This week I had a serious urge to bake a cheesecake. Who knows why, since I made one not too long ago – maybe because I wasn’t thrilled with the lemon curd on the last one, and this time I wanted something more chocolatey. Whatever the reason, I’m glad I gave in to the urge because this cheesecake is awesome! It wins points right off the bat with the chocolate cookie crumb crust. That almost guarantees it will be a hit with me :-) After reading the recipe, I wasn’t sure if I liked the idea of layering the batter and chocolate chips (versus just mixing all the chips in the batter and pouring into the crust). I decided to trust the recipe and layer, and I’m happy I did. I think the layer of chips really helps concentrate the chocolate flavor in each bite of the cheesecake. This was an easy recipe and the only thing that presents a challenge is waiting 8 whole hours to taste it :-)
Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
Ingredients:
2 cups chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs
6 tbsp. butter, melted
24 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
¾ cup powdered sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup whipping cream
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
For the crust, crumble the sandwich cookies into a food processor or blender. Grind into fine crumbs. In a medium bowl, combine cookie crumbs and melted butter. Mix well with a fork. Spoon the mixture into a 10-inch springform pan. Using your fingers or the back of a spoon, pat the mixture into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of the pan. Freeze prepared crust 15-30 minutes while preparing cheesecake filling.
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°. Blend cream cheese and sugar 3 minutes on medium-high speed. Turn mixer down to lowest speed; add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each. Scrape sides of bowl. Add whipping cream and vanilla; beat on medium-high for 3 minutes. Pour ¾ of the cream cheese filling into crust. Sprinkle chocolate chips over batter, then pour remaining cream cheese filling over chips.
Bake cheesecake for 1 hour and 15 minutes at 325°. Turn off oven; leave cake in oven with door closed for 1 ½ hours. Refrigerate at least 8 hours before serving.
Source: Ghirardelli
