Chocolate Cheesecake Bars with Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

Crust:

• 36 Oreo Cookies one regular package- crushed
• 8 Tablespoons butter-melted

Cheesecake:

• 12 oz. bittersweet chocolate chips good quality
• 3 8 oz packages cream cheese- softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup light brown sugar- packed
• 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Chocolate Ganache

• 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips Use a good quality chocolate such as Ghirardelli or baker’s chocolate
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions

Crust:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a 9×13 baking dish with heavy duty aluminum foil or parchment paper. Spray lightly with non-stick spray and set aside.
2. In a food processor, pulse Oreo cookies until you get fine crumbs. Add in butter and pulse until combined.
3. Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan using the back of a spoon. Make sure to bring the crumbs about 1/2 -1 inch up the sides.
4. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.
5. Reduce the heat to 325 degrees F.

Cheesecake Filling:

6. In a medium microwave safe bowl, pour the chocolate and heat at 30 second intervals stirring in between until completely melted and smooth. Allow to cool.
7. In the bowl of a stand mixer equipped with a paddle attachment (or using an electric hand mixer) cream the cream cheese for 2-3 minutes or until smooth and there are no lumps remaining. Mix in both sugars and cocoa powder and mix until just combined.
8. Add in eggs and the heavy cream and mix until just combined.
9. Last, fold in the cooled chocolate and vanilla extract.
10. Pour the batter over the prepared crust and smooth evenly.
11. Bake for 30 minutes or until the center of the cheesecake slightly jiggles. (Think Jell-o, not watery)
12. Remove the cake from the oven and carefully loosen the foil and immediately run the tip of a hot butter knife (I run mine under hot water for about 1 minute) around the sides to prevent cracking. Cool completely in the pan then transfer the cheesecake to the refrigerator to set at least 6 hours to overnight.

Chocolate Ganache

13. Prepare the ganache by pouring the heavy cream into a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup and heat for about 1 minute or until boiling.
14. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let sit for 3-5 minutes until the chocolate is nice and melted.
15. Whisk well until smooth and pour evenly over the bars and smooth. Place back in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
16. Garnish with whipped cream and chocolate shavings