It's Memorial Weekend and I have a few days off from work - so I decided to do some kitchen cleaning, mainly the refrigerator. It's a task I just never have time to do after work during the week and I never seem to make time on the weekend (too busy playing lol).
While tackling the fridge and everything it had to offer - some of which I will not gross you out with here lol - I found some brand new unopened cream cheese packets. They were after their expiration date (about a month) but after some serious research, I found numerous people say it was OK to use expired cream cheese as long as it had been unopened and didn't show any signs of mold. I let my senses tell me if it was bad - it smelled and tasted like it should so I said, why not?!
I decided to make a cheesecake but needed a recipe that didn't include sour cream or lemon zest, which was a little difficult to find, as I had neither and didn't want to go to the store because after all - the sole purpose of this recipe was to use up this old cream cheese. I didn't have graham crackers so I used almond flour for the crust instead which cuts down the carbs and makes this cake a little more healthy.
It's just the right amount of sweet and my hubby says it doesn't have that sour flavor you sometimes get with cheesecake - maybe because there's no sour cream? I'm not exactly sure but I am sure of one thing - this is delicious and you'll never miss the graham crackers!!
While tackling the fridge and everything it had to offer - some of which I will not gross you out with here lol - I found some brand new unopened cream cheese packets. They were after their expiration date (about a month) but after some serious research, I found numerous people say it was OK to use expired cream cheese as long as it had been unopened and didn't show any signs of mold. I let my senses tell me if it was bad - it smelled and tasted like it should so I said, why not?!
I decided to make a cheesecake but needed a recipe that didn't include sour cream or lemon zest, which was a little difficult to find, as I had neither and didn't want to go to the store because after all - the sole purpose of this recipe was to use up this old cream cheese. I didn't have graham crackers so I used almond flour for the crust instead which cuts down the carbs and makes this cake a little more healthy.
It's just the right amount of sweet and my hubby says it doesn't have that sour flavor you sometimes get with cheesecake - maybe because there's no sour cream? I'm not exactly sure but I am sure of one thing - this is delicious and you'll never miss the graham crackers!!
Easy Cheesecake with Almond Flour Crust
Crust:
1 1/2 cups Almond Flour
3 Tbsp Melted butter
3 Tbsp Sugar
Filling:
2 8 oz packages of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar or sugar substitute
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Combine almond flour, melted butter and sugar and press into bottom of a 9" spring-form pan.
Bake at 325 degrees for approx 20 minutes or until the crust is a nice golden brown, checking after 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit on stove while you make the cheesecake filling.
Raise oven temperature to 450 degrees.
Combine the softened cream cheese and sugar in an electric mixer, mixing on medium speed until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, making sure to mix well after each addition. Add vanilla; then pour onto crust.
Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, then turn down to 250 degrees and bake another 25-30 minutes, or until set.
Remove from oven and loosen the spring-form pan but do not remove until completely cooled.
Serve plain or better yet - smother it with your favorite jelly and some whip cream! Yummy! Here we used our homemade Blueberry Jam ;-)
