Lemon Cheesecake Recipe

Monday, September 24, 2018
Creamy Lemon Cheesecake recipe is family favorite for Thanksgiving and Christmas from Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch.

All I can say is this Tall and Creamy Lemon Cheesecake is to die for! Enough said!

It's lusciously smooth, tall, and an amazing creamy texture. I have made a lot and I mean a lot of cheesecake recipes over the years. I definitely rate this Tall and Creamy Lemon Cheesecakes as one of the all time best Cheesecakes ever! 

This recipe was adapted from Dori Greenspan. I absolutely adore her cook book.

If you love lemon and cheesecake you must make this Tall and Creamy Lemon Cheesecake!

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To make the crust combined:
  • 1 3/4 cup Fine Graham Cracker Crumbs
  • 3 tablespoons Sugar
  • A Generous Pinch of Salt. 
Slowly drizzle in 1/2 cup melted butter to coat crumbs evenly.

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Grease a 9 inch spring form pan with at least 3 inch sides with butter. Wrap bottoms and sides of pan with a double layer of aluminum foil.

Add graham cracker mixture to pan and use a measuring cup to press crumbs across the bottom and up the sides of the pan.

Bake in a 350 degree oven on a baking sheet for 10 minutes.

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Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.

In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat 32 ounces Room Temperature Cream Cheese for 5 minutes, until creamy and smooth. 

Scrape down sides of bowl and slowly add 1 1/3 cup Sugar and 1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt, while mixer is running.

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Add Lemon Zest from a whole lemon, and beat another 5 minutes, until creamy.

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While beating add 2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract.

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While mixing add 4 whole Room Temperature Eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly between each addition.

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Scrape down sides of bowl and add 1 1/3 cup Greek Yogurt and Lemon Juice from 1 lemon. Mix on low speed until smooth and thoroughly combined.

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It will look smooth and luscious. Pour batter into foil lined spring form pan with pre-baked crust.

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Place cheesecake into pan a little larger then the spring form pan. Pour enough hot water to come half way up the sides of the pan.

Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Turn off oven and prop oven door open. 

Leave cheesecake in water bath for 1 hour.

Carefully remove cheesecake out of larger pan, remove aluminum foil and place on cooling rack until room temperature. 

Cover and refrigerate cheesecake overnight before serving.

Other favorite Cheesecake recipes you might like are: 


Cheesecake, Lemon, Tall and Creamy, Dessert, Cream Cheese, Recipe, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Holiday, Easter,
Cheesecake, Lemon Cheesecake, Recipe, Dessert, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Holiday
American
Yield: 12 ServingsPin it

Lemon Cheesecake Recipe

Lemon Cheesecake recipe is tall and creamy making this a family favorite cheesecake for Thanksgiving and Christmas from Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch.
4.8 out of 5 based on 8 user ratings
prep time: 30 minscook time: 2 hour and 30 minstotal time: 2 hours and 60 mins

ingredients:

Graham Cracker Crust
  • 1 3/4 cup Fine Graham Cracker Crumbs
  • 3 tablespoons Sugar
  • 1 generous pinch Salt
  • 1/4 cup Butter, Melted
Lemon Cheesecake Filling
  • 32 ounce Cream Cheese, Room Temperature
  • 1 1/3 cup Sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
  • 2 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 4 whole Eggs, At Room Temperature
  • 1 1/3 cup Greek Yogurt
  • 1 whole Large Lemon, Zested And Juiced

instructions

Graham Cracker Crust
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and sea salt. Slowly drizzle in butter until crumbs are well coated.
  3. Butter a 9 inch by 3 inch springform pan with butter. Cover the bottom and sides with a double layer of aluminum foil.
  4. Add graham cracker mixture to pan and use a measuring cup to press crumbs evenly across the bottom of the pan and half way up the sides.
  5. Place spring form pan on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Set crust aside to cool while making cheesecake mixture.
Tall and Creamy Lemon Cheesecake
  1. Reduce oven to 325 degrees.
  2. Bring a kettle of water to a boil.
  3. In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat cream cheese at medium speed, until smooth and creamy. About 5 minutes.
  4. Slowly add sugar, sea salt, and zest of lemon while beating. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat another 5 minutes at medium speed.
  5. Add vanilla while beating.
  6. Add eggs one at a time beating for 1 minute between each addition. Scrape sides of bowl before adding additional egg.
  7. Turn mixer to low, add greek yogurt and lemon juice. Mix until thoroughly blended and smooth.
  8. Place aluminum foil wrapped pan in a pan larger then the springform pan with a little space.
  9. Pour batter into foil wrapped springform pan and place pan in oven.
  10. Pour boiling water halfway up the sides of springform pan.
  11. Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes. Turn off oven and prop door open. Allow cheesecake to sit in the water bath in the oven for an additional hour.
  12. Carefully remove springform pan out of the larger pan. Carefully remove foil.
  13. Allow cheesecake to cool to room temperature.
  14. Cover cheesecake and refrigerate cheesecake overnight before enjoying.

NOTES:

Recipe adapted from Dori Greenspan.
calories
502
fat (grams)
33
carbs (grams)
40
protein (grams)
9
sugar (grams)
31
Created using The Recipes Generator
Tall and Creamy Lemon Cheesecake from Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch.

34 comments

  1. Cake looks super yummy!Wonderful photos! :)
    http://www.rita-bose-cooking.com/

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  2. This cheesecake really looks lime something to die for :)

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  3. Absolutely beautiful! Cannot wait to try :)

    Happy Blogging!
    Happy Valley Chow

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  4. Your cheesecake looks so delicious, I really want to try this recipe!

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  5. I have a recipe similar to this. I add the butter to the crumbs in the food processor then blend it together as I never seem to get the butter mixed through evenly.

    I will share this on my Facebook page as yours looks divine!

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  6. Yum, I love a good lemon cheesecake.

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  7. Luscious! My favorite cheese cakes are this type. Nothing extra and gooey to hide the cheesecake-ness, just wonderful cheesy flavor. Dorie Greenspan recipes are so often the best! Your process photos are very helpful. Thanks!

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  8. Wow this is amazing, i made this on Saturday...

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  9. Beautiful! I can almost taste it ...

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  10. Oh that sounds amazing! I love it, especially the thought of the lemon to match with the creaminess.

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  11. You had me at "lemon." This looks so incredibly good; I simply must make this!

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  12. Serena, this has my name written ALL over it!! I can't WAIT to try this!! Thank you for sharing!!

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  13. Can I use regular hand mixer? I don't have a paddle attachment.

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  14. What can I use to replace the eggs in this recipe?

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    Replies
    1. It really needs the eggs to bind it! I've never played around with the recipe without eggs. Flax seeds can be used as an egg substitute but I couldn't guarantee the results.

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  15. How far in advance can this be made?

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  16. Do you use vanilla or plain Greek yougurt?

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  17. I made this recipe this past weekend and it came out perfect! No cracks and tasted perfectly light and sweet without being to heavy or dry. My best cheesecake yet!

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  18. Hi Serena, I am getting ready to make your cheesecake but I am wanting to cut out individual rounds to serve. This will require baking this in a 9 X 13 pan instead for easier cutting. Do you think that this will work?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Laurie, I've never done it but tech speaking it should. It's a pretty thick cheesecake so you should have plenty of batter but you might need more graham cracker crust and I would line the pan with parchment paper thats buttered to help make removal easier. You might also have to adjust bake time due to pan size. Good Luck, Serena

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  19. I made this cheesecake for Christmas last year. This was actually my first time baking a cheesecake. I followed directions to a tee and it came out perfect. It was delicious, a big hit with friends and family.

    Definitely will repeat this year.

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  20. This was unbelievably delicious and so easy! I made it for my moms 70th birthday and the whole family loved it. My husband said it was his new favorite! I added more lemon zest and juice because my lemons were small. Other than that no changes. I added strawberries and candied lemon peel to the top of mine for decoration. SO good!!!!!

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  21. I saw this recipe, it looked delicious and I wanted to try it for a dinner party with friends. I followed the recipe, the batter was smooth and silky. I poured the batter into a 9" x 3" springform pan as the recipe said to do. The batter came almost to the top and I questioned that but I did not follow my instincts and baked it as is because that is the size pan the recipe called for. Well, I kept checking it while baking and it looked good until the last 15 minutes and it overflowed into the water bath. I am so disappointed. Pinterest Fail! :-( If I make this again, I will put it into a larger pan and take some of the batter out so that it won't be so full. Now, I have to figure out what to make for my dinner party. :-(

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  22. I made this cheesecake for Easter, and it definitely lived up to its divine description! It was tall, luscious, and easy to prepare. I did not use a water-bath, but did put a roaster filled with hot water on the rack beneath the cheesecake and I had no cracks whatsoever. I also topped it with Perfect Lemon Curd, a recipe from https://homemadeandyummy.com. This added a sweet-tart dimension that was oh-so-good! Thank you for a wonderful recipe that I plan to use every Easter from this point forward.

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  23. Oh my gosh this recipe was the yummiest! I took half the batter and added raspberry puree instead of lemon to make a lemon-raspberry cheesecake for my dad got Father's day. This recipe is staying in my arsenal forever now!

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  24. I've made this once before and it was amazing! Yet I've now forgotten...should the Greek yogurt be room temperature along with the eggs and cream cheese?

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    Replies
    1. The Greek Yogurt can be either. The room temperature ingredients are to ensure the cream cheese doesn't clump up and is super creamy and smooth. Since the greek yogurts one of the last ingredients and is so creamy it's fine to add it cold. Thanks, Serena

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  25. Any thoughts on baking time for making this in cupcake tins? I want to make it more covid-sharing friendly!

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    Replies
    1. Hi! I haven't made these into cupcakes but if I did I would probably bake them similar to my Mini Banana Pudding Cheesecakes:https://www.serenabakessimplyfromscratch.com/2020/04/mini-banana-pudding-cheesecake.html . It shouldn't need a water bath and the hardest part will be getting the bake time down. Those were baked at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. You will just need to keep an eye on them! I hope that helps! -Serena

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