I think Thursday night baking is going to be a thing. With only one class on Friday, it’s a great time to not do work. Also, with having class on Friday, I’m guaranteed about 80 people who don’t mind a morning pick-me-up.

Since starting this baking blog, it’s been pretty vital to have regular crowds of people to consume my baked goods, especially since I think that eating a full batch of cookies might not be the best life decision I could make. However, when that crowd of people is generally the same from week to week, I have to pay a little more attention to the variety of goods that I provide.

So this week, I opened up my cupcakes Pinterest board and was instantly greeted with a recipe I saved sometime in college and had somehow forgotten – mini Oreo cheesecakes.

To my Hounie readers – do you guys remember those things from the dining hall? I think I would deem them the second best school-provided dessert after Magic Bars. Which, given the Yale Bakery, is pretty high praise. I don’t know why I never made them. Maybe because I had in my head that cheesecake was impossible without a springform pan, which I don’t have.

These are anything but impossible. In fact, they are probably way too easy given I made a half batch and have enough ingredients now on hand to make another. Because one life decision that is probably worse than eating a batch of cookies would be eating batch of mini cheesecakes. But I digress.

As I mentioned, I made a half batch, but I’ll include the full recipe so that you can make 30 at a time. I just don’t have enough muffin tins to make that many in one go. Also, if you’re making all 30, one regular size package of Oreos is all you need – it contains 42 Oreos, I counted.

First, preheat the oven to 275°F. Put a baking dish with 2 cups of water in it on the bottom shelf to create a water bath. This will help make sure the cupcakes don’t crack.

Line muffin tins with paper liners and put a full Oreo in the bottom of each.

In a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese using the paddle attachment on medium speed until smooth.
Beat in the sugar, adding it gradually. Beat in the vanilla extract until smooth.Lightly beat the eggs with a fork. Pour them slowly into the stand mixer and beat until completely combined.

Finally, beat in the sour cream and salt.Crush twelve Oreos in a bag and fold them into the batter using a rubber spatula. Pour the batter almost to the top of each muffin cup. Bake at 275°F for between 20 and 30 minutes, or until set.Put the muffin tins, with cupcakes still in them, on a wire rack and allow to cool completely. Then, transfer muffin tins into the refrigerator for at least four hours to chill before serving.The real reason I only made a half batch is because I have 18 cups worth of muffin tins, and didn’t want to have to bake on two separate days to use up all the batter.

Either way, you end up with mini cheesecakes, which are arguably better than real cheesecake, because everything is better when it’s mini.

Store them in the fridge, and eat within a couple days.

Enjoy!

Oreo Mini Cheesecakes

Ingredients:

• 1 package Oreos, 30 whole and 12 crushed
• 2 pounds cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
• 1 cup sour cream
• pinch salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 275°F. Place a baking dish with 2 cups of water on the bottom shelf.
2. Line 30 muffin cups with paper liners. Place a full Oreo on the bottom of each cup.
3. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese on medium speed until smooth.
4. Gradually add sugar and beat to combine.
5. Beat in vanilla extract.
6. With mixer running, drizzle in eggs and continue to beat to combine.
7. Beat in sour cream and salt, scraping down sides to ensure well mixed.
8. Use a rubber spatula to fold in crushed Oreo pieces from 12 Oreos.
9. Fill each muffin cup almost to the top with batter. Bake at 275°F for 20-30 minutes or until middles are set.
10. Cool on wire rack in muffin tins until room temperature. Transfer to fridge and chill for 4 hours or until ready to serve.