Howard County Mom Bakes: Peppermint Cheescake

Image courtesy of the Columbia Mom, Howard County, MD mom

INGREDIENTS:

Cooking spray
3 (8-oz.) blocks cream cheese, softened
1 c. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 c. sour cream
1 1/2 tbsp. all-purpose our
1 tsp. peppermint extract
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 c. chopped chocolate, plus more for garnish
1/2 c. chopped white chocolate, plus more for garnish 1/2 c. chopped candy canes, plus more for garnish

FOR THE OREO CRUST:

24 Peppermint Oreos

5 tbsp. melted butter

FOR THE GANACHE:

3/4 c. hot heavy cream
1 1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

RECIPE:

Preheat oven to 350 and spray an 8" springform pan with cooking spray.

MAKE FILLING: In a large bowl using a hand mixer (or in a stand mixer using the paddle attachment), beat cream cheese and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, then sour cream, our, peppermint extract, vanilla, and salt. Gently fold in chopped chocolates and candy canes and set aside.

MAKE CRUST: In a food processor or in a large Ziploc bag, crush Oreos into fine crumbs. Stir with melted butter until completely moist. Add crust to prepared pan and pack tightly.

Pour over filling and place pan on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until center is only slightly jiggly, about 1 hour. (**PRO TIP: DO THE WATER BATH!! If you want to use a water bath to ensure no cracking, wrap springform pan in 3 layers of foil and place springform pan in a deep-sided roasting pan. Pour boiling water into roasting pan until it reaches halfway up the springform pan.)

Turn off oven and let cheesecake cool in oven 1 hour (ALSO A PRO TIP: this step is optional but prevents cracking !!)

Refrigerate cheesecake until completely chilled, at least 4 hours but preferably overnight

Before serving, make chocolate ganache: Pour hot cream over chocolate chips and let sit, 5 minutes. Stir until all chocolate is melted. (If ganache seems too thin, refrigerate 5 minutes.)

Spread ganache over chilled cheesecake and garnish with more chopped chocolate and candy canes.

Refrigerate 10 minutes before serving to let ganache harden. ENJOY!

Image courtesy of the Columbia Mom, Howard County, MD mom