chocolate chunk cheesecake pie

Whoooo loves cheesecake? I know I do! But who loves making cheesecake? Meh. Not fun. Cheesecake is one of those things that everyone loves, but nobody really makes. It must be the whole "springform-pan-and-water-bath-and-don't-crack-your-cheesecake" thing. That makes cheesecake really scary, and a lot of work, and then what if it doesn't even work out? Major disappointment. This cheesecake, on the other hand, is totally a cheater's cheesecake. I don't understand why nobody thought of this before! Why not take cheesecake filling and pour it into the ever-available pre-made graham cracker pie crust? Seriously. And it tastes every bit as good as the "real" thing.

I made this for the first time a few weeks ago, as my boss needed a couple of them to take to Thanksgiving parties. She has a recipe for a white chocolate version (which is really, reaaallly good), but I wanted to do something a little different! Since we live and die by chocolate around here, I figured I could do no wrong with subbing dark chocolate chunks instead of white chocolate. The result: best cheesecake ever! This is easy and requires few ingredients, and it honestly took longer for my oven to preheat than it did for me to prepare it. The hardest part is leaving it alone for 3 hours while it chills!

It had not been quite 3 hours when I cut mine and took these pictures, so you can see the chocolate inside smeared when the knife went through! If you wait longer, you can see the chunks of chocolate clean inside the cheesecake, much like chocolate chip ice cream!

Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake Pie
Yields: one 9" or 11" pie

1 9" or 11" graham pie crust (I have tried both and either is fine, 9" is just a little fuller)
2 8oz. blocks of cream cheese (any fat content)
½ cup white sugar
2 eggs
splash of vanilla
3 oz dark chocolate, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350F.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Pour in the sugar and vanilla, beat until creamy. Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing until incorporated. Stir in about ⅔ of the chocolate, then pour the filling into the crust. Top the pie with the remaining chocolate.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, until center is almost set. You might need to add a couple minutes if using a 9" pie since it will be thicker. Let pie cool to room temperature, then chill for at least 3 hours. Slice and enjoy!