Mini Oreo Chocolate Cheesecakes

Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes with an Oreo Crust and Ganache Topping

 I really freakin' love these things.  There is no other way to put it.  Fantastic.

Yield: Makes 48 Mini Cupcakes

Crust:

·         2 sleeves of Oreos

·         4 tbs melted butter

Cheesecake Filling:

·         2 packages (8 ounces each) of Philadelphia Cream Cheese

·         1 cup sugar

·         1 tsp vanilla

·         8 squares semi-sweet Baker’s chocolate (1 package), melted

·         3 eggs

Ganache Topping:

·         4.5 ounces bittersweet and 4.5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

·         ½ cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 325°.  Place liners in mini cupcake pan.  In a food processor, blend the Oreos until there are no longer large chunks and slowly incorporate in butter.  The mixture should be crumbly but will stick together if you push on it.  Fill each mini cupcake approximately ¼ full and then use a spoon or kitchen hammer to flatten out crust.  Bake the crust for 7-8 minutes.  While the crust is baking, beat the cream cheese, vanilla, and sugar until well blended.  Add melted Baker’s chocolate.  Beat in the eggs, adding only one egg at a time. Batter should be smooth and shiny.  At this point, I usually fill the batter into a piping bag and pipe the batter in until cupcakes are ¾ full.  You can just use a spoon though if you don’t have a piping bag.  Bake cupcakes for 12 minutes or until batter is just slightly jiggly.  Remove from oven and allow to completely cool. 

For the ganache, heat heavy cream over the stove until it just begins to boil and pour boiling cream over chocolate.  Mix with a fork until smooth and shiny.  Spoon ganache over each cupcake.  At this point, I will cut the remaining Oreos I have into quarters and top the cupcakes with them.  Refrigerate and enjoy!

*Inspired by: http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/our-best-chocolate-cheesecake-74552.aspx