Welcome to your new addiction: two of the most delicious treats in the whole wide world are rolled into one in this Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake.

I think it’s well known fact that I have a major, MAJOR thing for cheesecake and a really extra sweet spot for cookie dough. Of course, when I learned that Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake was an actual thing, I had to stop everything and make it happen in my very own kitchen.

Although I have to admit that I wasn’t quite exactly convinced at first… I had serious doubts that the cake would actually live up to the very high expectations that I had of it.

I can already hear you wondering… How is it that I could ever have the slightest doubt in my mind that the union of the two most delightful, ambrosial, addictive and drool-worthy treats in the whole wide world would actually result in anything less than absolute perfection?

Well, it was all a question of texture and temperature. Let me explain…

You see, in my opinion, cheesecake is best enjoyed really chilled, as in straight out of the fridge. That’s where its texture is at its absolute best, me thinks: it’s nice and firm, creamy and dense but melt-in-your-mouth smoooooooth and silky at the same time. THE DREAM!

Cookie dough, on the other hand, I find that it truly shines when it’s had time to sit at room temperature for a little while. It becomes so much softer and suppler, not so hard and grainy and crumbly… plus, the chocolate chips that it contains are also much sweeter and creamier when they’re slightly warm. When cold, chocolate tends to be way too rock-like for my taste; Plus, it often becomes practically tasteless.

And then there’s the fact that that cold cookie dough tends to be hard to slice into, especially when rolled into a ball…

So I was afraid that I’d have to compromise: either have the cheesecake at room temperature and ruin its beautiful firm texture but let the cookie dough truly shine and be able to slice through it with ease, or enjoy it cold and favor the texture of the cheesecake but eat rock solid cookie dough and totally ruin the cake as I’d slice it up, because the cookie dough would be way too firm to slice into and would only end up destroying the delicate texture of the cheesecake as it was being forced down into the cake by the knife.

Well, let me tell you, none of my fears had been justified! This cake ended up being the creamiest, smoothest, silkiest, dreamiest cheesecake I’ve ever eaten. Even taken straight out of the fridge, the cookie dough remained deliciously supple and melt-in-your-mouth creamy and super deliciously tasty. As you can see in the pictures, it was super easy to slice right through!

If like me you’re the biggest fan of both cheesecake and cookie dough, then I urge you to make this cheesecake at once. Don’t even hesitate, not even for one second.

It’s more than just a cake: it’s an experience you won’t soon forget!

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STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS & PICTURES

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TO MAKE THE COOKIE DOUGH

Line the bottom of a 9” springform pan with parchment paper. To do that, remove the ring and cover the bottom with parchment paper. Fold the excess paper back under the plate and, while holding it in place with one hand, put the ring back in its position with the other hand. Bring the excess paper back from under the pan but do not cut it off.

In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt; whisk thoroughly until fluffy and perfectly combined and set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugars with the heavy cream, vanilla and caramel extract: beat with a hand mixer for 2-3 minutes on high speed until light and fluffy.

Delicately pour in the flour, all at once…

…and mix on low speed until just combined.

Throw in the semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips…

and delicately fold them in with a rubber spatula…

Transfer a little less than half the cookie dough (I strongly suggest that you weigh your batter for best results: you’ll be needing 550g or 19.5oz) to the prepared springform pan and delicately press it at the bottom and about 1/4 of the way up the side of the pan.

Use another 550g (19.5oz) of cookie dough to make small cookie dough balls about the size of a ping pong ball — these will go in the batter later so be sure not to go overboard; keep ’em on the smallish side.

As usual, I’m a huge fan of using my small spring-loaded ice cream scoop to do this. I strongly suggest that you do the same, if you happen to have one. If you don’t, then I strongly suggest that you invest in one. It helps tremendously with keeping the balls uniformly sized and also makes the actual shaping of the balls much quicker and easier.

Trust me, you’ll end up using it all the time, so it’s an investment that’s very well worth it.

Finally, roll the rest of your cookie dough (you should have about 300g or 10.5oz left) into mini little balls of assorted sizes. We’re talking pea / chickpea size here. These will be used to garnish the top of your cake, so the smaller, the better and the cuter!

Refrigerate all these cookie dough components, i.e. the crust, the small balls and the mini balls, until you are ready to use them.

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TO MAKE THE CHEESECAKE FILLING

Preheat your oven to 350°F and bring about 4 cups of water to the boil; you’ll be using it later to make a bain-marie for your cake.

Combine the cream cheese, sour cream, brown sugar, lemon juice, vanilla extract and salt in the bowl of your food processor. Process until the mixture is super smooth and creamy and completely lump free, about 3 minutes.

Stop the motor to scrape the sides once or twice to make sure every last bit gets incorporated.

Add the eggs all at once and resume processing until they are well combined, about 1 minute.

You might want to scrape the sides once or twice, just to be on the safe side…

Now add the heavy cream and corn starch and resume beating until well incorporated, about 30 seconds.

Remove the S blade from the bowl, so it doesn’t get in the way, and carefully stir in the chilled ping-pong ball sized cookie dough balls and semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Take your prepared cookie dough crust out of the refrigerator; place the pan over a piece of aluminum foil and fold the foil over the pan so the exterior is completely covered; this will prevent water from getting into the pan later. Now place this rig into a roasting pan.

Pour the cheesecake batter into the cookie dough crust…

… and spread it evenly all the way to the sides.

Make sure that no cookie dough balls are sticking out of the batter, as they would most likely overbake and become sort of hard. Keep them fully submerged in the batter and they will remain soft and creamy, just the way they’re supposed to be!

Delicately pour enough boiling water into the roasting pan so it goes up about 3/4 of the way up the side of said roasting pan.

Place that rig onto the middle rack of your oven and bake your cake for 25 minutes at 350°F. Then, decrease the temperature to 250°F and continue baking your cake for another 85-90 minutes, or until the cake is set but still slightly jiggly in the center.

Turn off the oven and crack the door open. Leave the cake in the oven, undisturbed, for about 1 hour, or until it’s cool enough to be handled with your bare hands, and then slide it out of the oven.

When the cheesecake is completely cooled, run a thin spatula or knife around the rim and refrigerate uncovered for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.

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TO MAKE THE GANACHE

Once your cake is completely chilled, combine the finely chopped chocolate, heavy cream, butter and corn syrup in a microwave-safe bowl.

Cook that in the microwave for 1 minute, allow the mixture to rest for 1 full minute and then stir delicately for 1 full minute.

At this point, the ganache should be completely smooth and combined, but if there were still lumps remaining, repeat the process again but for no longer than 20 seconds this time; continue doing that until the ganache is smooth and silky.

Just make sure that the ganache never gets hot; it should only ever feel slightly warm to the touch.

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ASSEMBLY

Take the cake out of the fridge, carefully remove it from the pan and place it on a cake plate or board.

Pour about half of the ganache over the top of the cake

and spread it all the way to the edge, pushing it slightly past the edge to create little drizzles down the sides of the cake.

Repeat the process with the rest of the ganache…

Give you cake about 15 minutes to allow that ganache to set.

Now would be a good time to make some whipped cream!

When your ganache is set, fill a pastry bag bag equipped with a 2D Drop Flower Decorating Tip with the whipped cream you just made and pipe 12 generous swirls around the top of the cake, as well as one in the center.

Decorate with the little beads of cookie dough you made earlier…

and finally, sprinkle a handful of chocolate chips.

Here’s a tip for you… if you want your chocolate chips to be nice and shiny like mine, place them in a small bowl along with a few drops of oil and toss them around delicately until they are completely covered in a very fine coat of oil. If you find that you used too much oil, you can wipe off any excess on a paper towel.

Refrigerate your finished cake until ready to serve. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container, they will keep for up to a week. But there are no guarantees that they will ever last that long.