Easy Lemon Poppyseed Cheesecake (Crustless Recipe)

Lemon Poppy Seed Crustless Cheesecake is a sweet and tart FLUFFY crustless cheesecake made with tart lemon extract and poppy seeds. 

Today’s recipe was inspired by my Mom! This Lemon Poppy Seed Crustless Cheesecake was made with her tastes specifically in mind.  I love making a classic New York-Style Cheesecake, but for someone as special as her, a regular cheesecake just won’t do! 

Sometimes a girl just needs her Mom! I’m 30, and I still need her every day. We live about three hours apart and talk weekly. Visits are sparse. Things change when you have kids. I feel like I understand and appreciate her so much more, but we talk less. When we do see each other, we’re fawning over my son (which is great!), and typically entertaining other family members who want to see him. It just feels like there isn’t as much time to talk, one on one. I miss shopping together, grabbing lunch, or just putting around town with her! 

My Mom loves poppy seeds. LOVES them! So much so, that she’ll ask restaurants if they have poppy seed salad dressing when it’s clearly not listed on their menu. That’s dedication, folks! Working poppyseeds them into this New York cheesecake was a breeze and added a special twist to a very classic dessert. My Mom also loves lemon, so I worked some lemon flavor into this classic cheesecake, in addition to the classic vanilla flavors. And a total BONUS, this crustless cheesecake is freezer friendly, which allowed me to save a bit for her next visit!

I think this is the BEST cheesecake for the spring months, and the combination of flavors will give cheesecake lovers something new to enjoy! It’s a light, creamy cheesecake with a perfectly tart and sweet flavor. 

I designed this crustless cheesecake recipe to be keto friendly, since so many people are on a low carb or keto diet lately. But, if you want to add a graham cracker crust to this cheesecake recipe, please do so! You will need a package of crushed graham crackers and about one stick of melted butter. I like to use my food processor to crush the crumbs. You don’t have to add a crust on the sides, it’s fine to just coat the bottom of the pan with the greased crumbs. 

Substitutions

This recipe has plenty of substitutions! Here are a few ideas: 

• Omit the lemon extract and substitute with vanilla or almond extract, or orange extracts. 
• Omit the poppyseeds or substitute for chocolate chips. 
• I have only tried this recipe with full fat cream cheese, but I do think that you could substitute out up to 16 oz of cream cheese with lower fat cream cheese. 

I have had a reader report success using Splenda for one half of the sugar in this recipe, but I have not personally tried this! 

Equipment 

This poppy seed cheesecake has pretty simple ingredients, but the technique does require some special consideration. I used a 10” Springform pan. If you have a 9” Spring form pan, go ahead and use it, but don’t overfill the pan! It should only be about 3/4 full at most. You will have some extra batter that can be baked in a smaller dish if desired. 

If you’re making cheesecake for the first time, you have a decision to make! Cheesecakes are prone to having pretty severe cracks through the top of the cheese cake. If you want to avoid the dreaded cheesecake cake, I recommend using a water bath. The water bath technique nestles your filled springform pan in a shallow bath of hot water. Doing this helps to evenly distribute heat throughout the baking process. You can use a roasting pan or one of those disposable aluminum pans that folks use for catering! The main criteria here is that the pan needs to hold water, and your cheesecake pan needs to fit in it easily! 

If you don’t care about the possibility of a cheesecake crack, proceed with the recipe sans water bath! It will still taste delicious and takes a step out of the process. 

If you love this cheesecake recipe, I highly recommend my Brown Sugar Cheesecake + Pecan Glaze!

Serving Suggestions

This cheesecake recipe could become a family favorite for Easter lunch or Mother’s Day brunch! I recommend adorning the top of the cheesecake with whipped cream or fresh, sliced strawberries.

Storing Leftover Cheesecake

Store uneaten cheesecake in refrigerator in an airtight container for 3-4 days!  

And I have great news! You do not have to eat the whole thing. Why? Because cheesecake can also be frozen for up to a month. Just make sure to remove as much air from your storage container as possible before freezing. Cheesecake can be pretty unappetizing with freezer burn! 

 Love this recipe? I think you’d also like my 5-Ingredient Blackberry Dump Cake!