Friday, March 4, 2011

Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes

I found a copy of Martha Stewart's Cupcake cookbook on sale for $6.99 and I just couldn't pass it up.  It won me over with it's beautiful photography and cute little cupcakes and I couldn't wait to get it home and look it over.  When my daughter saw it sitting on the couch she became interested and asked if she could pick the first recipe, hence these little Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes.  The girl loves Oreos.

The little cheesecakes look so cute in Martha's book and naturally I had high hopes that mine would look as pretty as Martha's.  Let's just say that didn't happen.  The picture at the top of my post is a copy of what they looked like in the book. Naturally Martha and her crew make them look perfect, right?  Well, here's what mine looked like.  Mine are not so cute.  Strike #1.
At any rate, this recipe should be really simple.  One whole Oreo cookie is placed at the bottom of each lined cup in your muffin tin.  A cheesecake filling is made with a mixture of cream cheese, sour cream, and more chopped Oreos, then poured over the cookie.  Easy enough, right?  It was easy until I discovered that I only had (2) 6-cup muffin tins and could only make 12 at a time.  Strike #2 (totally my fault). Since the recipe makes 30 cheesecakes that bake for 20 minutes, then need to cool for even longer, the entire process took forever.  I learned a valuable lesson that day, which was that I need to buy more muffin tins and also start paying attention to my kitchen equipment, as well as the ingredients, when choosing a recipe.
The recipe indicates that it makes 30 cheesecakes, but I had a lot of leftover filling which meant more batches of cheesecakes, more cooling, and another hour of standing in the kitchen.  Strike #3 You're out!
In the end I do have to tell you that the recipe made about 42 cheesecakes.  Most of them went to my daughter's Girl Scout Troop, who really enjoyed them.  Some stayed here in the house and the rest went with my Mom to work.  Everyone enjoyed them, but I don't think they were anything to write home about.


Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes
Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes
Makes over 40 cupcakes

42 cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies, such as Oreos, 30 left whole and 12 coarsely chopped (This  is the equivalent of one pacakage of Oreos) NOTE: I would buy 2 packages though because you will have extra filling
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 275F.  Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.  Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.
With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.  Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined.  Beat in vanilla.

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

Divide batter evenly among cookie-filled cups, filling each almost to the top.  Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes.  Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely.  Refrigerate (in tins) at least 4 hours (or up to overnight).  Remove from tins just before serving.
Notes/Results:  I learned several things while making these cheesecakes.  Probably the biggest lesson was to give more thought to my kitchen equipment, not only the ingredients, when making a new recipe.  The second thing I learned is that I really don't like it when the food doesn't turn out as pretty as it does in the books.  The difference between the way Martha's look and the way mine look is pretty stark.  Because these cupcakes took so much time and care, tending to the muffin pans and such, it really upset me the way they came out. 

I definitely want to say that I still love Martha's cupcake book and plan on making several more of the recipes in the future.  Overall this is a good recipe, just not the best.  I don't know that I would necessarily recommend it. On the other hand, Martha's book does mention that these are a staff favorite so maybe I just did something wrong.  I'll never know because I'm most definitely NOT making them again. 

Have you had any similar kitchen adventures lately? 

24 comments:

  1. When I looked at your pictures, before I read your post, I was thinking that these came out as beautiful as Martha's. But then you said that they didn't. I think they look great. The girl scouts must have loved these. I love that book. I read it often and I have been planning on making those cookies and cream cheesecakes for a while. Maybe I'll wait. Thanks, Kim.

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  2. When we made these we were disappointed too. They really weren't special. I think they might have been better without the whole cookie in the bottom.
    Mimi

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  3. I do love oreos. I hate when I get into kitchen debacles.

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  4. I agree with Ann, I think yours look almost identical to the ones in the book. Beautiful.

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  5. Kim, I saw this recipe I think on Martha's site and I was thinking of making it, especially after trying the cookies and cream cupcakes I made last weekend. I'm going to go by what you say though and not bother. They do sound really good though and I don't think there's a thing wrong with the way yours came out!

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  6. We've made this recipe a couple times and absolutely loved them....the adults and the kids. On the other hand, I know what you mean. I've made things that people have raved about and they've been a disaster for us. I made a batch of turtle cookies at Christmas three separate times that my friend claimed as her favorite cookie recipe ever and we ended up throwing them in the trash they turned out so badly. Sorry to ramble, but just in case anyone's deciding whether to make them or not....I vote that they're worth a try. :)

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  7. Kim, Sorry these didn't turn out so well for you. Frustration in the kitchen is never fun. Do you think the size of the muffin tins is different? From the pictures it looks like some of the filling leaked under the whole cookie. I'm sure they were delicious anyway!
    Linda

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  8. I've made some really good recipes from that cookbook so I'm SO sorry you had a bad experience with it! The red velvets are super easy and super delicious!

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  9. Of course everyone enjoyed them - they look fabulous. I am known for serving dinner at 8 p.m. because I skipped over something when I read the recipe. If it were these cupcakes - I could serve them at midnight - no one would mind because the finished product is so sweet.

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  10. oh my bless you thats a lot of cheesecakes, I stay very simple with baking as scared i have messed up a lot love that you have the guts to keep trying hugs

    Rebecca

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  11. Oooh. What a great recipe! I think that I've bookmarked it before, but never tried. Loved your pictures here too. I'm just sorry that it took so long for you to make all 30. What a pain!

    I hope that you have a wonderful weekend too!

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  12. I think you are being very hard on yourself Kim, they look pretty good to me!

    It is very disappointing when you put hours of work into a recipe and it is less than wonderful.

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  13. Sorry to hear that but the idea does sound really intriguing.

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  14. Gosh, they sure look good! Sorry you were unhappy with them. Martha's recipes are usually good ones.
    But isn't the true test that everyone else loved them??

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  15. Sorry it didn't go exactly to plan. I usually have such good luck with Martha's recipes, they have proven kind of failsafe for me, but there's always the exception to the rule. Got to say though, I love the idea of these treats.
    Hope you are having a great weekend.
    *kisses* HH

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  16. I hear you, Kim, and it's why I have closets that are lethal (open them up, and out tumble madeline pans, mini loaf pans, tart pans of all sizes, etc.). That said, there's always a recipe I want to try and don't have the equipment for. The other night I made a pasta frittata that called for a 2 quart baking dish. Not having one deep enough, I substituted a springform pan. It's easier to sub when cooking, though, than baking. Your cheesecakes did not look bad and I'm certain they were enjoyed.

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  17. Uh huh...The Martha is really speaking to me through this one Kim! But I get you on the problems....sometimes a recipe will not work out for me and it's just enough trouble that i am not willing to try it again.
    Thanks for your comment about my roasted chickens....luckily I don't get tired of them.

    By the way, Tristan leaves Monday early, I'm not ready! :-(

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  18. i've totally had that happen to me before. or at the last minute i discover that something need to marinate, or chill for two hours or something! they sure look dang good and i think yours are just as cute as the pictures. bummer they didn't work out!

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  19. Awwwwwwww. Yep, I've had some dismal failures but it's never been put on my blog. Good for you for being so honest. I was excited to see the possibilities, but I guess I won't try them.
    I've missed not being around visiting blogs for so long. Thanks to you, I bought Rachael Ray's newest cookbook and I LOVE it!

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  20. I wonder why she didn't scale down the recipe! I wouldn't want to make 40 of these - and I don't think the average person would either. I bet they're delicious though, I like the idea of the oreo crust. In the past two weeks I've had a ton of fails - two coconut cakes, a zucchini lasagna and pear muffins. Boo.

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  21. I think they look pretty darn good myself but I agree with Reeni--that does make a whole lot more of them than I (or my hips) would want. ;-)

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  22. You're daughter is a smart one--Oreos are always delicious! :-) Even though you made a few strikes, they still turned out delicious!

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