It is no secret that I love to bake. I love cooking in general but baking is what I love to share most. Desserts are a great treat. I love them. As I’ve gotten older I have found that I don’t enjoy the sweetness of most commercially produced desserts. A lot of foods I used to enjoy now feel sickly sweet to my palate. This is one of the many reasons I love baking from scratch. The treats I make are always just sweet enough.

Last night, I was in the mood for some cheesecake and so I set out to make my own. This crustless cheesecake requires only five ingredients and the ones it omits results in less calories while still being delicious.

You will need:

16 oz cream cheese (this is a treat so use full fat!) at room temperature

3 eggs at room temperature

2/3 cup of sugar

one lemon

flavoring of your choice: 1/4 tsp vanilla extract or almond extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit

Mix the cream cheese, sugar, and eggs until smooth.

Zest your lemon and add as much zest as you would like. I zested about half my lemon and used that. I also squeezed out about half a teaspoon of lemon juice. Add the zest and juice to the mixture.

Add a quarter teaspoon of almond extract or vanilla extract.

Mix until combined.

Pour into 9 inch glass pie dish.

Bake for about 30-35 minutes. Edges should be golden brown. When you remove from the oven the cheesecake may be a little puffed up. It will deflate as it cools. Leave it to cool on a wire rack until it reaches room temperature then refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

You can top with fresh berries, whipped cream or the traditional sour cream topping.  I went with a lemon slice 😀