Brownie Bottom Cheesecake

by Enjoy Life

Contains NO: wheat, gluten, peanuts, tree nuts and soy. Options for dairy- and egg-free.

ingredients:

Crust:
1 box Enjoy Life® Double Chocolate Brownie cookies, processed into crumbs (1 ½ cups)
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp butter or dairy-free alternative*
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup brown rice flour
2 tbsp tapioca flour/starch

Cheesecake:
Vanilla filling:
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese or dairy-free alternative **
1 egg or egg substitute***
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar

Chocolate filling:
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese or dairy-free alternative**
1 egg or egg substitute***
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup Enjoy Life® semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 9” tart pan with removable bottom.
2. To prepare crust, mix cookie crumbs with brown rice flour, cocoa powder and tapioca flour. With a fork, cut in butter until mixed well. Press crumbs into bottom and on the sides. Bake for 6 minutes to set the crust.
3. To prepare cheesecake, first make vanilla filling: beat cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. Next, make the chocolate filling: beat cream cheese, sugar, egg, cocoa powder and vanilla until smooth. Add chocolate chips for an even chocolatier flavor (optional). Spoon dollops of chocolate and vanilla filling over the baked crust. With a knife, gently swirl the dollops for a marbled appearance.
4. Bake at 350°F for 45-50 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean. Let cool. Cover and refrigerate 6 hours or overnight. Enjoy!

*TIP Dairy-free option: use 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp EarthBalance margarine (contains soy) or Spectrum shortening in place of butter.
**TIP Dairy-free option: use 1 (8 oz.) package of Tofutti’s Better Than Cream Cheese (plain non-hydrogenated) (contains soy) in place of cream cheese.
***TIP Egg-free option: for best results, use Ener-G’s egg replacer in place of eggs. We found that flax/water egg substitute does not work well in this recipe.