Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Heavily coat a springform cheesecake pan with butter. Set aside.

I am a purist when it comes to cheesecake. I do not recommend spraying it with olive oil or attempting a cheesecake in anything other than a cheesecake pan! It will not have the same flavor and it will not come cleanly out of any other type of pan.

Add vanilla wafers to food processor and process for 1-2 minutes, or until the wafers turn into fine crumbs.

You want 1 1/2 cups of vanilla wafer crumbs, so you'll need to add about twice as much whole vanilla wafers to reach this amount. I find it easier to just weigh out 200 grams, which is the equivalent of 1 ½ cups. It's also okay if it's slightly more or slightly less. This isn't the kind of cake where 205 grams is going to matter.

Add butter and sugar to vanilla wafer crumbs and process for 2 minutes, or until the mixture is fully incorporated and begins to form a ball.

Add wafer mixture to the springform pan and firmly pack down.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and set aside.