Mini Oreo Cheesecakes

I'm always coming across recipes and thinking how perfect they would be for people in my life but then their birthday comes around and I struggle to remember which winning dish I was going to make for them. Well yesterday was one of my *little* brother's birthdays and I remembered the winning recipe. Oreo cheesecakes! My brother loves cheesecake, enjoys an Oreo or two and I love making clever little things that I haven't tried before. So it was a winner before it even began. 

Mini Oreo cheesecakes with the standard size ones behind

This recipe was simple and worked really well. The result was delicious (birthday boy's opinion not just my own!). I'm so glad it did as my brother has been extra important this year. After Leo was born in April, he popped in nearly every day to cuddle Leo and say hi. It was so good to have his company when I was getting used to being home with a baby. Not to mention how good it was to know that he was happy to hang out with Leo for a few minutes if there was something I needed to get done. That certainly deserves a special recipe in my book. 

Oreo Cheesecakes 

Source: 3 Square Chef. Originally from Martha Stewart Cupcakes.
Makes 15

21 Oreos, 15 left whole, and 6 coarsely chopped (or you can use a combination of mini Oreos and standard size ones like I did. I made 12 standard and about 20 mini)
450 grams cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla essence)
2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 135 celsius. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Use mini muffin tins if you are using the mini Oreos. Spray liners with non-stick spray. 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 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 the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. The mini ones take less cooking, about 15 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

Note: the standard size cheesecakes look great turned onto a plate for serving. The mini size are tiny bite size cheesecakes and they don't look as neat when turned out of the paper liner. I recommend baking in thin white liners so you can see the Oreo through the bottom when served in the liner. Unfortunately, I only had mini brown liners at home and I couldn't see the Oreo imprint through it. 

* Disclaimer. My brother is 24, not that little really, but once a little brother, always a little brother. Right?!