Chocolate Chip Cheesecake with Oreo Crust

Isn't this a good looking birthday cake? Yes, I know it's a cheesecake but today is my birthday and I always want cheesecake on my birthday so this is a birthday cake. Isn't it pretty? And no we won't be sticking any candles on it because it looks way prettier with chocolate shavings. Also, that many candles would be dangerous.

Ironically, Thursday is National Cheesecake Day and the proximity makes my whole cheesecake as a birthday cake just cosmically meant to be. And I do like to make my own cake because that way, I get exactly what I want. Last year's birthday treat had a cookie crust and blueberry sauce on top so this year I figured I'd go the chocolate route.

And have no cheesecake fear. I make the entire thing in a food processor and it's deceptively simple. You can use all cream cheese if you prefer but I've always found the mix of cream cheese and ricotta gives me a great texture every time. So, I'm going to go enjoy my birthday cake and try not to inhale the whole thing in one day. Wish me luck. Enjoy!

by Hungry Couple

Prep Time: 25 Minutes

Cook Time: 80 Minutes

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Ingredients (10 Servings)

• Crust:
• 24 Oreo sandwich cookies
• 1/2 Stick unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 
  
• Cake:
• 16 oz. Cream cheese
• 8 oz. Ricotta cheese
• 1 Cup sugar
• 3 Eggs
• 3/4 Cup all purpose flour
• 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 Teaspoon salt
• 1 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 
  
• Topping:
• 1 3.5 oz. chocolate bar, at room temperature

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees.

To make the crust, add the cookies to a food processor and pulse until they've turned into crumbs. Pour in the melted butter and pulse a few more times until all the crumbs have been coated. Pour into a 9" spring-form pan and tamp down to form an even layer.

Shake out the food processor bowl and then add the cream cheese, ricotta cheese, sugar, eggs, melted butter, flour, vanilla, lemon juice and salt. Puree until smooth. Place the chocolate chips in a bowl and toss with a teaspoon of flour to help keep them from sinking while baking. Add to the food processor and pulse a couple of times just to distribute them.

Pour the mixture on top of the cookie crust, place on a baking sheet and bake for 75 - 80 minutes or until the top is set. Allow to cool thoroughly before removing from the pan.

To make the chocolate curls, make sure the cake is completely cool and run a vegetable peeler down the sides of the chocolate bar.

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Click here to get the recipe for the Blueberry Ricotta Cream Cheesecake.