Caramel Apple Crisp Cheesecake

Source: a mix of Mel and my Uncle Bryan (cheesecake maker, extraordinaire)

Yield:
1 9-inch round cheesecake + an extra oval casserole dish of cheesecake bars (not quite as thick as a traditional cheesecake, but just as delicious)

Ingredients:
for the crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

for the cheesecake:
1 cup granulated sugar
24 ounces cream cheese (softened)
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
2 cans apple pie filling
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon cinnamon

for the streusel topping:

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup quick cooking oats

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened

for the caramel sauce:

4 Tablespoons butter

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

½ cups half-and-half or cream

pinch of salt

1 Tablespoon vanilla

(or you can just use your favorite stuff from the store, which is what I did the first time)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For the streusel, in a medium bowl, combine all the streusel topping ingredients and mix until crumbly. Set aside.

For the crust, in a medium bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two forks until mixture is crumbly but combined. Press evenly into a 9-inch spring-form pan.  (I had enough extra crust mixture to press into a small oval 1.5 qt casserole dish, too.) Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Decrease oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

For the cheesecake part, combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla using a hand mixer.  Mix until smooth.  Add eggs and mix until incorporated.  Blend most of one can (enough to get you 1 cup blended) of apple pie filling until smooth. Add blended apple pie filling, sour cream and cinnamon to the cream cheese mixture. Blend with hand mixer until ingredients are incorporated (avoid over mixing to reduce cracking).  Pour filling into crust.  Evenly add apples from remaining cans of apple pie filling on top of the cheesecake mixture (you don't need to use all of the filing, just the apples).  (My 9-inch springform would have overflowed with all the cheesecake filling, so I added some to the small oval casserole mentioned above - it wasn't as thick as in the springform pan, but it worked great.  I had enough apples from the filling to cover the top of it, as well.)

Sprinkle the streusel topping over the apples.  (You may notice the amounts above are a half-batch of Mel's recipe - it was plenty to cover both my 9-inch round cheesecake, plus my "extra" oval casserole dish.)

Place a cake pan half-filled with water on the bottom rack of the oven.  Place cheesecake on top oven rack in middle of oven directly above the cake pan.  Bake for approximately 1 3/4 to 2 hours (the cheesecake is done when the top is lightly browned and is puffy and starting to show some cracks).

Remove from oven, cool for approximately 2-3 hours to room temperature, and then refrigerate 6-8 hours or overnight.

Drizzle with the caramel topping (or plate individual slices and drizzle with topping one by one).

For the caramel sauce, mix butter, brown sugar, half-and-half or cream, and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook while whisking gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until thickened slightly. Add the vanilla and cook another minute to thicken further. Turn off the heat and pour the sauce into a jar. Refrigerate until cold. If the caramel sauce has cooled in the fridge long enough to harden, warm slightly before drizzling on bars.  (Or you can always just use store-bought caramel sauce of your choosing - that's what I did the first time and it was fantastic.  Actually, come to think of it, I didn't even serve it at the party with caramel sauce at all.  I only drizzled the leftovers with some caramel ice cream topping we had in our fridge after we got home.)

Notes:

For my grandpa's birthday in March (he turned 88!) my aunt requested that I bring a cheesecake for dessert.  When I asked Gregg for ideas on what kind I should bring, he wondered if there was such a thing as an apple crisp cheesecake combo.  I knew right where to look, and by doing a little mixing and matching, I came up with the above recipe.  It was a hit with the crowd at the birthday party, as well as with my dishy husband, because he requested a repeat appearance of it for his birthday in June.  Since I wanted to make sure I remembered everything I did back in March (I hope what I've typed is accurate - my brain is getting a little fuzzy in my old age), I decided to return to the land of the neglected food blog to share my notes and keep them safe for next time I attempt this creation in a couple of weeks.  

I hope to be back for good!  I don't know why my recipe posting habits have disappeared since last July (oh wait . . . I had a baby 8 months ago . . . maybe that has something to do with it?) but it isn't because I haven't been cooking!  I have a huge list in my "to blog" file that I have been meaning to share, so I have a new goal to post one each day during naptime for your viewing (and making and eating) pleasure.  Baby steps.

Carrot Cake Bundt Cake with a Cheesecake Swirl

Source: Mel's culinary genius brain

That's what I call bundt perfection!

Ingredients:
for the cake:
1 2/3 cup (8 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3-4 large carrots (12 ounces), ends trimmed and finely shredded (about 2 cups)
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar (7 ounces)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
1 cup oil (I subbed a half cup for applesauce - made it so moist and tasty!)
1/2 cup toasted, chopped pecans, optional (don't leave 'em out, I say!)

for the cheesecake swirl:
8 ounces cream cheese, light or regular, softened (I went whole hog and used regular)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg

for the cream cheese frosting:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons heavy cream (I used 1% milk)
1 tablespoon sour cream
2 cups powdered sugar (I ended up adding almost double this because the frosting was just so runny - so now I have tons left over in my fridge!)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9- or 10-inch bundt cake pan very well (I've found that softened butter works best for me), getting in all the nooks and crannies. Lightly dust with flour (and I can't skip the flour dusting!), tapping out the excess, and set aside.

For the cake batter, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl (you can use the bowl of a stand electric mixer here), with a handheld electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugars together until blended. With the mixer running, drizzle in the oil and mix until thick and creamy.

Add the dry ingredients, carrots and pecans, and mix gently by hand until combined and no streaks of flour remain. Set aside for a few minutes while preparing the cheesecake swirl filling.

For the cheesecake layer, beat together the cream cheese, vanilla, sugar and egg until smooth and well-combined. You can use an electric mixer or blender for this.

Pour half of the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Spoon the cream cheese mixture in dollops evenly across the top. Finish with the remaining carrot cake batter. It's ok if you can see the cream cheese layer peeking through - the carrot cake may not cover it all the way.

Bake the cake for 45-60 minutes (mine was done in exactly 45) until the top lightly springs back to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

It's a beaut!

Remove from the oven and let sit for 5-10 minutes before turning out onto a serving plate to cool completely.

For the frosting, whip together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth and well-combined (again, you could use a blender or an electric mixer for this). Add the heavy cream, sour cream and powdered sugar and mix until light and fluffy.

Once the cake is completely cooled, spread the frosting over the top curve of the bundt cake. If you want to cover the cake entirely, you can double the frosting (I didn't want to cover my whole cake, but I certainly could have with the amount of frosting that I had just by the normal recipe above).

Refrigerate until ready to serve. The cake can be made, frosted and refrigerated up to a day in advance. (I made my cake the day before I needed it, wrapped it in saran wrap and stored it in the fridge unfrosted until I served it - mostly because I needed to transport it and thought it would stay prettier if I did the frosting on site.)

Gotta snatch a pic quick, before it gets devoured completely!

Notes:
Oh my yummy yum!  This was another contribution to our Blanchard Family Mother's Day feast.  It was quite the hit with everyone - especially Callie, who was so excited to make and eat cake!  (She really wanted Grandma to blow out some candles while we sang happy birthday, too - we're working on birthday/holiday protocol.)  I've made Mel's carrot cake cheesecake before, but this was just as delicious and easier than ever!  I'll be keeping this one handy for sure.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with White Chocolate Mousse

Source: my good friend Mel (ha - in my dreams we're friends, anyway)

Our Blanchard Family Thanksgiving Dessert Spread
The Cheesecake is the one in the middle.

Ingredients:
for the crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 14 rectangle crackers)
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
8 Tablespoons butter, melted

for the cheesecake:
3 (8 ounces each) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch of cloves
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree (or about 2 cups if using homemade)

for the white chocolate mousse topping:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch ground nutmeg
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 ounces white chocolate, melted

Directions:
For the crust, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir in the melted butter and mix until combined and it looks like wet sand.

Press the crumbs into the bottom and just a bit up the sides of a 10-inch springform pan (I used a 9-incher since that's what I have, but it worked fine; it was just really full and in the end took quite a bit longer to cook the cheesecake - see later for details). Place the springform pan on a foil-lined larger baking pan and bake for about 8 minutes until the crust is just lightly golden and smells fragrant. Remove from the oven and let cool. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F.

For the cheesecake batter, in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or in a bowl with a handheld electric mixer), whip together the cream cheese and sour cream until just combined. Add the cornstarch, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves and mix until incorporated. Mix in the vanilla and pumpkin until just combined.

Spread the batter evenly over the crust and bake (keeping the pan still on the foil-lined baking sheet; helps prevent any leaking butter/batter from dirtying your oven) for 45-60 minutes (because mine was in a 9-inch pan, it took almost an hour and ten minutes and even then it still seemed too jiggly too me so I just turned off the oven and let it sit inside for a while as the oven cooled) until the edges are set and the center slightly jiggles. Let the cheesecake cool completely.

For the white chocolate topping, in a medium bowl, beat the cream and vanilla with an electric mixer (handheld or stand mixer) until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix until combined and the peaks are slightly stiffer. In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Add the white chocolate and mix until smooth and creamy. Fold in the whipped cream, taking care not to deflate the whipped cream, and mix gently with a rubber spatula, lifting and turning the cream, until the mousse is combined and creamy. (Mine never mixed smoothly - when I was done it looked more like whipped cream with a tiny clumps of cream cheese speckled throughout.  So it looked weird, but it tasted great.)

Spread the white chocolate topping on top of the cooled cheesecake. (It was really nice to have the mousse to cover my sunken top on my cheesecake - I tend to mix my cheesecakes too much, so they get too much air and then sink when they come out of the oven.  If you do the same thing, then you don't have to fret because you can just fill in the hole with the mousse!)  Refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours or up to a day.  (I made mine the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  When it cooled, I covered it in a layer of plastic wrap and then a layer of aluminum foil and then popped it in the freezer.  It traveled to Utah a few days later in the cooler and then lived in the fridge until it was time to eat dessert on Sunday afternoon.) Garnish with a light dusting of freshly grated nutmeg, if desired.

Notes:
If you want a showstopping dessert, especially in the fall when it's pumpkin season, look no further than this awesome cheesecake.  Luckily, it looks way impressive and tastes way impressive, but it does not require major feats of culinary excellence to create it.  Sign me up!  Sure, it takes a little time and a lot of cream cheese, but really it's worth every minute!  One of the greatest things about cheesecake is that it can/should be made a day or two (or more if you want to freeze it) ahead of time, leaving you free to make the rest of your meal on the big day.  Bonus.

Orange Creamsicle Cheesecake

Source: here

Ingredients:
for the graham cracker crust:
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 cups graham cracker crumbs

for the cheesecake:
2 - 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream

for the creamsicle layer:
1 - 3 oz box orange flavored gelatin
1 1/2 cup boiling water
1 - 8 oz container of whipped topping such as Cool Whip

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325°.

In a mixing bowl combine the butter, sugar, and graham cracker crumbs. Stir until combined. Pat into a 9" springform pan. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl whip the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time then beat in sour cream. Pour the filling into the crust.

Bake for 40 minutes. Turn of the oven and crack the oven door for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

Once cooled mix the creamsicle layer by stirring the gelatin with the boiling water until it dissolves. Then gently whisk in the whipped topping until it's completely combined. Pour over the cheesecake. Set on a plate or dish in case of dripping and place in the freezer for an hour. Remove from the freezer and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve. I suggest chilling it over night.

When ready to serve use a sharp knife and run it around the pan to separate the gelatin layer from the side. Unhinge the pan and gently lift from the cheesecake.

Notes:
A conversation with Gregg about his upcoming birthday we had a few days ago:
Me: What would you like for your birthday dessert?
Gregg: I wonder if there is such a thing as orange creamsicle cheesecake.
Me, searching in google: I think you're in luck!

And were we ever in luck - this was utterly delicious last night as we celebrated Gregg's 31st birthday.  It's become somewhat of a tradition to make cheesecake for his birthday (3 out of the 4 birthdays he's had since we've been married have involved a homemade cheesecake) and they're getting easier to make and tastier to eat each time.  I like where this trend is going!

Pomegranate Cheesecake

Source

INGREDIENTS:
Crust:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

Filling:
4 8-oz. packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream (reduced fat worked great)
1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
3/4 cup pomegranate seeds

Topping:
1 1/2 cups sour cream (again, reduced fat worked great)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Pomegranate Glaze:
1-16-ounce bottle pomegranate juice (usually found in the refrigerated section of juices)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup pomegranate seeds (tutorial on de-seeding here)

DIRECTIONS:
For the crust: preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl beat butter on medium high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar. Beat until combined. Add egg; beat well. Beat in flour until combined. Divide dough in half. Cover one portion and set it aside.

Remove the sides from a 10-inch springform pan and set aside. Spread first portion of dough onjust the bottom of ungreased springform pan base, spreading dough to edges. Place on baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool completely. When cool, attach sides of pan. Press chilled dough onto the sides of the sprinform pan to a height of 1-3/4 inches, using a thin metal spatula, like an offset spatula, to spread dough.

For the filling: reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. In an extra-large mixing bowl beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the flour on low speed until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla all at once, beating on low speed just until combined. Mix in sour cream and lemon peel. Then, using a wooden spoon or a spatula, gently fold in pomegranate seeds (if you use the electric mixer for this part, the seeds will burst and stain the filling with the juice – and it won’t look as pretty).

Pour filling into crust-lined pan. Place on baking sheet. Bake for 65 minutes or until edges are puffed and center jiggles slightly when gently shaken. Remove from oven. (It doesn’t matter if the cheesecake cracks on top since it will have a sour cream topping.)

For the topping: stir together sour cream, sugar, and vanilla. Spread sour cream mixture over top of baked cheesecake, spreading gently to the edges. Return to oven; bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes. Loosen crust from sides of pan. Cool for 30 minutes more. Remove sides of pan; cool completely. Cover; chill 4 hours or overnight.

For pomegranate glaze: in a medium saucepan bring pomegranate juice to boiling; reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered, until reduced to 1 cup (12 to 15 minutes). In a separate bowl, stir together brown sugar and cornstarch. Add to juice. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Transfer to a medium bowl; cover surface with clear plastic wrap. Cool to room temperature. Store, covered, in refrigerator until serving time.

When ready to serve, remove cheesecake and pomegranate glaze from refrigerator 15 minutes before serving. Spoon some sauce over top of cheesecake; pile remaining pomegranate seeds in center of cheesecake. To serve, slice cheesecake. Pass remaining sauce. Makes 16 servings.

NOTES: I needed a fancy-ish dessert to serve some foodie friends of mine and this was just the ticket. The crust was sublime, the cheesecake was decadent (I omitted the seeds, and only used them in the glaze), and the glaze was eye-opening. Note that the longer you refrigerate the glaze, the harder the stems of the seeds get, so I suggest keeping that at room temp before serving, if possible. 

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Source: adapted from myrecipes.com

Ingredients:
for the crust:
20 oreos (I actually used 1 sleeve of chocolate grahams - made about 1 1/2 cups of crumbs)
2 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (whoops - my had salt - no biggie!)

for the filling:
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
3 large eggs, at room temperature (whoops - forgot to take those out when I took out the cream cheese - no biggie!)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (I didn't have any so I used a concoction of what I did have: 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon + 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger + 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg + 1/8 teaspoon cloves.  Adapted from this recipe with what I had.)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line an 8-inch-square pan with foil so that foil overhangs sides. Mist with cooking spray. (I did the lining an 8x8 pan and misting with cooking spray step - and then when I had the crust baked and done and ready for the filling to be poured in I realized there was NO WAY all that filling was going to fit in my pan.  So I dumped the crumbs into a 9x13 (un-lined and un-sprayed), patted them down gently, and poured away.  Worked fine.  And fit like a glove.)
2. Make crust: Process cookies in food processor until ground. Pulse in butter. Press evenly into pan. Bake until firm, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool slightly.
3. Make filling: With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth, about 2 minutes. Beat in pumpkin, then eggs, 1 at a time. Beat in vanilla, flour, spice and salt until just combined.
4. Pour mixture into pan. Put pan on a large rimmed baking sheet; place in oven. Pour hot water into baking sheet until it's nearly filled. Bake until cheesecake is set around edges but jiggles slightly in center, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove pan from sheet; cool completely on rack. Cover with plastic wrap. Chill until firm, at least 3 hours.

Notes:
Gregg has been (not so) subtly hinting at how much he has been wishing for cheesecake lately, so when we were at the store this week, we grabbed some cream cheese (not usually on our list) with the intention of making these.  We also needed to grab nutella in order to make that recipe, but after suffering from the sticker shock for said ingredient, we put it back on the shelf and decided to try something else.  (We're really cheap.)  I got looking at my pinterest cookbook board and discovered a plethora of cheesecake recipes, many involving pumpkin, which is something I had on hand as well as something that fits in with the lovely season we're in right now.  So it was settled.  And I got busy baking.  Gregg was out of town yesterday for a conference, so he didn't get home till much later than usual, but luckily it was just enough time for the 3 hour cooling of these bars to be complete.  Perfect timing for a perfect surprise.

And so delicious!  They taste just like pumpkin pie in a light and fluffy cheesecake form.  I liked the chocolate from the grahams in the crust, but I think they'd be equally delicious with a gingersnap crust - I'll try that next time.  Now our only problem is finishing off a huge pan of cheesecake by ourselves - anyone want to visit?  :)

Lemon Curd Cheesecake

Source: Me (Laurel)

Ingredients:
Crust:
1 1/2 cups crushed vanilla wafers
1/3 cup softened butter

Filling:
2 8-ox packages cream cheese (softened/room temp)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

Topping:
1/2 jar of lemon curd

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. For crust, stir together wafer crumbs and softened butter until crumbly. Press into the sides and bottom of a 9" pie plate. Set aside.
2. For filling, beat cream cheese, zest, juice, and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. (It's important that the cream cheese be room temp, or else your filling will be lumpy.) Add eggs, mix  just until blended. Pour into prepared pie crust.
3. Stir lemon curd in a small bowl until smooth and thin (it helps to microwave for a few seconds). Pour curd in stripes about 1" apart on top of filling. Drag knife in an "S" pattern through the stripes to create a marbled design in the curd.
4. Bake 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool, then refrigerate at least 3-6 hours before serving.

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!  :)

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars with Streusel Topping

Source: melskitchencafe.com

Ingredients:

Base:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

Cream Cheese Layer:
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Apples:
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Streusel Topping:
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 cup caramel sauce (homemade recipe below)

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, two tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine all the streusel topping ingredients and mix until crumbly. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two forks until mixture is crumbly but combined. Press evenly into a 9X13-inch baking pan lined with aluminum foil. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

While the crust is baking, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Then add eggs, one at a time and then the vanilla. Mix well. Pour over the warm crust.

Spoon the apple mixture evenly over the cheesecake layer. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the apples. Bake for 30 minutes until the filling is set.

Cool the bars to room temperature. Drizzle with the caramel topping (or plate individual slices and drizzle with topping one by one).

Caramel Sauce:
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cups half-and-half or cream
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon vanilla

Mix butter, brown sugar, half-and-half or cream, and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook while whisking gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until thickened slightly. Add the vanilla and cook another minute to thicken further. Turn off the heat and pour the sauce into a jar. Refrigerate until cold. If the caramel sauce has cooled in the fridge long enough to harden, warm slightly before drizzling on bars.