Polka Dot Cheesecake Recipe
A fun and delicious cheesecake recipe for those of you that always wish there was more crunchy crust.
Ingredients
Crust18 ounces Chocolate Wafer cookies
(or 3 cups chocolate cookie wafer crumbs)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
Cheesecake
16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream
Freshly grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
Directions
Crust
Preheat oven to 275˚F, with rack in the center.
Use a food processor to pulse the cookies to fine crumbs.
Add the cinnamon and melted butter, and pulse to combine.
Grease the bottom and sides of a 9 inch spring form pan with butter and sprinkle ¾ of the cookie crumbs inside.
Shake the cake pan to distribute them evenly on the bottom, then use fingers to push them up the sides of your pan.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Use the remaining crust and press it flat on a piece of parchment paper. Use a small cup or cookie cutter to cut circles which you will use later to decorate.
Cheesecake
Increase oven temperature to 300˚F.
On medium speed, beat the cream cheese and sugar until completely smooth, about 15 minutes. You will need to stop to scape down the sides a couple of times. Mix in the eggs one at a time until completely incorporated, scraping down the bowl and paddle before adding each egg. Add the sour cream, lemon zest, and lemon juice and continue to beat until the mixture is uniformly smooth. Pour the batter over the cookie crumb crust.
Use a flat spatula to gently pick up and place your cookie cutter circles of crust in a pattern on your cheesecake. You may need to re-flatten your crust and re make some circles to cover your cake if the crust pieces break during this process.
Bake for 1 hour, so the center is still wobbly when shaken. If the top is burning, tent the cheesecake with tinfoil. Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool, then refrigerate until completely chilled before serving, about 2 hours.