Christmas Cheesecake from Lindsay McKenna

This is a dessert I make every Christmas Eve for my family. It’s simple and easy to whip up. This is a dessert we eat after dinner. Unlike other folks, we’ve always opened Christmas gifts on the night of the 24th.

We have a marvelous meal of stuffed turkey and of course, we’re busting at the seams because we ate too much! We then clear the dishes from the table, put them in our dishwasher. My husband David then goes to our Christmas tree and begins to parcel out the gifts to everyone. We spend lots of time opening them up.

By the time we’re done, we’re ready for dessert, coffee or tea. And the cheesecake is light and you can have a small sliver or a thick wedge, depending upon how much room you have in your tummy! This cheesecake has been a family tradition for 41 years in our family.

HOMEMADE CHEESE CAKE by Lindsay McKenna
www.lindsaymckenna.com

Ingredients:
3–8 oz of “Light” Philadelphia Cream Cheese
4 eggs
2 tbsp. vanilla
1 cup sugar (I use 1/2 cup and it’s fine…up to you but I like less sugar)

Directions:
Use 1 cup of crushed graham crackers.

Cream together sugar and cream cheese. Add eggs one a a time. Blend well after each addition. Add vanilla. Blend well.

Use a springform pan. Coat with 2-3 tbsp. butter (or olive oil spray). Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs (sides and bottom).

Pour batter in and bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes.

Cool 10 minutes. Then put on sour cream topping (below).

SOUR CREAM TOPPING

Ingredients
1 pint sour cream–light
6 tbsp, sugar
1 tbsp. of vanilla

Directions:
Beat until smooth and put on top of the cheesecake–put back in the oven for 10 minutes. Take out and put on a trivet to cool.

Cool 1 hour before putting in fridge and for several hours in the fridge. Top with cherry pie filling before slicing.


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