This cheesecake is fantastic. I could stop right there and just move on, cause really, nothing else needs to be said about it. When I made this, 5 different people had some. There were 5 different moans of pleasure, and 5 sets of eyeballs rolled back into heads. Yes, it’s good. And it was so, so easy. I found the recipe in my Simple and Delicious Magazine, and it totally paid for the entire price of the subscription. But that’s just my opinion (and the opinions of the 5 people I gave this to).

You’ll need: 2 8oz. packages of cream cheese, 1 12 oz. jar of maraschino cherries, mini chocolate chips, 2 eggs, sugar, and a chocolate pie crust.

First, drain your jar of cherries, reserving 2 teaspoons of the juice.

Quarter the cherries, and set aside.

In a separate bowl, put the two packages of softened cream cheese.

Pour in 1/2 cup of sugar.

Add two teaspoons of the cherry juice you reserved in the first step. I may or may not have sneaked a teeny bit extra.

Go ahead and beat those three ingredients together.

Next, add two eggs

and beat them in until just combined.

Add in your quartered cherries

and 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips.

Stir them in.

Then you need a chocolate pie crust. I suppose you could make your own, but why? (Oooh, did you hear that? It’s the sound of the foodie community screeching to a halt.)

Pour the cheesecake mixture into the chocolate crust. It will be very full!

Finally, bake it at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until the center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack.

And I can’t believe I didn’t get a picture of a slice of the cheesecake. I must have been too busy shoving it in my face. If you can, make it a day ahead of time, so the cheesecake has enough time to rest. This was REALLY good, but since I only made a few hours in advance, I think it could have been much better. But it was my very first cheesecake that didn’t come out of a box stamped Jello, so live and learn!

Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake
Simple and Delicious magazine

1 jar (12 oz) maraschino cherries
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1 chocolate cookie crust (9 inches)

Drain maraschino cherries, reserving 2 teaspoons juice. Cut cherries into quarters, set aside. In a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and reserved cherry juice. Add eggs; beat until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips and reserved cherries.
Pour into crust, crust will be full. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack.