Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake

Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:

Crust:
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (Mel likes to use chocolate Teddy Grahams but you could use any chocolate wafer cookie or even Oreos - I used store-brand chocolate graham crackers and they were perfect)

Filling:
4 (8-ounce) blocks cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sour cream (Light works just fine)

Cookie Dough:
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoon water or milk
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips (I didn't have any so I tried chopping my regular chips into bits - and I ended up just using the whole chocolate chips which was fine, though maybe not as cute)
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

Directions:

For the cookie dough: In a medium bowl, combine the butter and sugars for the cookie dough. Add the water (or milk), 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, maybe a bit larger) 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.

Notes:
We decided to try this cheesecake for Gregg's birthday dessert on a whim after seeing a picture of it on Mel's Kitchen Cafe during a little recipe blog stalking.  (P.S. Check out her site for some divine pics of this creation - that's what sold me on the whole adventure.)  It was my first ever attempt at a baked cheesecake and lucky for all involved it turned out to be a success. This stuff is good.  Rich, sweet, and darn delicious!  So, if you have some time and are not afraid of a recipe with four (4!) blocks of cream cheese, then this is the dessert for you!  :)