Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes

I saw this recipe a while back and I knew that I HAD to make it. 

I'd like to start out by apologizing for the amateur photos. Maddy and Thomas were out of town this past weekend because they were visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, so I had to handle the photography. I'm a baker, not a photographer (and I think the pictures show that).

I invited my best friend, Peyton, to help out and we got down to business.

Recipe below

First things first - line the cupcake trays. The whole Oreos act as mini-crusts!

   

Coarsely chopped Oreos - thank you, Peyton

 

Whenever I make cupcakes, I like to use an ice cream scooper to pour the batter in the tray. It's cleaner and all the cupcakes get an equal amount of batter. Because the Oreos were on the bottom, I couldn't fit an entire scoop in the cup, so it was more like 3/4 of a scoop. 

Also, we made WAY too much batter. Partly because we only bought one box of Oreos, so we only had enough for 24 cupcakes. I just put all the extra batter into some heart-shaped cake pans I found in my kitchen (perfect for Valentine's Day, right?)

The final product:

Cookies & Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes (from Handle the Heat)

Makes 30 cupcakes...or 24 and two heart shaped cakes.

Ingredients:

42 cream-filled sandwich cookies, such as Oreos, 30 left whole, and 12 coarsely chopped

2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

1 cup sour cream

Pinch of salt

1.  Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.
2.  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.
3. 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.
4. 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. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
5.  Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.