Irish Cream is a traditional Irish Liqueur that can, in addition to being added to cocktails, be used to flavor showstopper desserts. St. Patrick’s Day is the perfect holiday to serve a showstopper Irish dessert. The following Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Cheesecake is easy to make and can be made up to 3 months ahead and frozen, or several days ahead and refrigerated.

The cheesecake can also be made into miniatures (as pictured), using 24 muffin cups; line each muffin cup with a liner, and press a heaping tablespoon of the crust into each cup. Bake the crust 8 minutes, then divide the filling among the muffin cups - fill to the top of each. Baking time should be reduced to 30 minutes. After baking, cool in the muffin pans, then pop out with a knife.

Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Cheesecake is a better choice for St. Patrick’s Day than a dessert that has been dyed green, which is a common practice almost everywhere; everywhere except Ireland, that is. While most people associate the color green with St. Patrick’s Day, the Irish don’t dye their food (or their rivers) green (and actually scoff at this tradition according to Holidays.net; nor do they wear green to avoid being pinched (that tradition evolved among American school children and has absolutely nothing to do with the Irish holiday). It is widely thought that green is the color of St. Patrick’s Day because the holiday is celebrated in the spring, it is the color of the Shamrock (a symbol St. Patrick used to illustrate how the trinity could exist as one entity with separate parts), and Ireland, often referred to as the Emerald Isle, which is covered with beautiful green hills, green trees, and green landscapes. None of these reasons for using the color green on St. Patrick’s Day even hint that green food should be served!

This fancy dessert is delicious anytime of the year, not just on St. Patrick’s Day. It has a creamy texture and features the flavor of Irish Cream liqueur paired with bits of Chocolate. A bonus is that it contains absolutely no food coloring to dye teeth and tongue a sickening shade of green!


16 Servings

Crust
1 1/4 cups rolled oats
1 cup flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup melted butter

Filling
3 8 oz. packages cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 eggs
1/3 cup flour
3/4 cup Irish Cream Liqueur
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Sweetened whipped cream

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.


2. Spray the bottom of a 9" springform pan with non-stick spray; cover with a 9" round of parchment paper, then spray again with the non-stick spray. Set aside.


3. Crust: mix the oatmeal, flour, brown sugar, cocoa, and salt; stir in the melted butter. Press onto the bottom of the prepared pan.


4. Bake 15 minutes.


5. Remove from the oven.


6. FillingPlace the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, eggs, flour, and Irish Cream in the bowl of a food processor.


7. Process until the mixture is smooth, scraping the sides once or twice.


8. Stir in the mini chocolate chips with a rubber spatula.


9. Pour the filling mixture over the baked crust.


10. Bake at 350° for 60 to 75 minutes or until set.


11. Remove from the oven and use a butter knife to loosen the cheesecake from the sides of the springform pan (this lessens the chance of a crack in the middle of the cheesecake).


12. Chill the cheesecake thoroughly before removing from the pan (To speed up the process, place it in the freezer).


13. After cooling and removing from the pan, wrap the cheesecake tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to one week or freeze up to three months.


14. To serve: Cut the cheesecake into quarters, then each quarter into four wedges.


15. Pipe sweetened whipped cream on the top of each wedge.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 502 Calories from Fat 267
Percent Total Calories From: Fat 60% Protein 6% Carb. 34%

Nutrient Amount per Serving
Total Fat 36 g
Saturated Fat 21 g
Cholesterol 133 mg
Sodium 320 mg
Total Carbohydrate 37 g
Dietary Fiber 0 g
Sugars 0 g
Protein 6 g

Vitamin A 23% Vitamin C 0% Calcium 0% Iron 10%