Cookies ‘n Irish Cream Cheesecake Pie

Servings 12 slices

Ingredients

For the crust:

24 chocolate sandwich cookies use the whole cookie with the filling
5 Tablespoons melted salted butter

For the cheesecake:

2 8 ounce packages cream cheese (I use Philadelphia Cream Cheese) room temperature
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 large eggs room temperature
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream room temperature
1/4 cup Baileys Irish Cream room temperature
8 chocolate sandwich cookies roughly chopped

For the ganache:

1 1/2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
3 ounces heavy whipping cream
6 ounces chopped chocolate I used 4 ounces dark chocolate and 2 ounces of milk chocolate
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon Baileys Irish Cream

For the whipped cream topping:

about 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream see recipe notes
1 1/2 Tablespoons confectioner's sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon Baileys Irish Cream

Toppings:

6 chocolate sandwich cookies cut in half
White chocolate and dark chocolate shavings

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Make the crust. Crush the cookies until they are fine crumbs. I used a food processor, but you can place them in a sturdy zip top bag and crush them with a rolling pin or the bottom of a measuring cup.
Add the melted butter to the crumbs and pulse a few times until the butter is fully combined.(If you didn't use a processor, just mix the crumbs and butter in a bowl.) Press the crumb mixture on the bottom and completely up the sides of a 9" deep dish pie pan.
Bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
Make the cheesecake. Add room temperature cream cheese to a mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat for 1 minute until nice and creamy. Add sugar and cornstarch and beat until combined. Add eggs, heavy cream and Baileys and beat for another minute or two. You want a nice, satiny mixture.
Fold in the chopped sandwich cookies. Pour cheesecake batter into pie pan and spread evenly.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until center is almost set. Allow to cool completely, then refrigerate for 4-6 hours or overnight.
Make the ganache. Bring corn syrup and cream just to a simmer, then remove from heat, and stir in chopped chocolate until melted and combined. Add Irish cream and vanilla and stir until combined. Pour into a bowl and allow to cool until almost room temperature but still fluid.
Spread ganache evenly over chilled cheesecake. Return to the refrigerator to firm up while you make the whipped cream.
Make the whipped cream. In a chilled bowl whip cream, sugar, vanilla and Irish cream until you have soft peaks. (If you want to pipe it, whip to stiff peaks.)
Spread (or pipe) whipped cream over the top of the chilled ganache. I decided to just swirl it over the top.
Decorate the top with cookie halves and chocolate shavings. Store in refrigerator.

Recipe Notes

*Buy a pint of heavy whipping cream. After you use what you need for the cheesecake and ganache, you'll use what's remaining for the whipped cream topping.

*I didn't go crazy with stabilizing the whipped cream. I didn't want it to be too thick. I like the lightness. The confectioner's sugar should give it enough stability to last a day in the refrigerator. I generally just lightly sweeten the whipped cream.You can add additional confectioner's sugar, if you wish. This will add more sweetness and because there's cornstarch in the sugar, more stability.

*You can add more chopped cookies to the cheesecake batter if you choose. I wanted to leave room for cheesecake, but you can add a few more cookies if you'd prefer.

*Use the flat bottom of a measuring cup to help press your crumbs into the pie pan evenly. It's easier and faster than using your hands. You can use the side edge of the cup to help push the crust into sides and edges of the pan.

*If you want to insure that you don't have lumps in your cheesecake, make sure everything is at room temperature. Adding cold eggs or cold cream to your room temperature cream cheese will solidify bits of it.

*I added a bit of Bailey's to every part of this except the crust. The flavor runs throughout, but is mild due to the amount of Irish cream I used. If you want to make this a boozier dessert, you can add more to any or all parts of the recipe. You could add 2 more Tablespoons to the cheesecake. I might increase the cornstarch by another teaspoon. You could add another 2 Tablespoons to the ganache for a total of 3 Tablespoons. I would reduce cream to 2 ounces if you make that addition. You could also add another Tablespoon or two to the whipped cream.

*Want to go kid friendly? In the cheesecake layer, sub out the Baileys for the same amount of heavy cream. In the ganache layer and whipped topping layer, simply omit it.

*To get a nice clean cut when you're cutting your cookies in half, use a serrated bread knife and gently saw back and forth.

*To help you place the cookie halves evenly, imagine a clockface, then place a cookie half at each number of the clock. I started at 12 and 6, then did 3 and 9 and then filled in the rest of the numbers.

*To get a nice clean cut for your cheesecake, use a sharp, hot knife. I stand my knife in a tall mug of very hot water for a minute or two, then dry it off and cut. I put it back in the heated water as necessary to reheat for multiple cuts. Wipe the knife clean after each cut so that you're not dragging the remnants from your last slice through the slice you are currently cutting.

*If you don't want to cover your cheesecake with whipped cream and simply want a smooth ganache top, pour the ganache on when it's still a little warm and fluid. Then, tilt the pie pan around to get it to spread to the edges. You can even gently shake it to even it out.

*If you want to bake in a convection oven, bake at 325 degrees F for about 30 minutes or until the center is almost set.