Mini Cookies ‘n Cream Cheesecakes!

Every so often I find a recipe that screams, “make me now!” This particular recipe was one of them. I found it on Friday at work, and there I was making them Saturday morning before going snowboarding. Considering I’m a newbie at the whole winter sports thing, I figured there really couldn’t be a better way to nurse my wounds than with some mini cookies ‘n cream cheesecakes!

This is actually a Martha Stewart recipe, but I found it on The Indiscriminate Foodie’s blog. The pictures alone sold me. A whole Oreo at the bottom of a deliciously sweet and creamy concoction? It seemed like the cone-head sundae you get with a kid’s meal at Friendly’s! You know, the one with the Reese’s Pieces at the bottom!

The preparation for the cheesecakes themselves was pretty straight forward. Beat everything together, crush up Oreos, combine, cook, chill. I’m still having issues with my hand mixer, though. I’m finally at the point where I think it’s me. Maybe I need a bigger bowl, or to use a different setting? Whatever I’m doing isn’t working; nothing ever creams as I expect it to. Maybe I’ll just have to get that giant KitchenAid standing mixer!

Enough of my kitchen supply wants and desires, back to the deliciousness! These little mini heavens were a perfect ending to a successful day on the slopes. They had just the right amount of flavor you would expect in a cheesecake; cheesy, sweet, rich, creamy, decadent… you get my point. Add in some crunch at the bottom from an Oreo and you’ve got yourself some seriously good cheesecake.

I really love that they’re miniature; you don’t feel so badly for eating one. And believe me, one is enough! They’re so rich that any more would have put me over the edge; but it did take a lot of self control to stop! To be fair though, I had just inhaled a vegetarian fajita burrito from Chipotle only  moments before. And sure, the fact that you cook them in cupcake pans didn’t really hurt either, since I’m completely obsessed with all things cupcake!

I can definitely see myself making these again, and maybe even with some different flavor variations!

I can’t encourage you to make these any more – prep time was about 20 minutes with a 20 minute bake time. The hardest part will definitely be the 4+ hours you wait while they’re in the fridge. But it’s worth it, I promise! So go get the ingredients and get started! Here’s the recipe:

Martha Stewart’s Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes

Ingredients:

21 Oreos or other creme-filled sandwich cookies. 15 whole, 6 coarsely chopped.
1 lb. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large, room temperature eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 275°F. Line standard-sized muffin tin with paper liners and place one sandwich cookie into the bottom of each lined cup.
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high, beat cream cheese until creamy and smooth. Gradually beat in sugar until combined. Beat in vanilla.
3. Drizzle in the beaten eggs a little bit at a time until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Then stir in the coarsely chopped cookies by hand.
4. Divide the batter evenly among the cookie-filled cups, filling each one almost to the top. Bake until the cakes are set (about 22 minutes), rotating the pans halfway through.
5. Remove from oven and place pans on wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, chill the cakes in the pans for at least four hours (or up to overnight).

A couple of notes:

To chop the cookies, I put the cookies in a zip-top bag and crushed them with his hands. A rolling pin works too!
When it comes to chilling them, I think the longer they chill, the better; mine were in for about 8 hours before I had a taste, and they were great!