Mint Cheesecake with Chocolate Chip

I made this awhile back, so I'm afraid I lost the picture for it. It was such a good photo too! Anyway, as St. Patrick's Day is coming up, I thought I'd get my green on with mint cheesecake. Mint and chocolate are just the perfect combination for desserts.

Also, whose pumped for the Flash coming back this Tuesday?! I'm not really a big TV person, but the Flash has gotten me hooked, and I am so excited to find out what happens next with the time travel.

"Drink the Night Away" by Gaelic Storm

Ingredients

Crust
30 fudge mint cookies, crushed (1 3/4 cups)
2 tbsp butter, melted

Filling
4 oz semisweet baking chocolate
3 8 oz packages of cream cheese
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1/3 cup creme de menth (substitute 1/2 tsp of peppermint extract)

Directions

Heat oven to 300°F. Wrap foil around bottom and side of ungreased 9-inch springform pan. In large bowl, mix crust ingredients with fork until crumbly. Press in bottom and 1 inch up side of pan. Bake 12 minutes. Cool 30 minutes.

In small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate on High 45 to 60 seconds, stirring once halfway through microwaving, until melted. If necessary, continue to microwave on High in 15-second increments, stirring until smooth. Set aside.

In large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed, scraping bowl frequently, until smooth and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. Stir in liqueur. Pour filling evenly over crust.

Drop 8 to 10 tablespoonfuls melted chocolate randomly onto filling, allowing chocolate to sink into filling. With table knife or small spatula, cut through chocolate and filling to swirl for marbled design.

Bake 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes or until set 2 inches from edge of pan. Remove from oven; run knife around side of cheesecake to loosen. Return to oven; turn oven off and open door slightly. Cool cheesecake in oven 1 hour. Remove from oven to cooling rack; cool at room temperature 1 hour. Refrigerate 3 hours. To serve, remove side of pan.

OPTIONAL: Spoon whipped cream into decorating bag with large star tip; squeeze bag to pipe cream around top edge of cheesecake. Garnish with Andes mints.

Blueberry Cheesecake

 Yes, more blueberries!

This cheese cake actually turned out.

Normally my cheesecakes are not quite as smooth as they should be...

 But this came out with relatively few ingredients.

Simple and delicious. My kind of cheesecake.

Here is the original recipe. On the one hand, She didn't put the blueberries in the cake and I wanted to. On the other hand, she made the crust using ginger snaps...

"Benny and the Jets" by Elton John 

(Yeah, watched 27 Dresses yesterday, slow film but this scene is really funny)

Ingredients:

• Graham cracker crust
• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup of blueberries (more as desired)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, and eggs. Once combined, add blueberries. Pour into prepared crust. Place in oven for 25 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Cheescake Bars

My sister saw these on For The Love of Cooking. Best Cookie Bars EVER.

 

Just a warning, we finished these off in one afternoon!

"King of Anything" Sara Bareilles

It's been stuck in my head all week!

Ingredients:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough:

• 5 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup of brown sugar, packed
• 3 tbsp white sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup of flour
• 1 cup of chocolate chips

Cheesecake Filling:

• 10 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 cup of white sugar
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla

 Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Oil an 8 inch square baking pan.

Prepare the chocolate chip cookie dough. Beat the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, salt, and vanilla together using a mixer until creamy and smooth. Add the flour to the butter mixture until just combined then add the chocolate chips and mix. Spread half of the mixture in the 8 inch square pan.
For the cheesecake filling, place the cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla together into a bowl then beat, using a mixer, until creamy and smooth. Carefully spread the cheesecake batter onto the cookie dough. Spread the remaining cookie dough on top. Place into the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the top (cookie dough) feels dry and firm and the entire pan looks set if given a gentle shake. Move bars to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Lift bars out by the overhang; slice and store in the refrigerator. Serve cold or at room temperature. Enjoy.