Gluten-Free Oreo Cheesecake

       I came up with this recipe because a good friend of mine begged me to make her a gluten-free cheesecake for her birthday.  I decided if I was going to make a special cheesecake it wasn’t going to be just a traditional graham cracker crust but I would take it to the next level with an Oreo crust!

       To do this, I needed gluten-free chocolate cookies and luckily for me I was able to find a few brands that make a gluten-free Oreo-type cookie that was actually delicious. There are several companies who make them but I found that the two brands that taste the best are Tree Of Life and glutino.

You’ll need...

Crust:

1 package of glutino or Tree of Life Gluten-Free Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

2 tbsp Sugar

5 tbsp Butter, softened  

       To begin, separate the cookies and then scrape the cream from the cookies into a small bowl.  Set that aside, we'll be needing it later. 

        Next, we need to grind the cookies into crumbs and there are few ways to do this.  You can either crush the cookies by hand in a small bowl, pulse a few times in a food processor, or put them in a nut grinder, which is the method I used.  I broke the cookies in half then ground them on the 'fine' setting of my nut grinder.  Whichever method you choose, you will need to use all of the cookies from the package.

       In a bowl, combine cookie crumbs, sugar, and softened butter.  Stir until the mixture starts to hold together.  Press into the bottom of a greased 9 inch spring form pan and aside until needed.  

Cheesecake:

4 8oz Packages of Cream Cheese, softened

1 1/3 Cups Sugar

¼ tsp Salt

2 tsp Vanilla

4 Eggs

2/3 Cup Sour Cream

2/3 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream 

       Preheat oven to 325°F.

 

       Using an electric mixer on medium speed, mix the cream cheese together, one block at a time until smooth, soft, and creamy.

 

       Beat in sugar, vanilla, and salt.  Mix well to be sure all the ingredients are completely incorporated.  Next, whip in the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. 

       After the eggs are mixed in, beat in both the sour cream and heavy cream until everything is smooth.  Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula then whip the ingredients again to make sure everything is blended and there are no more chunks of cream cheese. 

       Pour the mixture into the prepared spring form pan and sit the pan on a round cookie sheet (just in case you have any spillage!).  Place into the oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Once the cheesecake has finished baking, allow to sit in the oven for another hour with the oven door shut.   

       After that, take it out of the oven and place it on a hot pad.  Put it in the fridge so it can finish cooling.

       While you’re waiting for the cheesecake to cool, you can make the topping.  It’s super easy to make and only takes two ingredients! 

'Oreo' Cream Whipped Topping

 1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream

Cream Filling from Sandwich Cookies

       In a chilled metal bowl, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form.  Then add the sandwich cookie cream and continue whipping on high.

       Once fully combined, place a cover over the bowl and put it in the fridge until you’re ready to top the completely cooled cheesecake.

       As a final touch to make this dessert extra special, you can garnish the top with additional chocolate cookies.  It's a nice touch and a fast and easy way to showcase the fact that this is an Oreo style cheesecake!  Now it’s time to cut, serve, dig in, and ENJOY!