For the crust, you’ll need some Oreos (just regular Oreos–not the thin ones or Double Stuft) and some melted butter. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with foil liners and set aside. Preheat oven to 375 F. Place the Oreos in a blender or food processorand blend the Oreos until they’re crumbs. Mix in the melted butter. Place 1 tablespoon of the cookie mixture in each lined muffin cup and gently press with the back of a spoon. Set aside. For the cheesecakes, you’ll need some cream cheese, sugar, an egg, peppermint and vanilla extracts, baking powder, flour, and some peppermint white chocolate candy.
I would have actually preferred to use a bag of those Andes Peppermint White Chocolate pieces from the baking aisle, but I couldn’t find them, so I used Hershey’s Peppermint Kisses instead and just chopped them up. And when I say, “just chopped them up,” I mean, I wondered halfway through, “Why am I doing this? Should I have used a food processor? If I do things like this, do I really love myself?” Yeah.
Anyway, in a medium mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese and sugar with an electric hand mixer until smooth and combined. Add the flour and baking powder and mix until combined. Add the extracts
and the egg and mix until completely smooth. Fold in 1 cup of the chopped peppermint candy pieces
and divide the mixture evenly among the lined muffin tin cups.
Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. When the cheesecakes are cool, place some chocolate chips and a little shortening in a small bowl and microwave for about 30 seconds or until the chocolate is melted and smooth and the shortening is incorporated. Transfer to a small ziploc bag and cut the corner off the bag. Drizzle evenly over the cheesecakes.
Allow to harden in the refrigerator. Immediately before serving, make the peppermint whipped cream. You’ll need whipping cream, vanilla and peppermint extracts, powdered sugar, and some more of those stupid chopped Kisses that made you wonder who you are and why you’re here. In a medium bowl, combine the whipping cream, powdered sugar, and peppermint and vanilla extracts.
Beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
Dollop over the prepared cheesecakes before serving and then sprinkle with remaining candy pieces
(you can also fold them into the whipped cream if you prefer.)
Serve immediately.
