Snickers Cheesecake

Ingredients for crust:
35 Oreo cookies
4 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 T water
1/4 cup white granulated sugar

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Ingredients for cheesecake filling:
24 ounces Philadelphia brand cream cheese, room temperature
2 eggs
8 ounces sour cream
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate or chocolate chips
5 (3 2/3 ounce) Snickers candy bars, coarsely chopped

Ingredients for glaze:
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 T butter
5 ounces whipping cream


chopped peanuts
chopped Snickers bar

Preparing the crust:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cover the bottom of a 10-inch springform pan tightly with aluminum foil. Finely crush all the Oreo cookies in a food processor. Add melted butter, water and sugar to the cookie crumbs and continue using processor until the mixture is well blended.

Turn the cookie mixture out into the springform pan and gently press the cookie mixture into the bottom of the pan, covering about one inch up on the sides.

Bake for about 6 to 7 minutes (any longer and the crust will be too hard). If the crust rises during the baking, gently press it down with the bottom of a glass. Set aside to cool.

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Preparing the filling:
Beat the cream cheese until it is light and fluffy. Add in the sour cream and sugar. Mix in one egg at a time. Gently fold in the chocolate chips and chopped Snickers bars.

Pour batter onto the crust and spread the mixture out from the middle to all the sides to help it bake evenly.

Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and place springform pan in middle and bake at 375 degrees F for about 45 minutes, or until top is light brown. It's fine if the middle of the cheesecake is sunk in a little.

Place the cheesecake on a rack to cool while still in the springform pan. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the cheesecake and refrigerate in springform pan overnight, or at least for 4 hours.

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Preparing the glaze:
Melt chocolate chips, butter and 1/3 of the heavy whipping cream in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until just melting. Remove from heat and stir mixture until smooth. While still warm, stir in remaining heavy whipping cream and mix until well blended.

Using a sharp paring knife, run is around the edges of the springform pan to gently separate the cheesecake from the pan sides. Release the springform and remove from the cheesecake. Place cheesecake on serving dish and pour the chocolate glaze into the shallow crater. Sprinkle crushed peanuts and chopped Snickers bar on top. Refrigerate to allow the glaze to set.

Serves 12