After a month of planning, waiting, and drooling, I met up with two of my closest high school friends at the Cheesecake Factory two weeks ago. We dressed up in our cutest skirts and heels to celebrate the occasion, then stood around in the crowded lobby for an hour with slightly pinched toes (oh karma!) until the hostess led us to a table.
We chatted through the bread basket and shared stories in between bites of our salads and pasta, but all conversation ceased once the dessert arrived. As staunch chocoholics, we skipped over all of the cheesecakes and selected Linda’s Fudge Cake instead. With towering layers of cake and thick frosting studded with mini chocolate chips, that slice was pure heaven on a plate. My friends politely nibbled on their dainty bites, but I cut off huge chunks to shovel in my mouth and happily scraped the dish clean when they pronounced themselves “too full to finish.”
That’s what friends are for, right?
Despite choosing that chocolate cake, we still spent a large portion of our hour-long wait staring at the display case of cheesecakes. We pointed at the Snickers, Kahlua, and Toasted Marshmallow S’more, but my eyes lit up when I spotted the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough one tucked away in the back corner.
I could bake that myself!
To make my version, I started with a small batch of your favorite eggless cookie dough. You’ll actually freeze it twice—once before shaping it into tiny balls and another time after—because that makes the cookie dough stiffer and easier to work with and helps it keep its shape when you add it to the cheesecake filling. Be sure to use a spatula for folding it in since an electric mixer’s beaters would break apart the cookie dough and blend it into the filling!
While I kept the same Oreo cookie crust as the Cheesecake Factory, I deviated a little from their original as I mixed up the filling. I prefer a sweet vanilla flavor over the taste of their slightly tart plain, and I nixed the nuts they included inside and on top. Instead, I substituted extra mini chocolate chips to ensure every bite contained chocolate or cookie dough (or both!), but you could easily switch back to finely chopped walnuts or pecans.
My Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake is sweet and creamy, secretly skinny, and packed with protein (13.9 grams per slice!). With 845 fewer calories than the Cheesecake Factory’s, you’ll love the guilt-free feeling you get after eating a piece!
A lightened version of the Cheesecake Factory classic.
- To prepare the cookie dough, stir together the melted butter, applesauce, and vanilla in a small bowl. Mix in the brown sugar, smearing any clumps along the side of the bowl. Add in the flour, stirring just until incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips. Cover the top with plastic wrap, and freeze for 20-30 minutes.
- Line a plate with wax paper. Remove the cookie dough from the freezer. Working quickly, shape the cookie dough into small balls the size of a pea, and place on the prepared plate. Freeze the balls of cookie dough until ready to use.
- Preheat the oven to 300°, and lightly coat a 9”-round springform pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Add the Oreos to a food processor or blender, and pulse until fine crumbs. Pour into a bowl. Add in the butter and 1 egg white, and stir until combined. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan, and bake at 300° for 12-15 minutes. Cool completely.
- In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Mix in the remaining 2 egg whites, flour, and vanilla. Gently fold in the chocolate chips and cookie dough using a spatula. Spread the filling over the cooled crust, and bake at 300° for 40-45 minutes, or until the center barely jiggles when shaken. Cool to room temperature before covering with plastic wrap, ensuring that it touches the top of the entire cheesecake, and chill for at least 8 hours.
Consuelo @ Honey & Figs says...
845 fewer calories and it still looks delicious?? Amy, you’re a genius. I can’t wait to try this, it must taste like heaven ;D
Amy says...
Thank you Consuelo! I really hope you like the cheesecake. I couldn’t believe it when I looked at the Nutrition Information for the Cheesecake Factory’s — 1110 calories in a single slice!
Andrea says...
Whoa whoa whoa… I assumed you meant 845 calories less in the entire CAKE, but you meant per SLICE!? Absurd!!! That should be illegal. Seriously! I’d choose this version over the heart attack version in a (healthy) heartbeat!
Amy says...
Yup, per slice. There are 1110 calories in a single piece from the Cheesecake Factory! (But I didn’t check on that fudge cake we ate… Really didn’t want to read how bad that was for me! 😉 )
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust says...
This is perfect! I love a skinny cheesecake!
Amy says...
Thanks Dorothy! They’re one of my favorite desserts to make. I used to think it was really hard to bake cheesecake (I was scared of turning them rubbery), but now I want to make one practically every other week!
Nessie @ baking=love says...
Guilt-free choc chip cookie cheesecake? Get. In. My. Life!!!! Looks amazing Amy!!
Amy says...
Thank you Nessie! I’d give you the entire cake if I could! 🙂
Dina says...
it looks yummy!
Amy says...
Thank you Dina! It tasted amazing, especially knowing how healthy it was compared to the one I thought about ordering at the Cheesecake Factory!
Allison says...
Hi Amy it sounds so delicious but apparently if I am not mistaking you aren’t mentioning about the last 2 teaspoons of choc chips at what point you adding them in the recipe . Can you please comment me back and letting me know thanks so much 🙂
Amy says...
The recipe is all fixed Allison! Thanks for catching that. 🙂 Mix them in with the cookie dough, and you’ll be all set. Enjoy!
Sarah says...
We went to New York last week…and we made the discovery…amazing…. and we came back each day for breakfast 🙂
I came back home with the book…we are going to follow the recipes…hoping it will be as tasty as yours 😉
I can’t find the cheesecake recipe that is sold at Amy’s bread it was delicious…I talked about it so much that now they all are expecting to taste it :-/ I found on your webpage several recipes but I don’t know which one is THE one even if they all seem delicious… the cake below tasted like speculoos but better 😉
Thank you for your help and congratulations for all these amazing bakeries
Sarah
Amy says...
I really appreciate your kind words about my recipes Sarah! I’m not actually associated with the establishment Amy’s Bread that you visited in New York, so none of my recipes correspond with the treats that you sampled. I’d still love to hear what you think of any of my recipes that you try! 🙂