Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake

I seem to have trouble making cheesecakes. They are never very smooth. But this one turned out so great. You have to make it, it is totally worth the effort!

On a side note, I know the picture looks like there is cauliflower on top of the cheesecake, I forgot to take a picture the day we had it and turns out whip cream the next day looks a whole lot like cauliflower. When I make it again I will fix the picture.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake

Crust:
4 Tbsp Butter, melted
2 1/2 cups Chocolate Cookie Crumbs (I used Oreos)

Filling:
4 (8-ounce) blocks Cream Cheese, softened to room temperature
1 cup Sugar
4 large Eggs
1 tsp Flour
1 tsp Vanilla
1 cup Sour Cream (I used light and it worked just fine)

Cookie Dough:
½ cup Butter, softened
½ cup Sugar
½ cup packed Light Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Water
2 tsp Vanilla
1 cup Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1 cup Mini Chocolate Chips

An additional 1 cup mini chocolate chips to fold into the batter with the cookie dough balls

Garnish:

1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream, whipped to stiff peaks (add 1 tablespoon powdered sugar while whipping if you like a bit of extra sweetness)
Mini Chocolate Chips, for sprinkling (I forgot and ate all of my extras while it was baking)

For the cookie dough: In a medium bowl, combine the butter and sugars for the cookie dough. Add the water, vanilla and blend. Mix in the flour, salt and the chocolate chips. The dough will be fairly soft. Gently roll the dough into small balls (about a teaspoon size) and place them on a wax paper lined plate or baking sheet. Place them in the freezer to harden while making the rest of the cheesecake.

For the crust: Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform pan. In a medium bowl, combine the butter with the chocolate cookie crumbs (you could easily use a food processor to crush the cookies and incorporate the butter). Press onto the bottom and about halfway up the sides of the prepared pan.

For the cheesecake: Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the cream cheese, sugar, eggs and flour until smooth. Add the vanilla and sour cream and mix just until blended. Be careful not to overmix – incorporating too much air into the batter can contribute to a cheesecake cracking on top during baking.

Pour half the batter into the prepared crust. Gently stir in the cookie dough balls and the additional 1 cup mini chocolate chips into the remaining batter. Pour into the pan, spreading the batter to the sides of the pan and evening it out across the top (it is ok to see bumps of cookie dough here and there, smooth it the best you can). Bake the cheesecake at 325 degrees for one hour. Turn off the oven and prop the door open several inches. Let the cake sit in the oven for an additional 30 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate until chilled (ideally, overnight). To serve, cut into slices and top with whipped cream and mini chocolate chips.

Recipe Source:www.melskitchencafe.com