A wickedly delicious dessert lightly laced with chai spice and lined with a fabulous cookie crust.
Ingredients:
| Crust | |
| 1/2 cup | amaretti cookie crumbs (3 oz) |
| 1 cup | gingersnap crumbs (5 oz) |
| 3 tbsps | butter, melted |
| Filling | |
| 2 (6-oz) containers | Rachel's™ Vanilla Chai yogurt |
| 3/4 cup | sugar |
| 4 (8-oz) packages | cream cheese, softened |
| 2 tsp | vanilla |
| 1/4 tsp each | ginger, cinnamon and cardamom |
| pinch | salt |
| 4 | large eggs |
Method:
Place the yogurt in a strainer lined with a coffee filter and set the whole assembly over a bowl. Refrigerate for 40 minutes, allowing some of the liquid to drain from the yogurt. Discard the liquid.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F.
In a medium bowl combine amaretti and gingersnap cookie crumbs with butter. Press mixture into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake crust for 12 minutes. Cool completely.
Reduce oven temperature to 325°F. Using an electric mixer beat together softened cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, spice and salt until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed and scraping sides of bowl after each addition. Stir in strained yogurt.
Pour mixture over crust and bake for 50 minutes or until cheesecake is set on the sides and still shimmers slightly in the center when shaken. Cool completely. Remove sides from pan, gently cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Serve with fresh berries or caramel sauce.
Yeild: 12 servings
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Baking Time: 50 minutes