Have you heard of OCS – Only Child Syndrome? Well, I have it and I have it bad. I’ve been living with OCS and after years of practice have the affliction under control. However, there are occasions when my OCS comes to the fore and sharing is one of them. I just don’t care for sharing. I’m getting better but I don’t think I’ll ever master the art of it. I like having everything and everyone to myself. I can’t help it, I just do.
That’s why I love these cheesecakes because they’re single serve and there is no need to share. From a more practical and less selfish point of view, they’re easy to serve too, there’s no worries about slicing and knifing. I’ve been a bit obsessed with Easter eggs this year. It’s like there are so many varieties of eggs and so little time in which to work my way through them.
I’d heard really good things about the Oreo eggs and I thought these cheesecakes and those eggs were just made to go together. The weird thing is that I had 12 cheesecakes and only 11 eggs. I mean, what’s with that? And for the record, there were only 11 eggs in the packet, I didn’t even test one! Going back to my earlier point about sharing, having an odd number of eggs in a pack is surely an Easter disaster waiting to happen, don’t you think?!
These cheesecakes have it all, the cookies, the cream and the Oreo eggs. They’re egg-stra special!
Ingredients
18 oreos (about 120g) + 6 extra
45g butter
50g caster sugar
2 eggs
450g cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
TO DECORATE
4 oreo biscuits
1 pack of mini Oreo Easter Eggs
How to – Traditional
- Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases. Preheat oven to 180C / 160C fan-forced.
- Melt butter in a pan or in the microwave.
- Crush the 18 Oreos using a food processor and add to the butter mixture until you have the texture of wet sand.
- Put 1 tablespoon of crumbs in each muffin cup and press down firmly with 1/3 measuring cup or the back of a spoon.
- Bake the crust for 5 minutes. Allow to cool while you make the filling.
- Place the 6 extra Oreo biscuits in a ziploc bag and crush with a rolling pin. You Oreo chunks rather than crumbs. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. This should take 2-3 minutes.
- Beat in the sugar and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
- Add the Oreo crumbs and use a spatula to gently combine.
- Place 2 generous tablespoons of cheesecake batter in each muffin cup.
- Place the 4 Oreo biscuits into the same ziploc bag and bash until you have a good mix of chunks and crumbs. Sprinkle over the tops of the cheesecakes, gently pressing down.
- Bake for about 15-17 minutes. The cheesecakes are ready when they look set but still have a slight wobble in the centre.
- Allow the cheesecakes to cool in the oven for about 5-10 minutes. Gently, press an Oreo egg on to each cheesecake. Allow to cool at room temperature and then pop them in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.
- The cheesecakes can be made a day ahead, but if refrigerating overnight, cover with plastic wrap.
How to – Thermomix
- Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases. Preheat oven to 180C / 160C fan-forced.
- Melt butter for 1 minute at 60C on speed 2. Check butter is completely melted. Add 18 Oreos to TM bowl and crush for 5 seconds on speed 9. The mixture should have the texture of damp sand. If necessary, blitz for another 5 seconds.
- Put 1 tablespoon of crumbs in each muffin cup and press down firmly with 1/3 measuring cup or the back of a spoon.
- Bake the crust for 5 minutes. Allow to cool while you make the filling.
- Place the 6 extra Oreo biscuits in a ziploc bag and crush with a rolling pin. You Oreo chunks rather than crumbs. Set aside.
- Wash and dry bowl. Add cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and eggs and mix for 30 seconds on speed 4. Scrape down lid and sides of bowl. If necessary, mix again for another 5-10 seconds.
- Add the Oreo crumbs and combine on reverse speed 3 for 10 seconds.
- Place 2 generous tablespoons of cheesecake batter in each muffin cup.
- Place the 4 Oreo biscuits into the same ziploc bag and bash until you have a good mix of chunks and crumbs. Sprinkle over the tops of the cheesecakes, gently pressing down.
- Bake for about 15-17 minutes. The cheesecakes are ready when they look set but still have a slight wobble in the centre.
- Allow the cheesecakes to cool in the oven for about 5-10 minutes. Gently, press an Oreo egg on to each cheesecake. Allow to cool at room temperature and then pop them in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.
- The cheesecakes can be made a day ahead, but if refrigerating overnight, cover with plastic wrap.
