Chunky Monkey No Bake Cheesecake

For the hubby's birthday I made a cheesecake. He hates his birthday, but loves cheesecake... So that evens things out!

It is a spin on the chocolate mousse cheesecake I posted this summer. It combines Banana Cream Pie with Chocolate Cheesecake!

Ingredients

1 Chocolate Graham pie crust

Cream cheese layer-
8oz of softened cream cheese
4oz of cool whip
1 1.4 oz instant chocolate pudding mix (I used sugar free and it tasted bland so I added a little sugar and that made it better.)
1-2 TBS heavy whipping cream
1/2 TBS sugar (or sweeten to tastes)

Mousse layer-
1 1.4oz sugar free instant banana cream pudding
1 packet of Dream Whip (Found in the baking aisle at my local grocery store)
1.5 cups of cold milk

Ganache layer-
6 oz dark chocolate chips
Heavy Whipping cream (I bought a half pint container and probably used about a quarter of it (approximately 1/4 cup)... Sometimes I just don't measure things, and go by look and texture instead.)

Banana Chips for Garnish

Directions-

Beat cream cheese with electric mixer until smooth. Add in pudding mix and start by adding 1TBS heavy cream. Add in the sugar and beat until smooth. Add another TBS if the mixture looks too thick. Add 4oz of Cool Whip (half of an 8oz container), beat again until smooth and somewhat fluffy.

Spread in the bottom of the pie crust. Chill in refrigerator while you make the next layer.

Add the contents of both the pudding mix and the dream whip into a bowl. Add the milk and beat for at least 2 minutes, longer if you want it fluffier. Chill this for 5 minutes in the fridge to firm up before adding it to the cheesecake layer. Once it has firmed up, carefully spread it onto the cheesecake layer. Then chill in the fridge while you make the final layer.

Pour the chocolate chunks into a microwave safe dish, set about a TBS to the side for tempering. Pour in some heavy cream... Just enough to lightly cover the chocolate. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir, then again for 30 seconds. Don't worry if it looks curdled or like it isn't melting like straight chocolate, you will smooth it out later. Stir in the reserved chocolate pieces to cool the chocolate down. Depending on your microwave, it may take longer... But after the two 30 second intervals, I reccomend lessening it to 15 seconds at a time, stirring in between. Once the chocolate is melted, begin to beat it with your mixer. As you beat the chocolate, slowly stream in more cream until the chocolate is smooth.

Spread the ganache layer on the cheesecake and chill for at least two hours. Garnish with banana chips!

~eem