Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Thin Mint mini cheesecakes

Have you heard of pinterest? This amazing and addicting time suck of an online pinboard? No? Well you might want to head on over there so I don't feel so incredibly alone in this world. Okay, there is my emo for the day. But really, check it out:

http://pinterest.com/

Pinterest is where I found this beautiful food blog with professional grade photos. A site that makes my amateur attempts all the more obvious, but if you must, go ahead and check it out. I won't hold it against you:

http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2011/09/cookies-and-cream-cheesecakes.html

That there is the recipe that led us to where we are right now. The reason I found myself the other night whipping together this luciousness:
Preparing it to go on top of these:

Why yes, those are in fact Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies. Yes, I do happen to be addicted. So what, who cares?


I used the recipe in the link above, with a few changes.


Mini Thin Mint Cheesecakes


Roughly 2 boxes of Thin Mints, 10 coarsely chopped

(32 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 teaspoon peppermint flavoring

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup sour cream

pinch of salt


1) Preheat oven to 275°. 2) Line standard muffin pans with liners. 3) Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each liner.4) Beat cream cheese at medium speed using an electric mixer. 5) Gradually add the sugar, beating until combined. 6) Beat in vanilla and peppermint flavoring. 7) Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time. 8) Beat in sour cream and salt. 9) Stir in chopped cookies by hand. 10) Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top. 11) Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, about 30 minutes. 12) Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. 13) Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). 14) Remove from tins just before serving.


This batter was phenomenal. Cheesecake has always been intimidating to me and this was a piece of cake. Or, I guess, a mini piece of cupcake.

It was almost a shame to add the Thin Mints...

Almost.

I baked a test one before baking a whole pan's worth. There goes that incredibly well loved cupcake tin. Don't tell me I am the only one with kitchen equipment that looks like this!

After baking. Plump, moist, cheesecake perfection. The origial recipe calls for 22 minutes of baking time. I don't know if i is the high altitude or what, but it took mine more like 30-35.

YUM.

Of course I had to sample to ensure quality and all.

They most definitely passed muster. Most definitely.

Go forth! Make these! Do great things! Change the world! But first, MAKE THESE.



Testimonials for the above recipe:


"These......these should not be allowed, sweet Jesus they're delicious!!" - Marissa, my favorite IT person


"Are you kidding me? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!?" - crazed woman at work


A software engineer who I have never seen smile was heard saying "Those are to die for".


So there you have it ladies and gents.


One more thing before you make these, please reassure me. Tell me you have a well loved and beat up piece of kitchen equipment you can't part with!

2 comments:

Asplode said...

These look *amazing*.

And oh yes. My bread pans are glass. And they're old - they were my mom's. They're *ugly* and brown in spots. I know I could probably take a metal scrubby to them to get them clean but I'm *lazy*, and they work just find as they are. I'll never get rid of them.

Dining Alone said...

This looks easy and you could do so many variations, nilla wafer cheese cake, oreo, etc. I actually just bought a new muffin pan, I could give these a try if I get brave enough.

Oh and Pinterest is so awesome :)