The Easiest Cheesecake Ever!

It's not exactly new, but I made this delicious cheesecake last weekend for my husband's birthday dinner at his special request. I first found the recipe in an issue of Real Simple, but it can also be found on Kraft's website here. You will need the following ingredients (notice NONE of mine are name brand! They all came from Aldi!):

• 40 (ish) vanilla cookies
• 3 T butter
• 4 bricks cream cheese
• 1 tub whipped topping
• 3/4 c + 1/4 c sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 T + 1 t vanilla

Set your cream cheese and whipped topping out to soften. Make your crust by melting the butter and crushing 40 or so vanilla crackers. (As you can see, I had help! He can only count to 20 though, so he started eating them after that...)

I used a food processor to crush the cookies, but I put all of them in at one time, which resulted in both powder and big chunks of cookie. I think if I had put the cookies in in shifts instead of all at once, it would have been more even. Once the cookies are crushed, combine with the melted butter and press into the bottom of a spring-form pan.

After your cream cheese has softened, place three bricks of cream cheese, 3/4 c sugar, and the tablespoon of vanilla in the mixer and beat. Add the eggs one at a time. (I also had help for this step!)

Once the eggs are mixed in, pour the mixture over the crust and place in the oven at 325º for 50 to 55 minutes. While it's baking, wash your mixing bowl and beaters, because it will soon be time for the mousse topping!

Once the center is set, remove the cheesecake from the oven and let cool completely in the pan.

To make the mousse, beat together the remaining brick of cream cheese, 1/4 c sugar, and teaspoon of vanilla. Fold in the whipped topping once the mixture has come together. (I misread the directions and beat the whipped topping in with the cream cheese. This of course did not affect the taste, but the texture was lumpier than I would have liked.) Spread over the cheesecake once the it has cooled completely.

Chill and serve!

Take Aways:

• My husband loves this recipe. In fact, we were enjoying leftovers last night and he said he thought it might be the best he's ever had - even better than that restaurant with "cheesecake" in the name! That tells you how good this recipe is!
• The food processor is great for crushing the cookies, but smaller shifts of cookies will make for a less crumbly crust.
• Don't beat the whipped cream in with the cream cheese for the mousse! It creates lumps. :(