Oreo Cheesecake!!

I do not have the best track record with cheesecakes. At all. They either crack and then sink, burn or are too underdone or once, I actually baked a paper towel into one. I have many talents.

My sister’s birthday was yesterday and I really wanted to make a good cheesecake. I had a ton of Oreos(thanks Sam’s Club) so Oreo cheesecake it was. I looked up many recipes before I settled on this one. Its supposed to be the copycat recipe for The Cheesecake Factory…..I’ve never had theirs so I really can’t compare. It just looked like it would be decent.

It came out really good! The only thing I would do different is baked for 1 hour instead of 1 hour and 15 minutes and then leave in oven(turned off) for an hour. The texture was nice, it came out of the springform easily and it was delicious. Everyone seemed to like it a lot so this is definitely a keeper!

I didn’t have sour cream so I used a cup of plain Fage greek yogurt – I will probably do this from now on. Its a bit more tangy than sour cream, but the texture is perfect.

Also, I used a 10″ pan instead of 9″ and it worked just fine.

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We all know that I can’t stand fussy recipes and while this one isn’t too bad, there are a few things I did differently:
- My cream cheese was not room temperature….it was still quite cold and I beat it in the mixer on low to medium for awhile (at least 15 minutes) and it was fine. I know every recipe says not to use cold cream cheese , but I’m a rebel

- I didn’t chill the crust(mostly because I forgot) and it came out awesome

- I threw as many oreos as I thought I should instead of following exactly ….use your judgement. The ones for the filling and on top I just crushed with my hands

- I didn’t grease, nor do I ever grease my springform pan and it was fine. The ring came off without a problem. Make sure you let it cool for at least 15 minutes, run a knife around the edge and then open.

Now for my tips:

- I really think 15 minutes less in the oven would have made this perfect…..but every oven is different so if you are more comfortable, stick with the recipe

- The most important thing(I think) is making sure you beat the cream cheese until fluffy and make sure there are no lumps

- Do not overbeat the eggs!

- Don’t overfill the pan(trust me!)

- Have fun!!

OREO CHEESECAKE

1 1/2 cups Oreo cookie crumbs (about 18 cookies finely chopped)
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 1/2 lbs cream cheese
1 cup sugar
5 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup flour
8 ounces sour cream (I used greek yogurt)
5 Oreo cookies (coarsely chopped for the batter)
7 coarsely chopped Oreo cookies, for the top of cheese cake

Directions:

Mix melted butter with Oreo crumbs and press in the bottom of a greased 9 inch springform pan. Cover bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides with crumbs. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
All ingredients need to be at room temperature before beginning.
Beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Keep mixer on a low setting during the mixing and beating process. Add sugar gradually and continue beating cream cheese until mixed through. Add eggs one at a time and continue to beat until blended.
Stir vanilla, salt and flour into cream cheese and egg mixture.
Add the sour cream.
Turn off the mixer and gently stir in the 5 coarsely chopped Oreo cookies with a spoon.
Pour mixture into springform pan; top with the 7 remaining coarsely chopped cookies.
Place pan on top rack and in the middle of a preheated oven at 325 degrees and bake for 75 minutes. Turn off the oven, prop the door open several inches and let the cheese cake stay in the oven for one hour.
Cool on wire rack.
When cool, refrigerate.

I almost forgot….I made a chocolate whipped topping.

Put your mixing bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer for a few minutes. After you take those out, pour in about a half a quart of heaving whipping cream. Beat on medium until it starts to thicken. Add about 2 tbsp of sugar and 2 tbsp cocoa powder. Mix well. Turn mixer up a speed and whip until a peak forms. When you lift the whisk attachment up, the whipped cream should stand up a bit and form a peak. Do not over mix! The mixture will separate and become butter-like! Add to cheesecake and enjoy!

Chocolate Ricotta Milkshake – SB Phase 1

I need chocolate…..I don’t just want it, I need it. Any time I’ve ever tried a new way of eating or a diet, the first thing I’ve done is make sure I can have chocolate in one form or another. I know, its a sickness.

As you know, I started South Beach this week and I was very happy to see that I could still have chocolate – kind of. I can have unsweetened cocoa powder and a sugar substitute – that’s the same right?

I was craving a chocolate milkshake the other night and found a few recipes that I could use on phase one. I found a few and sort of made a mixture….this is what I ended up with:

Chocolate Ricotta Milkshake (phase 1)

2 cups skim or low fat milk(I used almond)

1/4 cup part skim Ricotta cheese

2-3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

3-4 tsp Stevia or Splenda

1 tsp vanilla extract

ice

Put all ingredients in blender and blend until desired consistency.

I topped it with whipped topping ( no sugar) and I’m not sure if its allowed on this phase, but I wanted it so there it is.

Sorry about the picture, but it was torture trying to get a good pic and I gave up and pigged the whole thing down.

I thought it was pretty good – it made enough for more than one milkshake – not that anyone else in my house would try it. And trust me – you can’t taste the ricotta….it just gives it a thicker consistency. This definitely works when you have a craving for chocolate. I won’t say that it replaces a milkshake…. it kind of turned out like really cold chocolate milk, but hey who’s complaining?