A couple of weeks ago I asked Mrs. CB if she would like me to come up with a recipe for anything in particular, especially a dessert. Her response was one word—cheesecake. ‘Nuff said.
So I did what I often do, I consulted the Gods of Google and came up with a variety of different recipes. Then I started checking them out for similarities and differences and then I started looking at how I could make it cheap. Obviously, cheesecake can get a bit pricey to make and I wanted to hold it down and get the price in reach for the most people possible. Especially since, it comes out that it’s pretty doggone simple to make.
What I ended up with a is a variation on the Kraft Kitchen 3 Ingredient Cheesecake recipe. Mine has a total of 5 ingredients for basic cheesecake. So far, I’ve made it twice and it turns out pretty good—not 100% of the incredibly sumptuous cheesecake you can get at a good deli or fine restaurant but a terrific dessert at home.
What I really liked is that you can literally get all the ingredients for this at the dollar store. (I actually had 2 of them already—eggs and sugar—but you can even get those at the dollar store too). By using dollar store ingredients you literally cut the price in half. And, if you make your own crust, you can get it even cheaper—it’s just that then you’ll have all those extra graham crackers or ginger snaps or vanilla wafers or fake Oreos to eat. But, I’m willing to make that sacrifice and have to chomp down those extra cookies.
So here’s what I came up with. (Like I said, I’ve made this twice. The second time was with lime juice (from 2 limes) and I even added a couple/three drops of green food color—just in case you notice a discrepancy in the pictures). Plus, I was able to find Kraft Philadelphia “Cooking Crème” for $1 a container. It might be just a bit “thinner” than regular cream cheese but it was only a buck a carton.
Recipe: Cheap Bastids Dollar Store Cheesecake
Summary: Looking for a mouthwatering, inexpensive dessert? This cheesecake recipe is easy, fast and totally tasty.
- This Philly “Cooking Creme” makes a “creamier” cheesecake and cost $1 ($2.50 at the grocery store).
- 2 pkg. Cream Cheese, softened
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ tsp. vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1 Graham Cracker Pie Crust (6 oz.)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325°F.
- Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until blended (use a whisk or mixer).
- Add eggs; beat just until blended.
- Put crust on quarter cookie sheet. Pour cheesecake mix into crust.
- Bake 50 min. or until center is almost set. Remove and put on rack to cool.
- Then refrigerate 3 hours.
Preparation time: 10 minute(s)
Cooking time:
Number of servings (yield): 6
My rating 4 stars: ★★★★☆ 1 review(s)
You can even change the flavoring of this. I made a lime cheesecake and it’s a great dessert for a hot summer’s evening. You can make it with chocolate or caramel or a mocha/coffee or pumpkin/cinnamon or even peanut butter. You can make the crust (crunched up cookies and melted butter) with ginger snaps or Oreos or vanilla wafers.
Now, this might not be as “gorgeous” as other cheesecakes and some “foodies” might think it’s beneath them. But that’s OK. This is a good dessert. One that I’d serve to family or company. It’s the taste that counts. And besides, I’m going to keep on working on it to get it better.
The Cheap Bastid Test: This is what I really liked about this version of cheesecake. By doing the whole thing from the dollar store you end up spending $2 for cream cheese, $1 for the crust, $.17 for eggs, $.25 for sugar and $.02 for vanilla. Total cost: $3.44—that’s less than $.60 a slice if you cut it in 6 slices or $.43 a slice if you cut it in 8 slices. That’s cheap. If you go to the grocery store figure $5 for cream cheese, $2 crust (store brand), $.45 eggs, $.40 sugar and $.05 for vanilla—a total of $7.90 or $1.32 per slice with 6 slices or $.98 per slice with 8 slices. That’s why I like the “Dollar Store” version.
That’s the Cheap Bastid Way: Eat Good. Eat Cheap. Be Grateful!
