Thin Mint Cookie Cheesecakes -
Do you know how hard is it to keep Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies sealed for five days? I picked up six packages on a Wednesday and those darn green boxes taunted me until recipe-testing Sunday. I shoved them into the back of the pantry to keep them out of site but still they called my name. I confess, by Saturday those minty tempters broke my will power. We can share a moment of silence for the box that did not make it to testing day. But let's look on the bright side, five boxes did make it. Two went into these mini Thin Mint Cookie Cheesecakes.
The crusts are pure Thin Mints, crushed into crumbs. I originally tested just placing a whole Thin Mint into each liner but they were a little bit harder than I like for crusts. If you don't have a food processor, just put the cookies in a big zip top bag then crush them by hand or with something like a rolling pin or a can of green beans.
Press one tablespoon of crushed cookies into each liner. I like to use a pastry tamper to make them even but if you don't have one, you can use the back of the spoon.
For the filling, beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, and a teeny bit of mint extract together until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Now for the fun part, cookies crumbs.
Mix in the eggs one at a time.
Fill each liner nearly to the top. Ice cream scoops are great for this. Bake them until the edges are set but the centers still wiggle. They'll finish cooking as they cool.
The hardest part, besides holding on to cookies long enough to bake with them, is waiting while they cool in the fridge. Hang in there. These are well worth the wait. Want to make them even more amazing? Try them with homemade whipped cream.
You might also like my Quadruple Thin Mint Cupcakes. For more fun recipes and kitchen tips you can follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. You can also sign up for a free email subscription.
- 1 cup crushed Thin Mint Cookies
- 3 (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese
- 1 cup crushed Thin Mint Cookies
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon mint extract
- 3 eggs
- 15 whole Thin Mint Cookies
- 1 cup whipped cream
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place foil cupcake liners in standard-size muffin/cupcake tins. Press one tablespoon of crushed cookies into each liner.
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, and mint extract. Beat in 1 cup of crushed Thin Mints. Add eggs one at a time beating well between each addition. Pour batter over cookie crusts. Fill liners almost to the top.
- Bake for 14-16 minutes until the edges are set. Cool in pan for one hour. Refrigerate for at least four hours. Serve cold.
- If desired, garnish each cake with whipped cream and half a Thin Mint Cookie.
- Ingredients should be at room temperature before preparing cheesecakes.
- One box of Thin Mints makes two packed cups of crushed cookies. If you choose to use a cookie garnish, you will need two boxes of Thin Mints.
- If you are out of Thin Mints you can use Keebler Grasshopper Cookies.