Only three days left until Christmas and I just have to share something special with you! A wonderful dessert to serve in the winter and especially during the holidays. This Peppermint Cheesecake is special, it’s made with Candy Cane Oreo Cake Crust, topped with some candy cane kisses and drizzled with more melted kisses.
Perfection!
This was an experiment that paid off big! Complete success, I’m very happy that I took than chance and made this cheesecake.
Originally, I was going to make a peppermint cheesecake with a chocolate cookie crust, like I usually do. Then, I wanted to try something different, something I haven’t done before. I’m adventurous like that.
I decided to make sort of an Oreo cake for the crust for this cheesecake. It was a total shot in a dark because I didn’t want it to be an actual cake but kind of a flourless cake. It worked! I used Candy Cane Oreo cookies for this crust, which worked perfectly with the peppermint cheesecake.
To bring it all together, I used another great seasonal candy. I used Candy Cane Kisses. I set aside abut 27 kisses (for the 9-inch cheesecake) to top off the edge of the cheesecake. I melted the rest of the kisses left in the bag in the microwave and then drizzled it on top of the cheesecake using a piping bag. Remember to microwave the kisses at half the power for a minute and stir well. (do another 20 seconds in necessary, at half power.)
Peppermint Cheesecake with Oreo Cake Crust
Ingredients
- Oreo Cake Crust:
- 30 Oreo cookies that's the whole pack (preferably candy cane flavor)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
- Peppermint Cheesecake:
- 3 - 8 oz packs of cream cheese softened
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1/2 cup of white granulated sugar
- 2 tbs plain yogurt
- 2/3 cup of heavy cream
- 2 tsp peppermint extract
- Topping:
- 1 bag of candy cane kisses:
- About 27 set aside for garnish
- Melt the rest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 and grease a 9-inch springform pan.
- Oreo Cake Crust:
- Pulse the Oreo cookies in a blender or food processor until all just crumbles.
- Add the cookie crumbs and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Separately, whisk eggs and oil until combined. Add the egg mixture to the crumbs. Whisk together until all incorporated well and transfer into the springform pan.
- Cheesecake:
- Beat the cream cheese and sugar, in an electric mixer on medium speed, until light and fluffed (about 2-3 minutes).
- Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition.
- Add the yogurt, heavy cream and peppermint. Mix until all smooth.
- Slowly and evenly, scoop the cheesecake batter over the Oreo crust. Try to scoop all over otherwise the center will be too heavy and cake batter will be too thin in the center. Some cake batter will go up higher on the sides, it's supposed to!
- Bake the cheesecake for about 60-65 minutes (firm but a still a little jiggly in the center). Turn off the oven and crack the oven door open. Let the cheesecake sit there (with the oven door half-open) for about 10 minutes. Take out of the oven and place on a wire rack.
- Let it rest for another 10 minutes on the counter and then gently run a greased butter knife between sides of the cheesecakes and the springform to carefully separate it. Let it cool to room temperature for about an hour. (You don't actually have to take the cheesecake out of the pan until ready to add toppings.)
- You can choose to cool cheesecake in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before adding the toppings OR add the toppings to the room temperature cheesecake and then place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving.
- Topping:
- Melt the remaining kisses in the microwave, on half the power, for 1 minute. Stir well. If necessary, microwave for another 20 seconds at half power. Pour into a pipping bag and cut off the very tip, leaving just a little hole for drizzling.
- Drizzle the melted kisses all over the cheesecake.
- Lay out the kisses over the edge of the cheesecake, in the circle.
- **There has been a couple of UPDATES to the directions.**
Recipe Notes
Recipe from Lyuba @ willcookforsmiles.com. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to share this recipe, please simply link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.
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Renee @ Two in the Kitchen
Oh wow! Sign me up for a piece of this cheesecake!!! This is absolutely gorgeous!!!1 Saw this on Marvelous Mondays!!!
lyuba
Thank you for a sweet compliment, Renee!
lisa murano
This looks amazing! I’m going to make this next week. Thanks!
~L
(found you on Motivate Me Monday)
lyuba
Yay! I hope you like it, Lisa!
Thank you!
Traci
This came out so pretty! I love candy cane kisses, but you took it a bajillion steps further with yummy cheesecake too. Great job!
lyuba
Awww, thanks, Traci!
Catherine
Dear Lyuba, This cake looks beautiful. Perfect for the holidays. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year. Blessings, Catherine
lyuba
Thank you so much, Catherine! You as well!
Bentley Yoak (Ben)
I have question, how do you get the middle from being so creamy and the melted chocolate from getting hard after you put it on?
lyuba
Hi Ben!
What do you mean by creamy? Cheesecake is typically creamy but if you mean too soft, you can cook it an extra 10 minutes or so. The chocolate will harden, especially once it gets cold. If you do not want it to get hard, I can suggest making a ganache out of it. I have not tried it but the way I would do it is chop the kisses and add hot heavy cream, just like the process of making chocolate ganache. (You can real a little about making ganache in this recipe: https://www.willcookforsmiles.com/2016/01/double-chocolate-ganache-and-raspberry-cheesecake.html
I hope this helps!
Ben
Thank you. I was thinking of make the ganache. The middle was soft. sorry about that. I did bake it for about an hour. Would it be good let set in the oven for about a hour after baking it?
lyuba
Hi Ben!
I’m thinking the time should be around 60-65 minutes, and then let it rest with the oven door open and oven turned off for about 10 minutes.
I’m so sorry about that! Since this was so long ago, I’m thinking that time could be a typo. I also bake all my cheesecakes using the bain-marie method now. I need to re-make this cheesecake to double check the time.
Also, are you refrigerating the cheesecake before cutting it or cutting it warm?
lyuba
You can reference this cheesecake here: https://www.willcookforsmiles.com/2016/08/oreo-pumpkin-cheesecake-recipe.html
I’ve learned quite a bit more about making cheesecakes in the last 3 years 🙂
lyuba
I’ve also made updates to the directions above.
Since you want to make the ganache instead of a hard drizzle, you can do it to the room temperature cheesecake and then refrigerate it for at least 4 hours. (Like I’ve suggested in this cheesecake: https://www.willcookforsmiles.com/2016/01/double-chocolate-ganache-and-raspberry-cheesecake.html )