Key Lime Cheesecake

This delicious cheesecake recipe is a copycat recipe from the Cheesecake Factory. I love to find a good copycat so I can make my favorite restaurant foods at home. I have linked to a site that has copycat recipes for a lot of different restaurants. Give it a browse and see if some of your favorite dishes are available. This recipe takes some time to make because it cooks for a hour then cools for a hour but the actual prep time is very quick and none of the steps are difficult.

Serves: 8-10 servings
Start-to-Finish: 2 1/2 hours
Recipe By: Cheesecake Factory

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 TBSP melted butter
1 cup sugar
1 TBSP sugar
3 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup lime juice
3 eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Make crust by combining the graham crackers with the butter and 1 TBSP sugar.
3. Stir so that all is coated with butter, but keep it crumbly.
4. Press the crumbs onto the bottom and about half way up the side of an 8-inch springform pan. (You don't want the crust to form all the way up the back of the cheesecake slices. I don't know why but that's how they do it.)
5. Bake the crust for 5 min and set aside until you are ready to fill.
6. In large mixing bowl, combine sugar, vanilla, and cream cheese and blend with electric mixer until smooth.
7. Add lime juice and eggs and continue to beat until smooth and creamy.
8. Pour the filling into the pan and bake for 60-70 min. (If you notice top of cake turning light brown, cheesecake is done.) Remove from oven and cool.
9. When cheesecake has cooled to room temperature, put it into the refrigerator for 45 min.
10. Once cheesecake has chilled, remove the pan sides and cut cake.