Graham Cracker Crust For Cheesecake

Ingredients

Crust

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/3 cup dutch-process cocoa
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup salted butter, melted

Cheesecake

• 3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Sauce

• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup dutch-process cocoa
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 8 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped

Directions

Crust

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Grease 9" springform pan
3. In a small bowl, combine graham crumbs, cocoa sugar and melted butter together.
4. Press the crumbs evenly into the bottom and a little up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan.
5. Set aside.

Filling

1. With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until nice and smooth.
2. Add in the sweetened condensed milk and beat until smooth.
3. Beat in the eggs and vanilla, scraping down the sides and bottom of bowl whenever necessary.
4. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for one hour.
5. Turn oven off and allow to cool in the oven for 1 hour. Remove to a cooling rack.
6. Run a thin knife all the way around the edge of the cheesecake.
7. Cool completely before refrigerating.
8. Let the cheesecake sit for at least 4 hours or overnight before serving.

Sauce

1. In a medium saucepan, heat the water, sugar, and corn syrup together until boiling. Stir frequently.
2. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the cocoa. Add the vanilla and whisk again until combined.
3. Add the chopped chocolate and let the mixture sit for 3 minutes.
4. Use a spatula to stir the mixture until the chocolate is melted and smooth.
5. Let the mixture cool. Keep in the refrigerator.
6. When you go to serve the cheesecake, if the chocolate sauce is too stiff to drizzle, just warm it up a tiny bit either in the microwave at half power until warm, or in a small saucepan on the stove top.
7. Drizzle over the cheesecake when serving.
8. The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for 2 weeks and can be used with other desserts as well.