Amazing Lemon White Chocolate Cheesecake
This amazing lemon cheesecake, with a super creamy boost from the white chocolate and a delectable shortbread crust, is truly one of the most delicious cheesecakes ever!
What business do I have posting another “favorite” cheesecake recipe, you ask?
Let me answer that with another question: DO YOU KNOW ME AT ALL?
I love cheesecake. Whole heartedly.
And I’m sure for as long as this blog exists, I’ll continue to post cheesecake recipe after cheesecake recipe that I’ve deemed delicious enough to make the cut.
So today, in celebration of me loving cheesecake and me also wanting you to love this cheesecake (AND because it happens to be my 16th wedding anniversary today), I present one of the creamiest, yummiest, most luxurious cheesecakes ever: lemon white chocolate cheesecake.
And if the white chocolate in that there recipe title makes you panic, stick with me for a second!
White chocolate avoiders everywhere unite!
As you know, I don’t generally like white chocolate in many of my desserts (aside from these cookies and these cookies and these bars, of course), but apparently, I find the pale chocolate pretender extremely necessary for best-ever-level cheesecakes.
White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake
Key Lime White Chocolate Cheesecake Pie
Vanilla Bean White Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake
Pumpkin White Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake
Peppermint Bark White Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake
This lemon cheesecake is amazing. Like, straight into the Best Of archives kind of amazing.
It is creamy and tastier than you can even imagine. And that’s just for someone that’s pretty average when it comes to lemon desserts (Brian, dear husband, I’m talking to you).
But if you also happen to be a lemon lover…well, hold on to your fork, because this lemony white chocolate cheesecake is going to rock your world (self, I’m talking to you).
Beyond the delectable, luxurious, creamy cheesecake filling, that somewhat untraditional and delicious shortbread-like crust is surprisingly delicious. Amazing, really.
With a tender, buttery, cookie-like bite, it is the perfect compliment to the creamy lemon cheesecake filling.
I’ve given several notes in the recipe about using a water bath vs. no water bath. (Spoiler alert: I never use traditional water baths for my cheesecakes.)
And I’ve also given some important white chocolate insights. (Another spoiler alert: don’t use white chocolate chips OR almond bark, pretty please.)
So read through the entire recipe before diving in! But keep in mind that although I tend to be a bit wordy sometimes, it’s really a simple and straightforward recipe.
I had some little hands helping me mix up this divine cheesecake, so if you wondered about the well-placed line of lemons on that first picture up there in the post, you may have guessed correctly that I was innocently trying to cover up a crack in the baked cheesecake.
Basically, I have hard scientific data showing that if a 9-year old happens to over mix the batter after adding the eggs, it WILL (not just may) cause that ol’ cheesecake to crack. So use a light hand when mixing in the eggs.
And even if you do end up with cracks, console yourself knowing it will not affect the taste of this dreamy cheesecake in the least. It’s nothing a few lemons or a heap of whipped cream can’t fix).
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Chocolate chips: white chocolate chips generally do not melt well (they clump and seize easily while melting), so I highly recommend white baking chocolate, which incidentally is NOT the same as almond bark or melting wafers. Don't use those; they have a fake, sugary flavor that may ruin this divine cheesecake. I can easily find the Ghirardelli brand of white baking chocolate in my local grocery store above the chocolate chips in the baking aisle (here's an online source and visual). Water bath: I never mess with official water baths when baking cheesecakes - too many soggy crust experiences, but the alternate method listed in the recipe (pan of simmering water under the cheesecake) works just as good in my experience and is much easier, but if you'd like to use a traditional water bath, you can definitely go that route. As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.Lemon White Chocolate Cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust:
Cheesecake Filling:
Instructions
Notes
Recommended Products
Made this cheesecake today in the IP and wanted to share what I did in case anyone else is curious about it. I halved the recipe and also used the 6 inch cheesecake pan. I cooked the crust according to instructions except I baked it for 17 mins. Then I mixed the sugar with lemon zest (mostly because I didn’t look at the directions close enough, but it brought out the lemon flavor really well) I followed the rest of the recipe as it was written and poured the mixture on top of the crust. For cooking in the IP I put 1 cup boiling water into the IP. Then I put down the wire rack insert, next a foil “lift sleeve” and finally the cheesecake. I closed it and set it for 35 minutes on manual high pressure. I let it natural pressure release and then carefully took the lid off. I dabbed the cheesecake to soak up a bit of water around the edges. It is now cooling and we will eat it with the lemon curd from your other cheesecake recipe on Christmas! Thanks for a great recipe Mel! (I also wanted to add I have made the full recipe as written in a 9×13 pan on other occasions with great results too!)
Thanks for taking the time to comment with these details, Janet!
Absolutely amazing!!! One of the best cheesecakes i’ve had so far! Made it last year for Thanksgiving and everyone LOVED it and now i’m getting ready to make it again this year:) Thanks for the amazing recipe!
Best cheesecake. I always make him a cheesecake for his birthday. And this is by far his favorite. My sister in law had it for his birthday and requested it for her wedding. 3 tiers and it was gobbled completely up before I could get a piece myself. Highly recommend.
I have made many cheesecakes over the years (I’ve decided they’re great bang for your buck desserts – they look and taste way fancier than the effort required) but THIS is the queen of all cheesecakes! I absolutely adore it! I made it for my husband’s birthday in June and then I made two for his brother’s wedding cake just last week in a rental house in North Carolina! They were all divine. They never crack or sink in the middle and the texture is perfection! The cheesecake of my dreams! And definitely serve it with raspberries if you can – they complement the creamy lemony flavor SO well!
I’m calling you the queen of the Lemon White Chocolate Cheesecake!
This recipe is divine! Just the right amount of lemon (might had added a touch more zest to the batter) and sweetness. Ohhhh I may not share as much as I should. Love you’re recipes!!
This cheesecake was incredible! Had a little trouble with the crust, but it still turned out. Hubs and I agreed the shortbread crust goes really well with the lemon, and he’s a big graham cracker-crust guy. Everyone agreed it was one of the best cheesecakes he’d ever had. I used 5 tbsp of lemon juice, and it was quite lemony but not too. Definitely wouldn’t do more than that.
P.S. Serving with fresh berries and whipped cream is key! I loved it with strawberries. Other people opted for blueberries. I would’ve bought raspberries, but they were out.
Thanks so much for the review, Whitney!
This is the best, moistest cheesecake I’ve ever made. It’s so easy too. Thank you!!!
This was tasty! I used the graham cracker crust from your white chocolate vanilla bean cheesecake because we are partial to it. The first time I made it, it wasn’t quite lemony enough (it was good but I like it strong) so this time I added about a teaspoon of true lemon. I didn’t want to use more lemon juice because I was afraid of messing up the consistency. I topped it with whipped cream and everyone and everyone at the family dinner I took it to raved. Thanks for another great cheesecake recipe!
Thanks for the comment and your additional notes!
Any suggestions on bake time if I do a 9×13 instead?
I’d probably check it after 35-40 minutes.
You said the white chocolate adds creaminess to your cheesecake. Honestly, I would probably try your cheesecake recipes if they didn’t call for white chocolate, but nearly all of yours do. Do you have anything to substitute for it? Or is it okay to just skip it? And if so, should I adjust the baking time?
You could try leaving it out. I haven’t tried that because I really do love the creaminess it adds. I have several cheesecake recipes without it, but I’ve come to prefer using it. Are you allergic to white chocolate? I don’t know of a good substitution. I’m not a fan of white chocolate plain but you can’t taste the white chocolate flavor in the cheesecake at all.
I made this last night and it tastes fantastic. I’m not a baker at ALL so a lot of user-error on my part left me with a kinda lumpy crust and cracked top. But that didn’t stop the rave reviews!
I made this recipe for a friends going away party. I followed the directions exactly, and it turned out perfectly. I received so many compliments on it, including many exclamations about how it had no cracks! My husband fell off the wagon completely with the left overs. It was delicious. I would highly recommend it. Thanks Mel!
I’m so happy everyone loved it – thanks for letting me know!!
I tried this in the Instant Pot. It was DIVINE. I’ve never had a softer creamier cheesecake. I have a tendency to over bake them in the oven so the IP solves that problem. I prebaked the crust in the oven first then I set my IP to 35 minutes. I added 1 1/2 cups of water and used the rack to set it on. It was perfection. I may try it next time using a graham cracker crust so that it doesn’t have to be prebaked. Delicious!
That’s awesome Tami! Mel will be happy to hear this was an IP success.
You are a rock star, Tami! And you’ve made a lot of my readers very happy by detailing your results. 🙂
Could you make it with GF flour mix for the crust? Thank you!
Never tried it that way, but it’s worth a shot! Let us know how it turns out if you try it.
My crust cracked while baking it. I’ve never had that happen before. Any thoughts? I went ahead and continued with the cheesecake filling, hoping it will still turn out, since I’m taking it to my neighbor for her birthday. Thanks for all your help and hard work Mel, you’re the best!
Hi Abbey. Did this end up working out? There are a lot of factors that can cause cracking like overbaking, or opening the door when it’s cooking, but I will have Mel respond to you when she gets back from her vacation next week!
Thanks for your response! The rest of the cheesecake baked beautifully, not a single crack. And it slid off the springform pan nicely. I was worried since the crust was cracked. Maybe I just baked the crust too long. I’ll be more careful next time. This recipe is definitely a keeper!
Oh good! Thanks for letting me know. I’m so glad it worked out.
This popped up just as I was making plans for our anniversary dessert. We made it in celebration of ten years of marriage and it was perfect! I love how simple the crust is yet it doesn’t get soggy and isn’t impossible to cut like other cheesecakes that I have made. It’s also one of my only cheesecakes not to crack! I paid attention to the recommended white chocolate bar but didn’t note how many ounces were required. Unfortunately I only bought one so had to substitute white chocolate chips for the rest. Perhaps include a note that two bars are needed in case any one else is silly enough to only buy one 🙂
Glad you loved it, Rachael! Thanks for the feedback!
Happy Anniversary Week! Your timing is impeccable. It just happens to be my little brother’s birthday this week. He loves all things lemon as much as I do and usually begs me to make him some sort of lemon dessert for his big day. The bonus is he loves cheesecake too. I made it this morning (it looks amazing). Good thing I had to go to work or else I might be tempted to try a bite. We will be celebrating him tonight. Can’t wait to take the first bite…I am bringing raspberries and fresh whipped cream to serve with. YUM!
Love, love, love the idea of serving this with fresh raspberries! Happy birthday to your brother!
The cheesecake was a H.I.T. In the words of my little brother, “the cheesecake was freaking awesome!” Thanks for helping me achieve favorite sister status. This cheesecake is going to be my new blue ribbon dessert. I can’t wait to showcase it at other events. So delicious!! Thanks, Mel, for bringing on the best of the best to your blog. You are my go-to for all things tasty!!
Yay, yay!! This made me so happy!!!
Hi Mel, just a quick random question…I also live in Idaho, and I was just wondering where you took your family to hike and pick huckleberries?
Hi Kim! We’ve had good luck in New Meadows, McCall and at Sage Hen Reservoir!
I don’t yet have a springform pan. Do you have a favorite Mel or are the all the same?
Hi Stacy – I have this 9-inch pan and this 10-inch pan and love them both!
Hey Mel!! I know I’m not the first one to wonder how divine this would be in the instant pot. I do see that someone has inquired. I think I read someplace…that you sort of do, really enjoy cheese cake as well as creating your own takes of said dessert!! Mel….In the name of all things Cheesecake.. Could you please, Please…PLEASE find a way to convert this Lemon, white chocolate cheese cake with the shortbread crust…to the INSTANT POT??? I’m sure you gotta know by now, how much folks. much like myself…would absolutely love, Love, LOVE it if you did.
Have a super night.
Debbie.
Haha, thanks for the strong recommendation to get this cheesecake into an Instant Pot version. Working on it! 🙂
Didn’t know where else to ask this but Mel, do you get the Costco Connection magazine in the mail? It came today and as I was looking through it I saw a recipe (Foil packet sweet potato tacos)and instantly recognized it as yours even though I’ve never even made it, ha! Sure enough it said it was from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe!
I had forgotten that recipe would be in the Costco magazine until I started getting comments about it! Now I need to get my hands on a copy of that magazine (or check why I’m not receiving it already!!).
Hey Mel, this sounds amazing. Have you ever tried making it in your Instant Pot? I have made the New York Cheesecake, and it is amazing… and this sounds better! Any thoughts on converting it?
Hey Stacey – I’ve made a lemon cheesecake (not this one) in my Instant Pot a long time ago and it turned out pretty well. You’d need to cut down the recipe, of course, to fit into a pan that fits in the IP, but it should work out pretty well. Let me know if you try it!
This is going on my list to try!! Quick question, what are your thoughts on using ‘whipped cream cheese’ in a recipe, such as this one?
I’ve only ever tried using whipped cream cheese in a baked cheesecake recipe one time before and it was a little bit of a disaster – I think there’s less mass in the whipped cream cheese so maybe if you use more of it, it might work?
Happy Anniversary Mel!!! Can’t wait to try this amazing recipe!!!
Thanks Melissa – hope you love this one!
Happy Anniversary! I love lemon and cheesecake, so I will definitely be making this. Thank you for this recipe and all the wonderful ones you’ve shared with us in the past!
Thank YOU, Teresa!
Happy 16th Anniversary Mel. Thanks for all your great recipes. Hope you have a wonderful day! Debbie
Thanks so much, Debbie!
Happy anniversary! My 16th was a couple weeks ago… it was a great summer to get married . And this cheesecake recipe looks amazing!
Oh yay! Happy anniversary to YOU!
I’m not familiar with melting white chocolate. Can you please share how you did it? Thanks!
Hey Laurie! I just put the squares of chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave at 50% power until melted, stirring often.
Well that’s easy enough. Thanks Mel!!
Happy Anniversary Mel and Brian!
Thanks, Lachelle!
I may have missed it, but did you say what size/type of pan you use for the cheesecake. I’m guessing you use a springform. How many inches?
Sorry about that! Just edited the recipe…9- or 10-inch springform pan.
No problem. Thanks for the update.
Happy Anniversary to you and Brian!! Just made your little lemonies a few days ago..YUM ! Will deff make this
My daughter and I are huge lemon fans.
Thank you, Stacy!