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As my sister put it, “This is better than the Cheesecake Factory!” I’m a huge cheesecake fan and this is the best cheesecake recipe I’ve tried.
The texture is amazingly smooth and the semi-tart blueberry topping is a perfect match! It’s simple to make and difficult to screw up.
This recipe was inspired by Ina Garten’s Cheesecake. I hope you give it a try!
Watch How To Make Cheesecake Video:
Ingredients for The Crust –
1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (I use “Honey Maid” crumbs – it’s cheaper & easier. Or you can use 10 crackers)
6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) melted, unsalted butter
1 Tbsp sugar
Ingredients for The Cheesecake –
2 ½ lb cream cheese (5 blocks – 8oz each) at room temperature
1 ½ cups sugar
¼ cup sour cream
7 whole large eggs (at room temp)
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
Ingredients for Blueberry Sauce:
This is based on our popular blueberry topping recipe (which is so good over breakfast and dessert!)
4 cups frozen blueberries
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp sugar
What you will need :
A springform pan where the sides loosen and the bottom comes out.
How to Make this Cheesecake Recipe:
Preheat the oven to 350°F
Crust: combine1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs, 1 Tbsp sugar and 6 Tbsp melted butter – mix well. Pour into a 9 or 9 ½ inch springform pan (see picture above). Use a large spoon to press the crumbs evenly into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.
Cheesecake Filling:
Raise oven temp to 450°F and place rack in bottom third of oven.
1. Mix 5 blocks (8oz each) of cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups of sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium-high speed using paddle attachment (or use an electric hand mixer).
2. Mix until light and fluffy (5 minutes), scrape the bowl down as necessary so you don’t get chunks of cream cheese.
3. Reduce the speed to medium and add 7 eggs, one at a time.
4. Reduce speed to low and add 1/4 cup of sour cream and 1 ½ tsp of vanilla.
5. Mix well and pour into crust.
How to Bake the Cheesecake:
Place oven rack in the bottom 1/3. (Put the center rack 1 level lower than the center. In my oven, I had the rack on the third position. If it’s too close to the top, it will brown too quickly). Bake 15 minutes at 450°F.
Without opening the oven door, Reduce oven temperature to 225 °F and bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes until the center is almost set. Try not to open the oven door because you will lose heat that way and it won’t bake properly and may crack.
Remove cheesecake from the oven and cool cake to room temperature, then refrigerate until fully chilled.
When ready to serve the cheesecake, carefully run a butter knife around the sides of the cake. Unlatch and remove the springform pan. Serve the cake on the base of the pan.
Berry Sauce:
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine 2 Tbsp sugar, 1/4 cup water, 2 tsp cornstarch and 1 Tbsp lemon juice. As soon as it starts to thicken, add 4 cups of blueberries and cook until lightly bubbly. Don’t boil. Let cool to room temp and spread on top of the cheesecake when serving. You can make this sauce ahead of time and serve the next day as well.
This recipe is great for parties and is sure to please. Enjoy!
You also will like this No Bake Cheesecake with Strawberries
Notes: Ina makes her cheesecake recipe by adding 1 tablespoon of grated lemon zest to the cream cheese filling; but I like the original flavor of cheesecake.
Easy Cheesecake Recipe with Blueberry Topping (No Water Bath Required!)
Ingredients
The Crust -
- 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
- 6 Tbsp 3/4 stick melted, unsalted butter
- 1 Tbsp sugar
The Cheesecake –
- 2 ½ lb cream cheese, 5 blocks - 8oz each at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 7 whole large eggs, at room temp
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
Blueberry Sauce:
- 4 cups frozen blueberries
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp sugar
What you will need :
- A springform pan where the sides loosen and the bottom comes out.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F
Crust:
- Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter – mix well. Pour into a 9 or 9 ½ inch springform pan. Use a large spoon to press the crumbs evenly into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.
Cheesecake filling:
Increase oven temp to 450°F. Place oven rack in the bottom 1/3. (Put the center rack 1 level lower than the center. In my oven, I had the rack on the third position. If it's too close to the top, it will brown too quickly).
- Mix the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium-high speed using paddle attachment (or use an electric hand mixer).
- Mix until light and fluffy (5 minutes), scrape the bowl down as necessary so you don't get chunks of cream cheese.
- Reduce the speed to medium and add eggs, 1 at a time.
- Reduce speed to low and add sour cream and vanilla.
- Mix well and pour into crust.
Baking Instructions:
- Bake 15 minutes at 450°F.
- Without opening the oven door, Reduce oven temperature to 225 °F and bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes until the center is almost set. Try not to open the oven door because you will lose heat that way and it won't bake properly and may crack.
- Remove cheesecake from the oven and cool cake to room temperature, then refrigerate until fully chilled.
- When ready to serve the cheesecake, carefully run a butter knife around the sides of the cake. Unlatch and remove the springform pan. Serve the cake on the base of the pan.
Berry Sauce:
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, water, cornstarch and lemon juice. As soon as it starts to thicken, add blueberries and cook until lightly bubbly. Don’t boil. Let cool to room temp and spread on top of the cheesecake when serving. You can make this sauce ahead of time and serve the next day as well. This recipe is great for parties and is sure to please. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you want to remove the cake from the springform pan, you can place a ring of parchment paper on the bottom.
- To prevent leaks from the springform pan while baking, wrap a piece of foil under the outside of the pan.
This recipe was fantastic. This was my first attempt at making cheesecake. It was a hit. The sauce turned out ok. I made the mistake of thickening the sauce with more cornstarch. First day it was okay, but the it sat in refrigerator, it really thickend up. The next time, I will follow the recipe to a T. I am looking forward to trying more recipes.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂 Music to my ears 🙂
Im so excited to make this cheese cake. Have evrything prepped but the eggs. Is an absolute must to have eggs room temp? Please help!
You can get the eggs to room temp by putting them in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes. Easy 🙂
N.m about the previous message. I let eggs sit in warm water. Cheese cake is baking anf im sure will turn out amazing just like all ur other recipe 🙂
I hope you LOVE it!! Now I’m craving cheesecake. Thankfully my cream cheese isn’t softened and I can’t make a cheesecake tonight! lol
I baked 4 cheesecakes this past Thursday for my son’s rehearsal dinner Friday evenin and used this recipe as the basis for all of them. One I made with the blueberry sauce per the recipe. Another I made and swirled fresh raspberries and blackberries on top. Both of these I added the lemon zest to the batter. For the last two, I added an extra layer of chocolate on the crust after I cooked and cooled the graham cracker crust and put it back in to cook a bit more before cooling it and putting the cheesecake in. The first one I added 10 tsp. of unsweetened cocoa to the batter, cooked and cooled down, and topped it with real whipped cream and chopped Andes mints before serving. (I left 8 whole to put on top so people knew what it was topped with!) The last one was a regular cheesecake (remember the graham cracker crust was topped with an extra layer of chocolate) and I made a chocolate genache for the top. Before serving this one I piled it high with fresh raspberries and mint leaves. As the mother of the groom, the rave reviews I got from the meal paled with the reviews from the cheesecakes! They not only looked fantastic but tasted incredibly delightful!
Wow those sound incredible. You are so creative! I’d love to see a picture of them if you have it posted online somewhere!
Hi making cheesecake now ? How long should it be in the frige? Thank u
It can take few hours to cool, its best to leave it in the fridge overnight :).
Making this today super excited!!!!!!!!!
I would love to hear how it turns out :), hope you like it.
Hi, i cant adjust the temperature of my oven once i open it, the temperature usually goes up. So i cant set the temperature for 1 hr @ 225°F. Can i just use water bath instead? thank u 🙂
I haven’t tried that method do I’m not sure how it would change the baking time. Make sure to bake it until its nearly set.
Hi there, if I’m making a half batch (for my hubby and I) how long should I bake it for? Thanks!!!
Oooh I haven’t tested that to tell you exactly. It should be nearly set in the center and no longer jiggly 🙂
It is the best cheesecake! Will be making it again for Father’s Day, next weekend. I was able to make 2 cheesecakes from this recipe 🙂
I like that idea; two shorter cheesecakes. mmm.. cheesecake!
i would like to share my all time favorite cheesecake! and it IS very delicious.
4 creamcheese pkgs
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup four
5 eggs
2 cups (16oz.) sourcream
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
mix everything in order and bake 350F for one hour or more. cake is fluffy and really really tasty.
choose your topping, my favorite is cherry. ..enjoy!
I just printed it off. Thank you!!
It turned out really good!
I’ll try it with real graham crackers next time to compare.
So the cheesecake itself is supposed end up being super fluffy and soft inside, right? I haven’t had very many cheesecakes to know;) lol
Yes and it’s supposed to be vet moist and creamy at the same time 🙂
Hi I was gonna make this cheesecake until I realized I didn’t have any gram crackers! But I do have the cheesecake crust already premade from the store. Would it be the same if I used that instead?
It should work, but homemade is always best :). Let me know how it turns out :).
Just wanted to let you know that the cheesecake came out incredible! It rose perfectly and didn’t have too many cracks- I couldn’t believe how light and fluffy it came out! Paired with the scrumptious blueberry topping, this was an overall success. Thank you so much for all the recipes you post, your blog has really changed my whole view on cooking/baking and it’s honestly been a huge blessing in many ways. God Bless! 🙂
You are so sweet Anna, thank you for such a nice comment :). Im glad you loved the cake.
Hi! I don’t have a paddle attachment for my KitchenAid electric mixer, is it ok if I use a whisk instead or will that incorporate too much air?
You can use whisk attachment on medium speed. Let me know how it turns out :).
I made this cheesecake for my husband a few nights ago when his brother was coming over for dinner and my husband is very particular about his cheesecake and he LOVED it so he requested I make it again and it’s been only 3 days since the last one “disappeared”. Thank you so much! : )
Awesome, I’m glad everyone love the cake Yuliya :).
Hi Natasha, For how long does it have to stay in fridge before serving.
Just until it’s cold :).
Natasha, I would like to share a few tips… Don’t beat the cream cheese too much, or else you incorporate too much air and the cake will crack. Also try to separate the egg whites from the yolks. Beat the egg whites until frothy and gently fold them into the cream cheese mixture with a spatula.
Thank you for the tips, I will have to try those next time :).
Hi Natasha! I was planning to make this tomorrow, but I have a 10-inch pan instead of 9 or 9.5. What adjustments should I make to the recipe? Thanks in advance 🙂
Natasha thank so much for the recipe! Made it yesterday, it is absolutely delicious. The only thing for me using 5 packs of creamcheese was too much for my 9 inch springform pan. I will use 4 next time, so how many eggs do you think I should use, 6 or 5? TIA
Your springform pan must have been shorter than mine. I’d probably try 6 eggs or 5 eggs plus an extra yolk. Also use 1 1/4 cups of sugar. Hope that helps! Your cheesecake may cook a little faster since it’s smaller.
Thank you!!!
Hello,
I have made this cheesecake several times and i love it!
But the last couple of times it has been cracking in the middle and sometimes along the edges, why do you think it does that? It didn’t before : )
Thanks!
Are you opening the oven before its done baking?
Hi Natasha! I’m planning to make this tomorrow. Would putting a dish with water in the oven while it’s baking prevent it from getting cracks in it? Would I need to adjust temp or cooking time due to the water? Please help!
I haven’t tried that method. My best advice is do not open the oven till the very end! 🙂
Are you making two cakes or one cake with two jello layers?