Oreos + Cheesecake = Lurrvveee

Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes (holy moley alliteration station!). But seriously, does anything sound sweeter than that?  I think the best part is that the recipe for these babies is shorter than their title.

This was my first recipe from Martha Stewart and accompanied my "Homemade Hostess Cupcakes" during my weekend up north of the Mason Dixon line, where my goal was to impress my family with my new found baking prowess. Needless to say between these two easy and divine recipes, it was an easy win for this baking beginner.

I couldn't seem to find the original recipe from good ol' Martha, but did find the recipe republished on this blog called "52 Cupcakes and Layla", which I'm obviously checking out again since it is all about delicious cupcakes! One thing to keep in mind is that this recipe does make 30, so unless you have an army to feed (or a family that has a serious sweet tooth), it is advisable to cut in half. Here it is:


Her's. Yummmm. Photo from http://www.52cupcakes.blogspot.com/

Mine. Not as firm, just as yummy.

Martha Stewart's Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes Recipe
Makes 30

Ingredients:
42 cream-filled sandwich cookies, such as Oreos, 30 left whole, and 12 coarsely chopped
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
Pinch of salt


1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.

2. With an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.

3. Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

4. Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

Pros: Scrumptious! The Oreo cookie bottom gives this cupcake a nice firm crust-like bottom and the cheesecake is smooth and creamy. It is the perfect combination of flavors and textures! Also, it is an easy way to eat cheesecake (no mess, no fuss, and best of all, no utensils!)

Cons: The recipe is pretty straight forward, but I did find it hard to figure out when to take out the cupcakes. I'm someone that needs explicit directions, and for some reason "firm" didn't do enough for me. Needless to say, they still turned out fantastic.

Revisions: I got nothing for ya!

This recipe definitely opened my eyes to why Martha is definitely a goddess amongst us mere baking mortals. She really is the real deal (even if she was apparently a terrible mother according to her daughter and that whole jail thing). The woman knows what she is talking about when it comes to cupcakes. Try them out and let me know how it goes! Is there any doubt that this is a "Hall of Fame" winner?