Panera {copycat} NY Style Cheesecake Cream Cheese is deliciousness on a bagel! Sweet & decadent this stuff is the perfect spread!

Have you tasted the Panera NY Style Cheesecake Cream Cheese?  They are offering it as a seasonal item and it is YUM!  Picture a cheesecake all mushed up with bits of the graham cracker crust throughout…uh huh, why wouldn’t you wanna smear that on stuff?  But, as you probably have learned by now, I’m CHEAP, okay we’ll use the term frugal but it still boils down to the fact that I like a good bargain.

In our small town of roughly 7,000 people we have not 1 but 2 Panera Breads, one on either side of town.  Panera is a wonderful place to grab a salad or soup if you don’t want fast food and don’t want a sit down restaurant.  For our family though, it’s not a budget-friendly option, you can easily drop $25-30 feeding your family lunch.  Now they do have a great bagel selection, the best in our area.  Once again though, for 1 bagel and some cream cheese it will run you nearly $3.00, a possible budget breaker for a larger family.  So this new flavor of cream cheese got me thinking, “why pay around $1.30 for a little dollop of this cream cheese, when I can make a batch big enough for my family for around the same amount of money”…lightbulb moment I tell ya!  This works out beautifully since we normally buy the bagels (have them do the slicing, saves the fingers) and bring them home to eat.

Now this makes a good amount since you are using an 8 oz block of cream cheese, but it keeps well in the refrigerator for a few days.  If you don’t need this much, just 1/2 the recipe.  I found it actually tastes better the next day, the flavors have blended and it is even yummier.  Serve up on bagels, toast, graham crackers, or apple slices…makes for a great snack!

Panera {copycat} NY Style Cheesecake Cream Cheese

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Prep Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened (you can use low-fat varieties)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 1/8 t ground cinnamon
• 1 graham cracker rectangle, crushed

Instructions

1. In large bowl whip cream cheese until it is light and fluffy, approximately 2-3 minutes.
2. Mix in all remaining ingredients until thoroughly blended.
3. If not using right away, store in re-sealable container in refrigerator.