Chocolate Chip Cheesecake | Recipe Review

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I've done a recipe review. I was specifically asked by @p_j_foster for the recipe so here it is. It's actually a combination of two different recipes. The chocolate crust was from part of an AllRecipes.com recipe while the filling was from the Philadelphia Cheesecake website.

Crust:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs

1/3 C white sugar

1/3 C cocoa powder (unsweetened)

1/3 C butter (melted)

Instructions:

Mix ingredients together and press into the bottom and sides of the pan.

Comments:

This crust was actually pretty similar to a regular cheesecake crust, it just also has cocoa powder. The only other non-graham cracker crust I'd ever made was based on crushed Oreo cookies and it only turned out so-so. As a result, I was worried about how this one would taste. 

Filling:

Ingredients:

16 oz cream cheese

1/2 C white sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

3/4 C chocolate chips (divided)

Instructions:

Mix together the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Next mix in the eggs. Once the mix is fully blended, stir in 1/2 C of the chocolate chips. 

Pour the filling onto the crust and spread evenly. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 C of chocolate chips on top.

Bake at 350° for 40 minutes.
After it's cooled for a bit, refrigerate for 3 hours.

Comments:

I ended up having to bake this for about 10-15 minutes longer than the recipe called for. I'm not sure if it's because I used a spring-form pan while the original recipe called for a pie dish (pre-made crust). As a result, I kinda had to watch for it to get more solid in the middle. That being said, baking for 50 minutes probably would be a safe bet.

Taste Test:

Fluxx and I had similar opinions. Because I frequently use cream cheese in my frosting recipes, I thought the cheesecake tasted like chocolate frosting. Fluxx thought it tasted more like candy than cheesecake because of the chocolate chips. We both agree that it's not bad, but is at it's best when accompanied by a strong drink (i.e. coffee). I know Fluxx must have really liked it because, when there were leftovers on Monday he asked me to pack him a BIG slice to take to work. 

Overall, I think I'm gonna keep this recipe. 

Oreo Cupcakes

It's been a long while since I've done a recipe review so I decided to record my baking for Easter Sunday. I ended up making Oreo Cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes with an Oreo at the bottom and crushed Oreos in the frosting. I used a generic chocolate cupcake recipe for the cupcakes and my usual recipe for the butter-cream frosting.

Ingredients:

For the generic chocolate cupcakes:

                          3 Cups Flour                         2 Eggs                         1 tsp Vanilla

                          2 Cups Sugar                         1 Cup Milk

                          1/3 Cup Cocoa Powder         1 Cup Water

                          2 tsp Baking Soda                 1 Cup Vegetable Oil

For the butter-cream frosting:

8 oz Cream Cheese       1/2 Cup Butter            ~1 lb. Powdered Sugar

Instructions:

The overall recipe is pretty simple. Mix the ingredients together and pour into the cupcake tins. However, because these are Oreo Cupcakes, we start out with cookies in the bottom of each cupcake.

THEN we fill them up to the brim.

The frosting is just as simple, though I'm adding in crushed Oreos that are getting further crushed by the hand mixer.

Then it's just a matter of combining the cupcakes and the frosting and the product is finished!

Review:

Between me, Fluxxdog and Veonoss, we can all agree that these do taste pretty good. Unfortunately there is room for improvement. The chocolate cupcake DEFINITELY tasted generic. Next time, I'll replace the water with either coffee or Bailey's Irish Cream. 

Still, it tastes pretty good and I will be baking it again. 4 Hoots!

        

                Hoot!Hoot!

                Hoot!Hoot!

Also, if you'd prefer to see the video, you can watch it here or go to my YouTube channel!*

*Thanks again, so much, Fluxxdog for editing.

Recipe Review: Soft Chocolate Cookies

I found the original recipe for Soft Chocolate Cookies on AllRecipes.com. I've made this several times before but this time I documented it. I always have a fear that, though I've successfully made a recipe 100 times, there's no guarantee I won't fail the 101st time.


The recipe itself is fairly simple, standard cookie ingredients that mix well together.

I do recommend taking the option of refrigerating the dough if you can keep it safe from wild snackers.* This will make the dough a lot more solid when you go to roll it into balls.

If I had the time, I probably would have gone to the store to get some alternate ingredients to make these cookies healthier. If you're interested, I find that baby food prunes work as a great replacement for butter in chocolate foods. It actually makes them come out more moist. You can also replace eggs with cornstarch to cut out calories and cholesterol. I'll probably go into specifics if I do a review of my Vegan Oatmeal Raisin cookies.**

The resulting cookies look and taste delicious. Fluxxdog and Veonoss both dove right into them. Fluxxdog actually said that they taste like mini-cakes. I made them promise that they will allow some to survive to tomorrow.*** Next time I make them, however, I will either do the previously mentioned substitutions to make them more diet friendly, or I will go the opposite route and try my hand at a peanut butter frosting for them at Fluxxdog's request.**** Or I could go another route and add a 1/2 Cup of Bailey's to the mixture to give them a great flavor.

Overall, this recipe has been a repeated success in my household and can be easily modified to fit desired flavors or just be played around with. I give this recipe 5 hoots and encourage you to try it for yourselves.

Hoot!Hoot!

Hoot!Hoot!

Hoot!

*Fluxxdog managed to sneak a "pinch" of dough before dinner.
**The only meal I am willing to eat vegan is dessert.
***We'll see how that goes.
****I'm one of those weird people that absolutely does not like combining peanut butter and chocolate so he was hesitant to request this for next time.