Chocolate Chip Cheesecake - a better late than never Father's Day treat!

After looking at this I think the better title would have been better late than never chocolate chip cheesecake because it was a Will's Father's days dessert choice and by the date of this post you see it was just a tad bit late -oops! Will loves cheesecake so I had no doubt in my mind when I ask him what he wanted for his Father's Day treat that he would say some type of cheesecake. I really do like cheesecake, but for some reason I don't care for cheesecake with sour cream in it. Not sure what my hang up is about it, but perhaps I just haven't found the right recipe (a hint for any of your fellow foodies who have a good recipe with sour cream - please include your link!) I will also give the recipe sans chocolate chips for those who would rather have your cheesecake plain Jane (as I would), as well as some other ideas on how to dress up your cheesecake!

On an unrelated topic, I have decided that coming up in my next few posts I will be making Fourth of July inspired desserts! I think it will be a fun way to get ideas for the holiday weekend coming up. What do you think? Anything you'd like to try or would like to see?

Philadelphia Classic Cheesecake (with chocolate chips)
Recipe can be found at http://www.kraftfoods.com/
Prep Time: 20 min
Total Time 5 hr and 15 min
16 servings
Ingredients:

Crust:
1-1/2 Cups graham cracker crumbs
3 TBSP Sugar
1/3 Cup butter or Margarine

Filling:
4 pkg (8oz each) cream cheese softened
1 Cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
1/2 Cup of mini chocolate chips mixed and coated with 1/2 TBSP of flour (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 F, if using a springform pan (or to 300 F if using a dark nonstick spring form pan). Mix crumbs, 3 TBSP sugar and butter, press firmly onto bottom of pan. *NOTE* you can also use a ready made graham cracker crust but when I do this, this recipe will yield two cheesecakes.
Beat cream cheese, 1 cup of sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. If you are adding chocolate chips, take 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips and coat them with 1/2 TBSP of flour (this will prevent the chips from sinking to the bottom of the cheesecake). Fold in by hand. Pour over crust.
Bake 55 minutes or until center is almost set. Loosen cake from sides of pan, cool before removing side of pan (you can skip this step if you are using a pre-made crust) Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

Additional info:
* I have found that my cheesecakes don't crack if I place them either on a cookie sheet that has been filled with water half way up the side of the sheet or else by placing a cookie sheet filled with water on the rack below where my cheesecakes are baking.
* Again, I can double this recipe, making two cheesecakes if I follow the same directions and use pre-made crusts. I usually do one plain and one with extras in the mix.
* Extras I have used include chocolate chips, crushed oreos, and swirling in various types of jams (blueberry, strawberry) after the filling has been added to the pan.
* My personal favorite is to eat plain and garnish with flavored pie filling or fresh fruit.

ENJOY!