CrockPot Cheesecake Recipe

Day 188.

I've never made a cheesecake before; I always thought it sounded complicated. I'm a pretty picky cheesecake eater, I hate it to be dried out, and I don't want the cheesey part to be too thick. I like a bit of crust in every bite.

Jennifer P. asked quite a while ago if I thought cheesecake could be made in the crockpot, and at the time I honestly didn't know.

Now, I know! Yes! You can totally make cheesecake in the crockpot, and you should.

The Ingredients.
Adapted from a recipe given to me by Anna, at Cookie Madness

Crust

- 1 cup graham cracker crumbs (I used Mi-Del gluten free Arrowroot Cookies)
- 2 T brown sugar
- 3 T melted butter

Filling

- 16 oz cream cheese, room temperature (I nuked mine for 30 seconds to get it soft)
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature (I put the eggs in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes)
- 1/4 cup heavy cream (mmm. cream.)
- 1 t good vanilla
- 1 T flour (I used Pamela's. It didn't make it into the picture)

Directions.

Find a heat-resistant dish that will fit into your crockpot for the cheesecake. You are going to create a bain marie, or water bath. I used a 1.5 qt Corning Ware dish and it fit nicely into 6qt oval. I tried a round cake pan in a 4 qt round, and that fit too. But I opted for my 6qt, because I'm more comfortable with how it heats.

In a plastic zipper bag, beat the animal crackers into crumbs with a rolling pin. Put a cup of the crumbs into a medium bowl, and add melted butter and brown sugar. Stir until it's wet and crumby. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the dish you are going to use.

In a separate bowl, cream the cheese, sugar, eggs, flour, cream, and vanilla with a hand-mixer. Unless you have one of those fancy Kitchen Aids. Then use that. Pour the cheese mixture on top of the crust. Lick the bowl.

Add 1/2 to 1 cup of water to the bottom of your crockpot. Lower the dish inside, being careful to not slosh water into your cheesecake.

Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours. Check after 1 hour, just in case. The cheesecake is done when the edges are no longer shiny and have set. Touch lightly to see that you don't get a bunch of stuff on your finger---then you know it's done. My cheesecake wasn't perfectly set in the middle, but I unplugged the crock anyhow.

I cooked it for exactly 2 hours. Let the cheesecake sit in the cooling crockpot for an hour, before removing and transferring to the refrigerator. Chill in the refrigerator for about 2 hours before cutting and serving.

The Verdict.

wow. This was a complete success. I couldn't get enough. I had weird hallucinations of being a cross between Homer Simpson "Mmmm. Cheesecake." and Rose from the Golden Girls "nothing can't be fixed with cheesecake."

I was quite pleased that the texture was moist and gooey, yet perfectly set and just like a good quality cheesecake. We had this for dessert on Fourth of July.

so very awesome.