Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cheesecake Light

So I'm a little late it catching my blog up, sorry!  One of the things that my attention has been on is little girl named Carmen who is going through chemo in Washington State.  Her mom runs an amazing bakery, Betty Blue and creates some gorgeous and delicious cupcakes.  Her family is friends with a good friend of mine.  So if you get a chance check out her Facebook page at Caring for Carmen or at her website Caring for Carmen.  She's an amazing young lady and she deserves all the love and support we can give her!  Fight hard Carmen!  <3

   
      I was invited to a Superbowl party this year at my friend Stephanie's house.  I wasn't sure what the menu was going to be (turns about it was delicious tacos), so I decided that I needed to make a light dessert.  Light doesn't mean that it shouldn't have a lot of flavor, so I was caught trying to find something delicious and something that wasn't too heavy or rich.  I was surfing through my email a few days before the Superbowl and came upon the Taste of Home light Valentine's Dessert recipe book.  I decided to leaf through it and in it I found this amazing recipe for Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry Cheesecake.  I fell in love immediately and decided that this was the answer to my problem.  TOUCHDOWN!  The cheesecake was a huge hit, easy to make, and not that bad for you!
    I actually followed this recipe with fidelity, but when I give this recipe to you, I'm going to suggest that you don't use the chocolate graham crackers.  I am going to suggest that you use just a plain chocolate cookie, like an unfilled Oreo, but I don't know if those exist, however, I would suggest using something with a little more texture.  If you can't find something better, use the graham crackers, they taste good.
  Don't panic if when you go to unmold this cake if the crust seems really lose, it is, but it's still really good and it will be okay.  The recipe makes a lot of crust and even with what falls off, there will still be enough to cover the cake and it will still look okay.  WARNING:   MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE YOURSELF ENOUGH TIME TO LET THIS CAKE SETUP IN THE FRIDGE!
 Without further ado, here's the recipe.

Ingredients

1-3/4 cups chocolate Oreo-like cookies about 9 
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 pound fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
2 packages (8 ounces each) fat-free cream cheese, cubed
1 cup (8 ounces) fat-free cottage cheese
Sugar substitute equivalent to 3/4 cup sugar (I used Spenda Sugar blend) 
1 carton (8 ounces) frozen reduced-fat whipped topping, thawed, divided
12 medium fresh strawberries (optional, I used one and made it the top decoration 
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used less since I used less strawberries) 

Directions 

• In a small bowl, combine cookies crumbs and butter. Press onto the bottom and 1 in. up the sides of a 9-in. springform (or baking dish)  pan coated with cooking spray. Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack.

• Hull strawberries if necessary; in a small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over cold water; let stand for 1 minute. Heat over low heat, stirring until gelatin is completely dissolved. Transfer to the food processor; add the cream cheese, cottage cheese and sugar substitute. Cover and process until smooth.

• Transfer to a large bowl; fold in 2 cups whipped topping. Pour into crust. Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours or until set.

• For garnish, wash strawberries and gently pat with paper towels until completely dry. Cut tops off berries. In a microwave, melt chocolate; stir until smooth. Dip each berry tip until half of the berry is coated, allowing excess to drip off. Place with tips pointing up on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet; refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

• Carefully run a knife around edge of springform pan to loosen; remove sides of pan. Garnish cheesecake with chocolate-dipped strawberries and remaining whipped topping.

•  Yield: 12 servings