Quick Chocolate Cheesecake

This is a modified recipe from one of those church/fundraiser cookbooks I love so much - "Recipes From The Heart" cookbook Sacred Heart Catholic School in Rockport, Texas.

I didn't want nor need to make a full sized version, and I'm also watching my carbohydrates. With that in mind, I will post the original recipe and then my version.

QUICK CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE

Original --

1 pie crust

2 (3.9 ounce) packages chocolate pudding*

16 ounces cream cheese

1 cup sour cream

2 1/2 cups milk

Mine --

3 packages Oreo Thins 100 calorie plus 2 tablespoons melted butter

1 package sugar free and fat free instant chocolate pudding

8 ounces Neufchatel Reduced Fat cream cheese

1/2 cup light sour cream**

1 tablespoon Hersheys Special Dark Cocoa

1 cup skim milk

Original --

Combine cream cheese and sour cream in blender. Mix well. Add pudding mixes and stir. Add milk and blend for 1 1/2 minutes. Pour mixture in pie crust and let set in refrigerator for 4-6 hours.

Mine --

Crumb three packages of cookies in food processor. Mix in small bowl with two tablespoons melted butter until crumbly and slightly sticking together. Press along bottom and sides of 2 cup sized Chantal 6 3/4" pie plate. Admire the apple green and dark brown color combination. Set aside. (I blogged about this earlier - here's the link.)

Combine cream cheese and sour cream in medium sized bowl. **Realize too late I just dumped in the entire 8 ounce container of sour cream. Mix well anyways. Add pudding mix, hoping and it should be instant right, since this is a no-bake cheesecake? The original recipe didn't specify, hence the first *. Add milk and blend for 1 1/2 minutes. Give myself a pat on the back because I added only 1 cup of milk instead of 1 1/4, half the original amount. And maybe that will take away some of the volume from the extra sour cream. It looks a bit light, perhaps because of the extra sour cream. Decide to chocolate it up by adding a tablespoon of Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa since that is darker than the regular Hershey Cocoa. And extra antioxidants can't hurt, either. Pour into pretty pie plate and sprinkle the extra cookie crumbs on top, feeling very Martha-y, and put in refrigerator.

Look at the remaining mixture in the bowl, which was a little more than a third left. (Wonder how that could that be and how much or many pies the original recipe could have filled, because aren't I only 1/4 cup over volume-wise? And maybe next time I will make and fill TWO pie pans/plates - I also bought the pretty Chantal red one at last year's outlet sale. With visions of making pies like this one.) and pour into six 1/2 cup ramkins. Shortcut and justify not making more crust by sticking a cookie on top. Somehow find enough remaining crumbs to Martha-fy this even more. Put those in refrigerator, too.

Don't they look pretty?!

Fast forward four hours to dinner and everyone's anticipated dessert! I put a squish of whipped cream on top of the flopped-over slice to hide the fact it didn't quite set up as firmly - maybe it needed those extra two hours. (Report from next day's leftovers: No. Time was not the problem. All fingers and indications pointing to empty sour cream container in outside garbage can. Back to our recipe now.) I think it tastes good and announce that to all in the room. Hubby makes a face and says, "it tastes a bit...sour?!" "I bet that must be the bonus sour cream. Let's add some more whipped cream!" I say cheerily.

Personally, I didn't think it tasted that bad. Next time I will be more careful and not be so sour cream slap happy.

My sincere apologies to Sara W., who submitted her recipe. I don't want to put her last name, in case she Googles herself and discovers this!