Chocolate Cheesecake

A few years ago I went on a quest to make the perfect chocolate cheesecake. I learned a lot on my  journey and after many failed recipes, I took what I'd learned, combined some recipes, and came up with this fantastic, tempting, delicious recipe. No, it's not healthy, but every now and then its okay to splurge... and this, well, this is worth every decadent calorie.   

Crust: 
24 Oreo Cookies, crushed
6 Tbsp. butter, melted

Filling: 
3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 (14 oz) can Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
4 large eggs
2 tea vanilla extract

Topping: 
Whipped Cream
Chocolate Sauce


Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Mix cookie crumbs and butter. Press onto bottom and 1" up side of a 10" springform pan.

In large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in Sweetened Condensed Milk. Mix until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Pour into prepared crust. Bake 60 minutes in a water bath. When time is up, turn off heat but leave cake in oven for 1 hour. Remove from oven, cover, and refrigerate.

(Tip: two premade chocolate crusts can be used as a short cut instead of making an oreo one from scratch.)