This chocolate chip cheesecake is a variation of traditional cheesecakes (with a water bath). This one only takes 35 minutes to bake and leverages a can of sweetened condensed milk.
I’ll admit that when I saw this recipe in our monthly-ish advertising mailer, I was very skeptical. There is a food/recipe column that I tend to read, and this month was no exception. In the February issue, I saw a chocolate chip cheesecake recipe. Knowing that my family was very into cheesecakes, I read the recipe.
To my surprise, the cheesecake only required 1 package of cream cheese. As a substitute, it used a can of sweetened condensed milk. I mean, is that even legal?
The only way to solve for my curiosity was to actually make the recipe. Not that I had much of a choice though, since my husband and daughter were both chanting, “Cheesecake! Cheesecake!” in unison.
I leveraged a graham cracker crust since I didn’t have any chocolate sandwich cookies. The texture of the cheesecake wasn’t as dense or rich as a traditional cheesecake. I was, however, thankful that this type of cheesecake wasn’t as prone to cracking.
While this wasn’t my favorite cheesecake recipe, it is still a good one to keep on hand if you are more pressed for time. It doesn’t require all the baking or cooling time as a traditional cheesecake, which is good.
Husband’s rating: 3 out of 5
Addie’s rating: 3.5 out of 5
My rating: 3.5 out of 5
Chocolate chip cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust
- 16 sheets graham crackers crushed into crumbs (I used a food processor)
- 10 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted
Filling
- 1 8-ounce package cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
Ganache
- ½ cup chocolate chips or chocolate, finely chopped
- ¼ cup heavy cream
Instructions
Make the crust
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Generously grease a 9" or 10" springform pan and set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix together the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. The mixture should resemble wet sand and should hold its shape when you press into it. Transfer the crumb mixture into your prepared pan and press the crumbs up the sides and on the bottom. Set aside.
Make the filling
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla and mix until well incorporated. Slowly drizzle in the sweetened condensed milk.
- In a separate small bowl, mix together the chocolate chips and flour. Gently fold this into the cream cheese mixture.
- Transfer the filling into your prepared crust and bake in your preheated oven for 35 minutes or until the center is no longer jiggly.
- Allow the cheesecake to cool before making the ganache
Make the ganache
- Place the chocolate chips or chopped chocolate in a medium sized bowl. Heat up the heavy cream either in a microwaveable measuring cup or in a saucepan. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips and allow to sit for about 1 minutes. Whisk vigorously until the mixture is smooth.
- Pour the ganache over the cooled cheesecake and place in the refrigerator to cool, another 1-2 hours or overnight.
- Decorate with whipped cream or additional chocolate chips/shavings if desired. Serve and slice.