Chocolate Mint Cheesecake

Today is one of my best friend’s birthdays, and I wanted to surprise her with a mini cheesecake. She loves mint Oreos, so I thought a chocolate mint cheesecake would be appropriate. My mom has a cookbook at home called Mother Wonderful’s Cheesecakes, and they really are wonderful. I have several that vie for favorite, but I’ve certainly made this one a lot.

Just because you make something often doesn’t mean you don’t have off days. Tuesday night was such. My mini cheesecakes tasted good but were not up to standard in the looks department! I put a cookie sheet underneath the springform pans instead of a pan, and butter leaked all over the oven, causing quite a bit of smoke and a big mess. I couldn’t put them back in the smoking oven for fear of the smoke detector going off, so I had to finish cooking them in the toaster oven! Meanwhile, I forgot to tint the topping and tried swirling it in after it was already applied… yuck!

Fortunately, I had filling leftover in the fridge and the ingredients to make more crust and topping. So today I cleaned the oven and started over! And I’m happy to say that this mini cheesecake turned out perfect!

I began by preparing my pan. If you are making a cheesecake to take somewhere, you don’t want to use the bottom that comes with the springform pan, or you might not get it back! Trace the bottom on a piece of cardboard, cut out the circle, and then wrap it in foil. Place parchment paper over your new bottom and then pop it into the springform pan. Then preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. (Pull out your cream cheese to begin softening as well.)

Next, I made the crust. I pulsed Oreos in a food processor (about 2/3 of the package) until it was finely ground. Then I added the sugar and melted butter. Once it was combined, I took a spoon and pressed it into the springform pan. (Note: If you are doing mini cheesecakes, you’re going to have quite a bit of crust – spread it out between several pans. Otherwise, it’s enough to coat an entire 10-inch springform.)

Then it was time to make the filling. I put the cream cheese and sugar in my KitchenAid and mixed it well. I melted the sweet chocolate in the microwave and cut up Andes mints. Then I added both of these ingredients, along with the pinch of salt and mint extract, to the mixer. I scraped the bowl down several times to make sure the ingredients were mixed thoroughly, turned the speed down to the lowest setting, and added the eggs, one at a time.

I poured the filling into the crust. Make sure you leave room for topping! It will also rise a little bit. Now this is crucial: put a pan underneath your springform pan!! (Do as I say, not as I do.) Then bake for 40 minutes! (If you’re doing a mini cheesecake (4-inch springform), it will only take 30-32 minutes.)

Once the crust and filling were cooked, I let it sit for 10 minutes and prepared the sour cream topping. I measured out and mixed sour cream, sugar, and mint extract and added a drop of green food coloring to the mixture. Then I spread it on top of the cheesecake with a rubber spatula. This then went back into the oven for 10 more minutes. After this, it’s done! It needs to go straight from the oven to the refrigerator, to prevent cracks from forming. It also tastes best if you can make the cheesecake the night before so it can sit overnight in the fridge. I thought this mini cheesecake turned out pretty cute, and I hope my friend and her husband enjoy it!

Happy Birthday, Taylor!

Recipe for Chocolate Mint Cheesecake
From the Kitchen of Mother Wonderful 😊

Crust:
Ingredients:
¼ lb salted butter (one stick), melted
2 c finely ground crumbs from Nabisco Famous Wafers OR Oreos
¼ c sugar

Directions:
Pulse chocolate wafers or Oreos in a food processor until finely ground. Pour melted butter and sugar into food processor and combine until well blended. Press mixture over bottom and up sides of an ungreased 10-inch springform pan.

Filling:
Ingredients:
4 8-oz packages of cream cheese, softened
1 ¼ c sugar
1 tsp mint extract
Pinch of salt
3 ½ oz Baker’s German sweet chocolate, melted
2 oz Andes mints, chopped finely
4 large eggs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixer, combine cream cheese and sugar, and beat for 2 minutes, until soft. Add the mint extract, salt, melted chocolate, and chocolate mint bits and blend thoroughly. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing on the lowest speed. Mix until each egg has been incorporated into the batter. Pour filling into crust and bake for 40 minutes. (If ingredients are not at room temperature, add five minutes to the baking time.) Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes while you prepare the topping.

Topping:
Ingredients:
2 c sour cream
¼ c sugar
1 tsp mint extract

Directions:
Combine sour cream, sugar, and mint extract in a small bowl. Spread evenly over top of baked filling and return to 350-degree oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately place in the refrigerator to cool.

It tastes best if it can sit overnight to cool completely and finish setting up! Enjoy!