easy cream cheese pie with lemon and sour cream topping

I love this simple recipe, it’s my go-to for a quick and easy cream cheese pie recipe.  The lemony tartness in the topping compliments the creamy filling nicely and it's made without condensed milk. My lemon cream cheese pie is creamy with a perfect flavor balance between sweet and tangy.

Such a great classic cream cheese pie recipe just as is or you can your favorite fruit topping.

Jump to:

• 📖 Recipe
• Ingredients
• Making the Graham Cracker Crust
• Mix Up the Cream Cheese Pie Filling
• Make the Lemon and Sour Cream Topping
• Finishing the Cream Cheese Pie
• More Lemon Desserts
• Comments

Ingredients

What you need to make the cheese pie:

• Graham Crackers: Plain graham crackers work best, the frosted crackers are just too sweet for me. For something different you can use chocolate wafers or another light cookie.
• Butter: Salted or unsalted butter is fine, just make sure that all the graham cracker crumbs are thoroughly coated with the melted butter.
• Cream Cheese: Philadelphia brand cream cheese is what I've always used but you can substitute your favorite brand or try a Neufchatel cheese which is similar to cream cheese and makes a nice cheesecake.
• Eggs: Regular large eggs should be room temperature.
• Sugar:
• Vanilla Extract: Use pure vanilla extract or a vanilla paste.
• Sour Cream: Greek yogurt is an excellent substitute for the sour cream.
• Lemon Curd: homemade lemon curd is simple to make using a pre-made curd will save a little time.

Making the Graham Cracker Crust

Making crust for a cheesecake is incredibly easy!  I use a simple basic graham cracker crust recipe that I've used forever. You can also add a little vanilla or lemon extract to the crust mixture for some added flavor.

All of the cheesecake crusts I use require crushing the ingredient into a fine crumb.  Two common ways to crush your graham crackers ;

1. Use a small food processor on pulse to the desired consistency. This is the most time-efficient manner but if you don't have a food processor, try the rolling pin method.
2. Use a rolling pin to crush the ingredient.  First, break up the graham crackers into small pieces and place in a large zippered storage bag.  Lay the bag flat and start rolling, turn over a few times until finely crushed.   Alternately you can cut two large pieces of parchment paper and place the small bits and pieces in between and start rolling.

I use the rolling pin method most often since I find it relaxing and it reminds me of being in the kitchen with my Mom.  I think I made my first graham cracker crust at the age of 6!

Next press the crumbs into the pie plate and set aside. 

Crust Shortcut: Use an already made graham cracker crust available in the baking aisle of most grocery stores.

Mix Up the Cream Cheese Pie Filling

Put all the filling ingredients into a large bowl and using a hand mixer, beat low speed for a couple of minutes until the cream cheese mixture is light and creamy.  For extra lemon flavor substitute one teaspoon of lemon paste for the vanilla extract.

While the pie is baking mix up the lemon sour cream topping.

Make the Lemon and Sour Cream Topping

Another really simple process, in a medium bowl and mix up the sour cream, vanilla extract, and sugar until smooth and the sugar is dissolved.  I usually just use a wooden spoon because that's how Mom made it.  When cooking in my small kitchen I try to use the fewest amount of appliances possible. 

Finishing the Cream Cheese Pie

When you remove the pie from the oven let it cool down for about 5-10 minutes, then spread a layer of lemon curd and then the sour cream topping over the pie filling and return to the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes.   Refrigerate for at least 5 hours before serving.

when it comes to cooking with cream cheeses, well it's my wheelhouse, so I hope you enjoy my cream cheese pie recipe as much as I do!

More Lemon Desserts

• Lemon Berry Trifle for Two
• Easy Lemon Bars with Graham Cracker Crust
• Lemon Coffee Cake with Lemon Glaze