high speed until stiff and creamy. Carefully fold the egg whites into the cheesecake batter. Pour batter into the crust. Bake cheesecake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes. Turn off the oven and keep the oven door closed. Leave the cheesecake in the oven for an hour. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and cool it on a wire rack. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and freeze for several hours before serving.
Helpful Tips & Frequently Asked Questions
- For best results have your ingredients at room temperature before making the cheesecake.
- You can use any cookie crumbs for the crust.
- Chocolate cookies, biscoff cookies, or gingersnaps are all delicious.
- If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can use a hand mixer.
- Do I have to freeze the cheesecake? It is best to freeze the cheesecake, but you can refrigerate the cheesecake overnight before serving if you don’t want to freeze it.
- It is VERY IMPORTANT to thoroughly chill the cake before serving. If you do not freeze or refrigerate the cake it will be too soft.
- The cheesecake needs to chill to properly set up.
- Take the cheesecake out of the freezer 30 minutes to an hour before serving.
- You can thaw the cake on the countertop or overnight in the refrigerator.
- Run a knife around the edge of the springform pan to help release the cake and prevent cracks.
- The cheesecake will keep up to 3 months in the freezer wrapped in plastic wrap and aluminum foil.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
How to Seve The Best Cheesecake Recipe
This classic cheesecake recipe is our absolute favorite dessert! My family and friends request this for cookouts, birthdays, and holidays. It tastes amazing! Top your slice with some fresh whipped cream, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, or cherry pie filling. We usually just eat it plain. Either way, this is sure to become your favorite cheesecake recipe!
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The Best Homemade Cheesecake
Ingredients:
Crust
- 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
- 5 Tbsp sugar
- ⅓ cup melted butter
Filling
- 3 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened
- 1½ cups sugar
- 4 eggs separated
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 325ºF.
Crust
- Combine all ingredients and press against sides and bottom of 9-inch springform pan. (I use a measuring cup to do this – works great!)
Filling
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy.
- Add sugar, 4 egg yolks, lemon juice and vanilla. Mix until well combined.
- In another bowl, beat 4 egg whites until stiff and creamy. Fold egg whites into cream cheese mixture. Pour into crust in the springform pan.
- Bake for 35 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven for another hour with the door closed.
- Remove the cake from the oven and cool. Wrap the pan with plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze for several hours, up to 3 months, before serving.
- Remove from freezer and remove from pan before allowing the cheesecake to thaw.
Notes:
- Do I have to freeze the cheesecake? It is best to freeze the cheesecake, but you can refrigerate the cheesecake overnight before serving if you don’t want to freeze it.
- It is VERY IMPORTANT to thoroughly chill the cake before serving. If you do not freeze or refrigerate the cake it will be too soft.
- The cheesecake needs to chill to properly set up.
- Take the cheesecake out of the freezer 30 minutes to an hour before serving.
- You can thaw the cake on the countertop or overnight in the refrigerator.
- Run a knife around the edge of the springform pan to help release the cake and prevent cracks.
- The cheesecake will keep up to 3 months in the freezer wrapped in plastic wrap and aluminum foil.
- For best results have your ingredients at room temperature before making the cheesecake.
- You can use any cookie crumbs for the crust.
- Chocolate cookies, biscoff cookies, or gingersnaps are all delicious.
- If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can use a hand mixer.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Steph
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Has anyone made with Splenda? My hubby is a diabetic and was wondering did it still turn out o-k
I've never tried this with Splenda – I don't bake with Splenda, so I am not sure how it would turn out.
Use the Baking Splenda. I really do not like the melting stuff, bleah… The baking splenda does have sugar, but not as much. Hey, it looks like sugar, so…it does hae a better taste and it is made for baking. I did use this when my hubs was sick. Prednesone made his sgar skyrocket.
Use the Baking Splenda, it's the granulated kind. It is really good. Half the sugar, still has some, but much better than the "melty" stuff. Tried it in cheese cakes. Good.
This looks very good. I have it in the oven right now. How long before serving do you take the cheesecake out of the freezer?
Hi
do you hv any photo to show the egg white became stiff and creamy? Or how long do we need to beat?
what kind of graham crackers did u use? is honey flavor ok?
I've used honey graham with cinnamon in another similar recipe. It was no problem at all.
Wow, this looks fabulous! I love the plain look of it, but there's nothing plain about it! Mmmmmm!!
Hi! Could you tell me please how many grams of graham cracker crumbs, butter and cream cheese?
Can we use other pan than springfoam type?
Sorry, if I post twice…lost my preview on log in. Beyond "light and fluffy"…is this cake dry and crumbly or smooth and creamy? Smooth & creamy (just slimy, to me) seems to be the preference these days, and I can never find a recipe to make the older, dry style.
I don't like those cheesecakes that feel like I'm eating a stick of butter either. This is creamy, but not slimy. So happy to have come across the recipe.
Hi Steph. I have never made a cheesecake before and I am not a fan of lemon. Can I make this without the lemon juice?
It doesn't have a lemon flavor at all. I've never made it without the lemon juice, but you can certainly try it.
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I have been making cheesecake for years. My daughter found this recipe and it was so good. Now I make it and it’s the best vanilla cheesecake that I have eaten.
I've only recently realised that all the recipes that I had placed in my zip list are forever gone! What a disaster….and pinterest is too much. I tried it and forget it! So good luck with that…….they might just do a zip/zip too.
Dear Steph, That is a beautiful looking cheesecake and I bet it is delicious!! I do love cheesecake.
Happy and Blessed New Year. xo Catherine
Oh I must try this! Cheesecake is my favorite dessert – with strawberries on top 🙂 I love that you can freeze it and have it on hand or ready for the holidays. I've made the Cook's Illustrated cheesecake and it was perfect, but this sounds a lot easier.
Thanks for sharing.
Is the cheesecake going into the freezer while still warm? Freezing is required? This looks divine!! 🙂
I do out the cheesecake in the freezer while it is slightly warm. I have always frozen it, so I think it is required. You can eat it without freezing and see how it goes. I can't make any promises since I've never done it that way.
Looks great! Did you use a water bath for the cheesecake?
I did not. I cooked it exactly as I wrote above.
I loved it! I did it without freezing it, just refrigerated it for the day, we ate it that night!
I’ve been using this for a while, but wondering if it’s possible to bake as a 6″ if so how long?
I’ve only made the recipe as written. Any changes to the recipe will be up to you.
I love plain, un-topped cheesecake and this looks very good from here.