Cookies and Cream Cheesecake

This cookies and cream cheesecake is the best way to eat an Oreo! These already scrumptious cookies are mixed with a creamy and sweet cheesecake for the ultimate dessert mash up!

Let's talk about Cookies and Cream Cheesecake for a moment.

Some people dip their Oreos in milk, I dip mine in a cheesecake.

I feel like that's the same thing right?

Sure. Yep.

Cheesecakes are my absolute favorite desserts to make. Hands down.

I love their versatility, they taste absolutely delicious.

Although a cheesecake can seem intimidating, I'm here to assure you that they are incredibly simple to make!

YOU CAN DO THIS.

AND once you get the basic process down, you can make any flavor you want!  Honestly, the crust and filling combos are endless!

Why do we love Cookies and Cream Cheesecake?

First, it tastes AMAZING.  The bitterness from the Oreo and the sweetness from the cream filling blend so nicely with the slight tartness from the cream cheese. It creates a really lovely balance.

Second, this cake is like an inside out, extra, double, quadruple, boople (made that up) stuffed Oreo! It's like ALLL cream filling and a little bit of cookie.

And isn't that what we all want?

It's perfection. A perfect marriage.

Finally, this cheesecake is an instant show stopper.  I mean, she just wakes up like this...

But in all honesty, it comes out of the oven stunning and it's so simple to decorate if you need to hide a crack or spruce it up for a fancy gathering.

Your guests, your family, your mother in law, your judgy brother's girlfriend... will all be instantly impressed!

How to make a Cookies and Cream Cheesecake

Prepare the pan:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Grease an 8" round cake pan, with 3" high sides, with cooking spray or melted butter.

Cut an 8" circle out of parchment paper and place in the bottom of the cake pan, spray the parchment too.

Set aside.

For the crust:

• 16 chocolate sandwich cookies
• 5 tablespoons of butter, melted

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse cookies until very coarsely ground and chunky.

Add in melted butter and pulse until the crumbs are all uniformly ground and evenly moistened.

Dump cookie crumbs into the prepared pan. Use the bottom of a clean drinking glass to pack the crumbs down evenly and tight into the pan.

Delilah was delighted to help!

Bake for 12 min at 350° or until you smell a toasty chocolate aroma coming from the oven.  Remove from oven and set aside.

Reduce oven temp to 325°.

For the filling:

• Three 8oz packages of cream cheese, softened at room temperature
• ½ cup of sour cream
• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 12 chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed into tiny chunks.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth.  Add in sour cream and beat until fully incorporated and no lumps remain.

Add sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and continue beating on medium low until well mixed. Add vanilla.

Next, add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly between each egg.

Stir in crushed cookies either by hand or using a mixer set to low until JUST combined. Do not over mix.

Pour batter over prepared crust and tap lightly on the counter to get out air bubbles.

If you see any cookie pieces poking up, push them down into the batter. Pointy cookies equal cracks.

Make a water bath:

Place unbaked cheesecake into a larger pan--this can be a 10" cake pan or a roasting pan.

Fill the roasting pan with enough hot water to match the height of the batter in the 8" cake pan. Water level and cheesecake batter level should be about equal.

Bake for 1 hr and 5 minutes at 325°, until edges have puffed and center is slightly jiggly, but not cracked.  Shut the oven off.

Open oven door a crack for 1 minute.  Then shut door and let cake sit for 1 hour.

After an hour, remove cake from water bath, let cool.

Refrigerate uncovered for 6 hrs or preferably overnight.

Removing the cake

Remove cake from the fridge and run a thin, sharp knife around the edge between the cake and the pan to loosen. Make sure to get all the way down to the crust.

Get a pan that's slightly bigger than your cheesecake pan, and add a couple inches of very hot water.  Dip the bottom of the cheesecake pan in the hot water and hold for about 15-20 seconds.

Take a dinner plate lined with plastic wrap and place on top of the cheesecake pan.

Flip cheesecake over on to the dinner plate and give a gentle tap or a shake to help release.

The cake should slide out on to the dinner plate (upside down)

Once the cheesecake is out, breathe again and grab your serving plate and place it inverted on the cake.

Gently, as to not smush the cake, flip the cheesecake back over (right side up) onto the serving plate.  Decorate with whip cream and leftover cookies if you desire, and keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

Tips to prevent cracking

• Use full fat products.  Don't use light sour cream or low fat cream cheese. These guys contain more water and that water evaporates while baking, drying your cake out faster.
• Avoid overbeating your eggs.  I read somewhere that overmixing your eggs can lead to cracks, so I usually add them last, or in this case, gently stir in my final ingredient to where it's JUST mixed in.
• Use a water bath. I can't stress this enough. Cheesecakes need gentle, even baking and a water bath provides that. If the cake is baking in uneven, dry heat, your top will crack.
• Let the cake sit in the oven as the temp drops. This ensures there won't be a temperature shock to the cake. The sides cool quicker than the center. If the cake temp doesn't come down with the atmosphere temp, the center and sides will play tug o war, leading to cracks.

Cake pan vs springform pan

This is my personal preference, but honestly, I've never made a successful cheesecake in a springform pan.

If I use a water bath it ALWAYS leaks into my cake, even when I've wrapped the pan in foil.

I've also tried using a springform pan without a water bath, but then that resulted in a cracked, lumpy cake.

I found that using a cake pan without removable sides or bottom works really well and my cakes always come out beautiful and perfectly done.

So far I have not had any issues with a cake getting stuck in the pan or the cake getting ruined upon sliding out of the pan.

Occasionally,  I will have to run my knife along the edge of the cake again or dip the pan in hot water to loosen, but in the end, they've always slipped out successfully.

These here are the cake pans that I like to use.

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