Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake

Let me tell you a story about a recipe that almost never was.

No, that isn’t right. Let me tell you a story about a recipe that was almost never shared. Here’s what happened.

I had a couple of graham cracker pie crusts that had to be used up before Passover. I also had a couple of packages of Tofutti cream cheese in my fridge. Are you seeing a pattern? Yep, I knew I was going to be making cheesecake. Non-dairy cheesecake, to be precise.

As I said, I had more than one crust, so I decided to go against my golden rule and double a recipe the first time I tried it. It came out of the oven looking gorgeous, so I was totally excited. My father was around, so I offered him a piece.

And he absolutely hated it. I don’t mean he didn’t love it. I mean he didn’t even finish his bite. He isn’t one to mince words, in general, and this was no exception. As he told me about how awful the texture was, I looked at my two beautiful cheesecakes in dismay. I wondered if I should throw them out immediately, or risk a second opinion.

I decided to wait. I had planned to bring one of the cheesecakes to work the next day, but obviously wouldn’t do that if they were bad. Instead I left it in my fridge and shared a piece with my sister the next day. She told me it was delicious, but only ate a small piece. I wasn’t convinced. Not after my father’s harsh review.

I basically gave up on the cheesecake at that point. I even took it out of the fridge and walked over to the garbage. Then I stopped. I couldn’t bring myself to throw it out. So they sat there, until the next day, when my friend and her husband came over to visit. They each had a slice of cheesecake, and had glowing things to say about it. At that point, I decided to bring them to work for my tasters there to sample. Even as I carried the cheesecake into work, I imagined how I’d throw it out if the first taster didn’t like it.

Turns out, that’s the last thing I had to worry about. All day, people kept coming over to my desk saying things like “I heard you have delicious cheesecake” and “any more of that cheesecake I heard was so good?” Don’t forget, my friends, that this was non-dairy cheesecake that got such rave reviews.

I am not sure what happened with my father. Was the cheesecake too hot when he tasted it? Or is it simply not his style? I guess I’ll never know, but I do know that loads of coworkers who tasted this cheesecake are waiting eagerly for the recipe. I guess it was good, huh?

Anyway, all’s well that ends…in cheesecake!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake

Adapted from Hershey’s Incredibly Easy Desserts

Ingredients:

for Cookie Dough

2 Tablespoons butter or margarine

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 Tablespoon water

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips *see note

for filling

1 8-0z package cream cheese (tofutti works fine)

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 packaged graham cracker crumb crust, preferably chocolate

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350.

To make dough: In a small bowl, beat together the butter or margarine and brown sugar until fluffy. Add the flour, water and vanilla. Stir until smooth. Add the chocolate chips and stir until evenly distributed. Set aside.

To make filling: Beat together the cream cheese and sugar and smooth and creamy. Add in egg and vanilla and stir until smooth. (You can do this with a whisk, no need to use a mixer.)

Pour the filling into the graham cracker crust. Drop the prepared cookie dough into the batter by the heaping teaspoonful, distributing it evenly over the top.

Bake at 35o for 35 to 40 minutes, or until top is just set. Do not over bake. Serve cold.

Enjoy!

Now a little poll for my passover-observant readers: is anyone still baking before Passover, or should I be moving onto some Passover recipes already? Thanks, as always, for stopping by. I hope you enjoy this! -Miriam