12 Weeks of Christmas Treats–Week 9–Oreo Cheesecake Bars

Welcome to Week 9 of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats blog event hosted by Brenda at Meal Planning Magic! Check out the links in the hop below and head over to Meal Planning Magic to learn more about joining in the fun!

I actually made this week’s recipe as my birthday “cake” – I’m not a huge cake fan but love cheesecake so cheesecake was a very appealing alternative. I have made a cheesecake at Christmas time every year for the last 4 years and this would be an excellent option for a holiday dessert.

I hope everyone that celebrates has a fantastic Thanksgiving. We are hosting for the first time so we have been busy cleaning and rearranging and I’ve been in the kitchen non-stop for the last few days. I’m excited to put this meal together!

Oreo Cheesecake Bars

As seen on Annie’s Eats

Ingredients

For the crust:
23 Oreo cookies
2 Tablespoons Butter (unsalted), melted

For the cheesecake:
12 Ounces Cream Cheese, at room temperature
6 Tablespoons Sugar
6 Tablespoons Sour Cream, at room temperature
½ Teaspoon Vanilla
¼ Teaspoon Salt
1 Large Egg plus 1 Egg Yolk
12 Oreo cookies, roughly chopped

Directions

Preheat oven at 325 degrees and line an 8x8 baking dish with aluminum foil.

Place the 23 Oreos in a food processor and pulse until the cookies are ground up. Add the melted butter and continue to pulse until the crumbs are moistened. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and press the crumbs evenly over the bottom of the pan. Bake the empty crust for 10 minutes.

In the bowl of a mixer place the cream cheese and beat on high until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and mix until combined then add in the sour cream, vanilla, and salt. Lower the mixer speed to medium-high and add the egg and egg yolk. Stop the mixer and stir in the Oreos with a spoon or rubber spatula.

Pour the batter over the crust and smooth to an even layer. Bake for 40 minutes or until the cheesecake is set around the edges but has a slight wobble still in the center.Cool the pan on a wire rack for an hour and then cover and store in the refrigerator for 3 hours until well chilled.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

Anyone else drooling yet? Because as soon as I heard the name of this cheesecake I know I was. This was actually one of the two cakes I made for Doug’s birthday (yes, I like that guy so much I made him 2 cakes) and he found the recipe himself – in a Redbook magazine sitting out in the break room at work.

This cheesecake is incredibly delicious. I knew it would be just reading the name and the ingredient list. Peanut butter? Reese’s cups? Oreo crust? How could it not be? Granted, I am a major lover of all things chocolate and peanut butter so of course I loved it. But the other 3 lucky people who got to try this loved it too. And I already know I’ll have to make at least one more of these this year – my peanut butter & chocolate loving dad was pretty sad he didn’t get any. And even though this is a little more labor intensive than any of the other cheesecakes I’ve made I’m cool with making it again – it is totally worth it.

 The middle of the cheesecake.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

From Redbook

Crust

1 1/2 Cups Oreos – broken up into crumbs

4 Tablespoons Melted Butter

Filling

4 – 8 Ounce Cream Cheese packages, at room temperature

1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter

1 Cup Sugar

4 Eggs, Large at room temperature

1/2 Cup Sour Cream

2 Teaspoons Vanilla

3 Ounces Bittersweet Chocolate, melted

6 Regular Size Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, cut into quarters

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 inch springform with cooking spray and cover the bottom of the pan with a double layer of aluminum foil.

Combine the cookie crumbs and the butter and press into the bottom of the pan and 1/2 inch up the side. Bake for 10 minutes and then let cool.

Beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Then add in the sugar until smooth. Reduce the speed of the mixer and ad the eggs 1 at a time until just incorporated. Add the sour cream and vanilla.

Remove 1 1/2 cups of the batter and put in a separate bowl. Add in the chocolate.

Add the peanut butter to the remaining batter in the first bowl and combine until smooth. Remove 1 3/4 cups of this batter to a separate bowl.

Pour the remaining batter from the first bowl over the crust. Then place the quartered peanut butter cups evenly over this layer. Then alternately drop spoonfuls of the peanut butter batter you put in a small bowl and the chocolate batter over the layer of peanut butter cups. Then use a knife to swirl the peanut butter batter and the chocolate batter together until they look marbleized.

Place the springform pan into a larger pan and place in the oven. Then pour enough hot water into the larger pan so that it is 1 inch up the sides of the springform pan.

Bake for 1 hour or until the cheesecake barely jiggles in the center when you lightly shake the pan. Then remove the springform from the bigger pan and remove the aluminum foil. Use a thin knife to run around the edge of the cake to release it from the pan. Let cool completely and then refrigerate at least 6 hours.

This was my first attempt at a chocolate cheesecake. And I’ve now made it twice. It is so rich and delicious, Everyone who tried it loved it. It did crack a little but honestly it is so good no one complained about the imperfection.

This recipe is definitely a keeper. I think it might be incredible with some nice rip strawberries alongside on a warm evening.

Chocolate Cheesecake                               

From Kraft Foods

24 Oreo Cookies – crushed

1/4 Cup Melted Butter

4 – 8 Ounce Packages Cream Cheese – softened

1 Cup Sugar

2 Tablespoons Flour

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

1 Package (8 squares) Semi-Sweet Chocolate – melted and slightly cooled

4 Eggs

 

Preheat Oven to 325 degrees.

Mix cookie crumbs and butter and press into large springform pan that has been sprayed with no-stick spray.

Beat the cream cheese, flour, sugar, and vanilla. Once well mixed add chocolate and continue mixing. Add eggs 1 at a time mixing each one in completely on low speed. Pour into pan.

Bake for 45 minutes or until center is almost set – check with a light touch. Cool totally and refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.

TWD: Tall and Creamy Cheesecake

When I saw that the last recipe for December was a cheesecake recipe I was both excited and nervous. I've never made a cheesecake before, even though it is something that I've always wanted to try. So I was very happy to see this recipe, because I knew it would be the kick I needed to finally make this awesome treat.

I was so inspired by this recipe and how great it sounded that we decided to make one for each of our parents for Christmas, since my dad and Doug's mom are cheesecake fans. This was so good that all of our parents absolutely raved about it. This has a nice creamy texture and a light sweet taste to it. And it's really actually very easy to make (trust me, I've made it three times now counting the one I just made for us to keep). The most time consuming aspect of this is the baking and cooling periods. This recipe also freezes really well, when we made the cakes for our parents we kept them in the freezer for a couple of days to make sure they stayed fresh and they were perfect.

I think this is a great recipe for someone who is new to cheesecakes, it's simple to follow and tastes great. I will definitely be trying more cheesecakes in different flavors in the future, so stay tuned!

This recipe was picked by Anne of AnneStrawberry, check out this great blog.

This recipe is from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, pages 235-237.