I AM AN ANIMAL MURDERER!
There! I said it! It's out in the open. I have killed dozens of animals! No, I don't know how I sleep at night or how I can live with myself. I killed dozens of animals just making this cheesecake alone!
*giggles* Animal CRACKERS that is. I couldn't honestly hurt a fly...spider maybe, but fly probably not. Fruit fly? Yeah, sure! Stink bug! HELLS to da YEAH!! Animals? Not in a million. I brake for squirrels... Just saying.WalMart does NOT have chocolate graham crackers. No matter what mantra I use, they're just not going to carry them. The last chocolate cookies I use just didn't cut it for some reason. The texture and crumb just didn't do my cheesecake justice.
You should have seen the happy dance I did when I found these little buggers! And they're inexpensive! Cheap crack for my addiction! Yipee skippy!! I was so excited, I forgot to measure the crackers before slaughtering them. I processed 1 1/2 cups worth of crumbs. It wound up being approximately 2 large handfuls of crackers. Then, while the crackers were processing, I poured the 2 tablespoons if ICBINB in the top so it drizzled evenly over all the chocolatey goodness.
I covered the bottom of my springform pan with aluminum foil and then pressed the crumbs into the bottom and up the sides. I used the bottom of a high ball glass covered in plastic wrap to make sure it was nice and even up the sides of the pan. I love this technique!
This went into the 350 oven for about 8 to 10 minutes; or until you start to smell the crust. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cook completely before putting the filling in the pan.
Allow the yogurt to drain overnight in a strainer with either cheesecloth, coffee filters, or paper towels and set over a bowl to catch the weigh. This will produce a thick yogurt cheese and should yield 1 cup of cheese. You may need to empty the bowl depending on how large it is. While your crust is cooling, set the cottage cheese in a strainer with the same method and allow it to drain for at least 30 minutes.Once both are drained, measure 1 cup of each and process in the bowl of a food processor until completely smooth and no lumps are visible. Okay...I have to confess. Is it anal of me to want to strain this mixture before continuing? *snort* There really should be NO LUMPS what so ever.
This is the standard base I've used for the last three experiments. I like the flavor and 
I should have perused the candy aisle for darker chocolate bars. I'm more of a 70% or darker girl myself. I CAN.NOT stand milk chocolate. It's too sweet for me. And not to say that Hershey is bad...it's just not my favorite chocolate. I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to that. Dark chocolate and peanut butter...my specialties.I always melt my chocolate in the microwave. Don't hate! I don't have a double boiler and don't feel I need to dirty two more pots when tempering it in my micro works just fine for me. I'm not making candy with it...it's just getting dumped into a cheesecake, or brownies, or a cake. You just need to taste it and not see it. So, untwist your panties.
I forgot to get a shot of it before it baked. And it baked into this CRATER of a crack! Yeah, that's gonna be next to conquer. Trying to get it NOT to crack. It's fun experimenting though!! :) This one cooked perfectly except for the crack. It's creamy and smooth. It didn't curdle and it's not dry on the edges. It's chocolately goodness. Low Fat Chocolate Cheesecake
Ingredients
For Crust:
- 1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
- 2 tablespoons I Can't Believe It's Not Butter stick, melted
For Cheesecake:
- 16 ounces yogurt, nonfat
- 16 ounces cottage cheese, fat free
- 16 ounces cream cheese, low fat (Neufchatel)
- 1 cup sugar, granulated
- 3 eggs, large
- 4 ounces dark chocolate squares
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For crust:
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Combine the cookie crumbs and melted margarine until a coarse meal forms. Wrap the bottom of an 8 inch springform baking pan in aluminum foil and press cookie crumb mixture into bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides. Bake in 350 oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
For the filling:
- Put the yogurt in a strainer lined with cheesecloth, coffee filters, or paper towels and allow to drain for 10 hours. Drain the cottage cheese in the same manner for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Combine both in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Cream the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add 1/3 of the cottage cheese mixture to the cream cheese and beat until completely incorporated and smooth. Add the remaining cottage cheese mixture and process until copmletely smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, processing after each addition.
- Coarsely chop the chocolate and place in a microwave safe bowl. Heat on high for 1 minute. Stir the chocolate. If needed, heat additional 15 seconds at a time until complete melted. Add to the cheese mixture processing until combined and smooth.
- Preheat oven to 450.
- Pour the filling into the springform pan being careful not to disturb the crust. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat t0 200 and continue to bake for 20 minutes. Turn and bake an additional 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Carefully wrap the springform pan in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours before serving.
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