Fill a large metal casserole dish full of water. Carefully place the dish on the bottom rack of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350.

Place the ENTIRE PACKAGE of Simply Shortbread Cookies into a gallon Ziplock™ bag. Crush the cookies in the bag. Scoop the cookies crumbs into a stainless steel bowl. Melt the stick of butter and pour it over the cookies. Blend well with a fork. Spray an 11 inch spring-form pan with Canola spray. Line the bottom and sides of the pan with the cookie mixture.

Cut the cream cheese into eights as each package is opened. Add 1st package of eights and blend for 30 seconds. I use a food processor to accomplish this, but a mixer should do. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl after each blend. Blend in the four remaining cream cheese packages. Add the sugar and blend for 1 minute. Add eggs and mix 30 seconds more. After the cream cheese, sugar, and eggs are thoroughly mixed together, add the flour and extracts and blend for a final 30 seconds.

Pour the mixture into the prepared spring-form pan and bake for 45 minutes at 350 with the spring-form pan sitting on the middle oven rack above the "water bath". Check to see if outer rim of cake is burning and cover with a "donut" of aluminum foil if necessary. Bake for 15 minutes more. While baking, mix the topping ingredients together. At 1 hour total baking time, remove cake from oven and spread the topping evenly across including the edges of the crust. Bake for 5 minutes more .

Let cake cool for 1 hour before slicing or placing in the refrigerator, covering with aluminum. {This cheesecake, like many other cakes, tastes best when it is warm - fresh from the oven.}