It's a Double Whammy.

Cheesecake.

Cookie Dough.

 Cookie Dough Cheesecake.

This was the other dessert I made for Thanksgiving. It was a huge hit with my family. And I have to admit, on Friday and Saturday it is what I ate for breakfast.

The cheesecake isn't baked in a water bath, which I thought was very odd. I have only made one other cheesecake before (a nutella cheesecake!), and it had a water bath. I was a little apprehensive about making it cause I thought the water bath served a vital purpose in the overall baking of the cheesecake. Turns out, it just prevents cracks on the top, and I wasn't so worried about that.

This dessert is definitely a double whammy. The cheesecake is smooth and creamy and the cookie dough balls are, well...cookie dough. You can't go wrong with that. After you make the cookie dough and shape it into balls, make sure to put them in the freezer. If not, they will just bake along with the cheesecake and turn into cookies. Pretty cool, but not as snazzy and just the dough. When the cake is in the oven, the frozen dough balls will just thaw and still be yummy raw goodness.

I'm not sure if my springform pan was a bit loose or what, but when I baked it, it dripped grease onto the bottom of my oven. So about halfway through baking when I realized it was dripping, I just slid a cookie sheet on the bottom rack to catch the grease. Luckily, I have one of those nonstick pads on the bottom of the oven, so cleanup was a breeze, it was a just a little chaotic. In the end, though, it was so worth it. 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake-recipe by Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Crust:
4 Tablespoons butter, melted
2 1/2 cups Oreo cookie crumbs

Cookie Dough:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

2 Tablespoons milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup AP flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup mini chocolate chips

Filling:
4 (8oz) blocks cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon AP flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sour cream
1 cup mini chocolate chips

For the cookie dough: In a medium bowl, combine the butter and both sugars. Add the milk and vanilla and blend. Mix in the flour, salt, and chips. The dough will be fairly soft. Gently roll the dough into small balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place them in the freezer to harden while making the rest of the cheesecake.

For the crust: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 10 inch springform pan. In a medium bowl, combine butter and cookie crumbs. Press onto bottom and about halfway up the sides of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

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 no to overmix, you want your cheesecake to be light and fluffy.

Pour half the batter into the cooled crust. Gently stir in the cookie dough balls and additional chocolate chips into the remaining batter. Pour that into the pan, spreading the batter to the sides of the pan and evening out the top. Bake the cheesecake for one hour. Turn off the oven and prop the door open several inches and let sit in oven for an additional 30 minutes. Remove the cake and let cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate overnight.

Pumpkin Is Timeless.

I realized my last post was about pumpkin. And this post is about pumpkin. But truth be told, I can't get enough pumpkin. Especially on Thanksgiving. To me, there are a few things about Thanksgiving that never get old:

-spending time with my wonderful family
-hearing my brother jokingly yell "this needs more salt" numerous times from the living room
-eating until it hurts, and then some more
-pumpkin

That being said, make this pie! It is the perfect blend of spices and pumpkin to give you the pumpkin pie taste, but without all the work. And I love anything with a graham cracker crust. I changed the recipe just a hair. I put mine in a tart pan, instead of a pie pan, for easy removal. I also sprinkled a bit of cinnamon on top instead of maple syrup. That extra zing was delish. Also, I didn't add any molasses simply because I didn't have any, but I think it would have tasted just as great.

I know the pictures aren't the best quality, but I was taking them seconds before family members snatched the pie out of my hands to eat. We take our desserts very seriously. I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving and I'll see you in a few days!

Pumpkin Cream Pie-recipe by Joy the Baker

for the crust:

1 1/2 cups finely crushed graham crackers

2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

pinch of salt

5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

for the filling:

1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened

5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 (15oz) can pumpkin

for the topping:

1 cup heavy cream

3 Tablespoons maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine graham crackers with sugar, salt, an melted butter. Toss together to coat the entire mixture in butter. Press into 9-inch tart pan.

Bake crust for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely before adding the filling.

Beat cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add the powdered sugar to the mixture and beat until smooth and fluffy. Add the vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and canned pumpkin and beat until thoroughly combined. If necessary, pass through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl to remove lumps.

Spoon the filling into the cooled tart shell. Let pie chill in the fridge overnight. 

Beat together heavy cream and maple syrup until cream is in soft peaks. Spread over the chilled pie and sprinkle cinnamon. Slice and serve.