We finally pulled back into the driveway late last night after a week away from home. Before waking up this morning, I entirely intended to tell you about the trip, but with so many photos to sort through and an important historical event to soak in, I couldn’t quite compile it all together today. By the end of the weekend, you’ll begin to hear my stories, but while you wait patiently, I’ll give you an old one and recipe instead!
On the night before New Year’s Eve, my guy and I decided to celebrate it a day early to avoid the noisy and chaotic crowds. We drove to the movie theater to buy tickets to “Wreck-It Ralph,” and after the sugary candy scenery tempted our appetites, we walked across the parking lot for a late dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.
We ordered our favorites: the spicy Buffalo Wings and Shepherd’s Pie for him, the Fresh Vegetable Salad for me. And because their only desserts I’d ever sampled were the Godiva Chocolate Brownie Sundae and Black-Out Cake, my guy insisted (despite his lactose intolerance!) that we selected a slice of cheesecake to bring back to eat on the real New Year’s Eve.
With two totally different palates (me = chocolate, him = anything but), the waitress checked back three times before we settled on the Oreo Dream Extreme. She quickly bagged it up, along with our leftovers, and sent us off with a cheerful good-bye.
The following evening, we sat in front of the TV to see the ball drop in Times Square with the cheesecake on the table in front of us. I definitely hogged it—well, the fudgy chocolate cake layer anyway—but I let him steal as many bites of the big Oreo pieces as he wanted!
With my lightened rendition, I skipped that fudgy chocolate cake layer to make it more appealing to my guy, as well as adding extra cookie chunks (his favorite part) through the cheesecake. It’s every bit as sweet and creamy as the sinful slices from the official restaurant, but it comes with absolutely none of the guilt!
For an extra special treat, drizzle each slice with a little chocolate syrup just before serving!
- Preheat the oven to 300°F, and lightly coat a 9”-round springform pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Add 18 of the Oreos (tops and bottoms) to a blender, and pulse until fine crumbs. Pour into a bowl. Add in the butter and 1 egg white, and stir until combined. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan, and bake at 300° for 12-15 minutes. Cool completely.
- Crush the remaining 6 Oreos (tops and bottoms) into coarse pieces, about the size of a pea.
- In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Mix in the remaining 2 egg whites, flour, and vanilla. Add in the crushed Oreos, and mix just until incorporated. Spread the filling over the cooled crust, and bake at 300°F for 40-45 minutes, or until the center barely jiggles when shaken. Cool to room temperature before covering with plastic wrap, ensuring that it touches the top of the entire cheesecake, and chill for at least 8 hours.
Cookies and cream flavoured anything is my favourite, this looks so so decadent and delicious!
When you say bake at 300º, do you mean celsius or farhenheit, by the way?
Have a nice weekend, Amy! x
Thank you Consuelo! I’m sorry about the confusion — it’s 300° F. I have a bad habit of forgetting about Celsius for kitchen temperatures, even though I was a chemist and only worked with temperatures in °C for years!
Yum! And what?! You have a boyfriend but haven’t introduced him on the blog? Let’s meet the guy! 🙂 At least a nameless picture!
Thanks Erin! He’s not quite ready to make an appearance on my the blog yet, but as soon as he gives me the “okay,” I’ll post a picture of us! 😉
This looks super delish!! I love skinny. And I love this version. I swear your guy and mine should get together with how they eat (or don’t) dessert!
Thanks Dorothy! They guys should definitely get together — and while they do, we’ll eat their servings of this skinny cheesecake! 😉
Hi! This cheesecake looks absoluely divine! Would it be possible to turn this into cheesecake bars instead of a whole cake? Would you suggest doing so, and how? Thanks so much!
Thank you Bianca! I haven’t tried turning this recipe into bars myself, but I’m fairly certain it’d work. Just follow the recipe using either a 8″- or 9″-square baking pan (whatever you have on hand, although I’d recommend the 8″-square if possible) and start checking on it about 10-15 minutes earlier than the time called for in the recipe. Just like with a circular cheesecake, the center should still jiggle a tiny bit when it’s done. I’d love to hear how it turns out if you try making it into bars! 🙂
Sorry to bother you again, but would I need to halve the recipe so it would fit into the 8 inch pan?
Not a bother at all! I’d say make the entire crust, but make about 2/3 of the filling. So 2 blocks of cream cheese, both egg whites (just to be safe), 1/2 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons of flour, and 2 teaspoons of vanilla. I can’t wait to hear how it turns out!
So disappointed! Pity it didn’t say 300 Fahrenheit. Have a dinner party tomorrow and was so excited to make this. It was already burned when I checked it after 20 mins! Nothing
I can do now unfortunately!
I’m sorry Michelle; that must be very disappointing. Thanks for pointing it out, and I’ll fix it so that doesn’t happen again.
How can you call this skinny? Ok, reduced fat, but still a lot of calories, a hell lot of sugar and white flour…
Hi Amy! Is there a reason for ensuring that the plastic wrap touches the top of the entire cheesecake? We left the springform pan in tact and covered the cake with the plastic wrap such that it does not touch the top of the entire cheesecake. Will the result be the same?
And by the way, the cake looks delicious!!! Thanks for this healthy recipe !!! 😀
Thank you for your sweet compliments Mindy! If the plastic wrap does not touch the surface of the cheesecake, then condensation will collect on the side facing the cheesecake. These water droplets can fall on the top of the cheesecake, which makes it a little soggy. That shouldn’t affect the taste though!