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happy holiday’s from all of us at insolence + wine!

We wanted to take a moment out of our day to say thank you for your support as we continue to find our way within the blogging community—as our way of saying thank you, we wanted to share our favorite Christmas tradition: Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake.

During the holidays I go crazy on the peppermint baking: peppermint melt away cookies, peppermint hot chocolate, peppermint bark even peppermint cake! Out of all of those very tasty treats, peppermint chocolate cheesecake is probably my favorite treat.

Crust:

• 2 cups chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs, such as Oreos
• 1/3 cup melted unsalted butter

Filling:

• 6 packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 6 eggs
• 6 ounces dark chocolate, melted
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons high-quality vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 12 ounces white chocolate chips or chunks
• 1 cup crushed peppermint candy canes 

Optional Ganache Layer:

• 1 cup dark chocolate
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine cookie crumbs and butter. Press into the bottom of a 12-inch cheesecake pan and put in freezer for at least one hour, or until frozen. Alternatively, you can make two cheesecakes: a 9-inch and a 6-inch.
2. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese, Greek yogurt and sugar on medium-high speed until very smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. With the mixer running, add melted chocolate. Stir in 1/2 cup of the flour, vanilla and candy canes with the remaining flour. Fold into batter.
3. Pour over frozen crust, smoothing out to sides of pan. Bake in preheated oven (350) until top is light brown and center has a slight jiggle, 60 to 75 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 2 hours, or in oven with the door cracked open. 
4. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours before serving or decorating.
5. For the optional ganache, combine dark chocolate with heavy cream in a pot over medium-low heat. Once the chocolate begins to melt, remove from heat and continue stirring until combined. Add a 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract for a richer flavor.

Variations: melt semisweet chocolate in place of the dark chocolate; use semisweet chocolate chips in place of white chocolate.

Wine Pairing

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