VALENTINE'S DAY CHOCOLATE SPECIAL!

Cookies & Cream Cheesecake | Flourless Chocolate Cake | Espresso Hot Chocolate

ESTEBAN CASTILLO

Cookies & Cream Cheesecake

Bars 'With a crunchy chocolate crust and fluffy cream cheese and white chocolate filling, they have all the nostalgia of the bars I loved as a kid-but taste even better,' says the food blogger and author of the new Chicano Bakes cookbook. 'Plus, this recipe doesn't require an oven!'

1. Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Line bottom and sides of pan with parchment paper, leaving about 2 inches overhanging on 2 sides.

2. Place 20 of the cookies in a food processor; process until cookies resemble sand, about 1minute. Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in butter and salt until combined. Press mixture evenly in bottom of prepared pan. Refrigerate crust while preparing the filling.

3. Place white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl; heat on high until melted and smooth, stirring every 30 seconds, about 2 minutes total. Let cool to room temperature.

4. Beat heavy cream in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until stiff peaks form, 2 minutes. Transfer whipped cream to another bowl.

5. Without wiping bowl, add cream cheese and vanilla to mixing bowl. Using the paddle attachment, beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.

Add melted white chocolate, and beat on medium speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and stir with a silicone spatula. Fold in whipped cream until just combined.