Oreo Cheesecake

Oreo cookies are one of those nostalgic foods from childhood. And although the adult in me understands that they aren't exactly healthy, I still love to eat Oreos with a big glass of milk. Oreos are also excellent as ingredients in a variety of desserts. For example, when I was in college, I remember the cafeteria made these awesome cheesecake brownies with Oreos layered inside them (yum!). I also enjoy making brownie pie with an Oreo crust (but that's another blog).



But perhaps the best Oreo dessert I have ever made or eaten is OREO CHEESECAKE. It rocks! I first found the recipe for my Oreo cheesecake when I was in college (Go IWU!). The Bloomington/Normal Pantagraph ran an article in its Lifestyle section featuring cheesecakes, undoubtedly the best article to ever run in that section of the paper.



Traditionally, I make my Oreo cheesecake every New Year's Eve for our annual party. Last year some of our friends brought over their fondue paraphernalia and we mixed up milk chocolate and white chocolate/mint fondues and THEN dipped the cheesecake in that. Well. While not exactly healthy, it was darned good. So without further ado, here is the best Oreo cheesecake recipe ever...



Oreo Cheesecake:

2 bags Oreos (standard size, please, none of that double-stuffed nonsense)

1 stick unsalted butter, melted
3 eight oz. blocks of cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Crush 30 Oreos (I use a food processor), and coarsely chop 20 Oreos. This is about 1 bag of Oreos, but I always buy two bags, usually because I must snack on Oreos while preparing this dessert! In a large, heat-proof bowl, melt a stick of butter and then combine the crushed Oreos and butter. Stir until Oreo crumbs are well-coated with butter, then press into bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch spring form pan. Set aside.

In an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until creamy; add eggs one at a time. Next add sour cream and vanilla extract; fold in chopped cookies. Spread mixture into prepared crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes, or until set. I discovered that my oven starts to burn the edges of the cheesecake, so I try to watch and remove the cheesecake a few minutes early.

To cool the cheesecake, I use a trick I learned from watching the Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network (don't laugh -- I too was skeptical at first). When the cheesecake tests done, turn off the oven and open the door wide and let the cheesecake sit in the oven for another hour. AS the oven cools, the cheescake will also slowly cool and this will keep the top of the cheesecake from cracking. Now, cracked or not, this is darned good. But for the sake of aesthetics, this is one trick that works well. When the cheesecake is completely cooled (or you simply can't wait any longer to eat it), remove from the springform pan and garnish with the remaining (HA!) cookies (yet another good reason to buy two bags...you might actually have extras for garnishing purposes!).