Shortbread Cheesecake Cupcakes

★★★★

Quick Info:
Difficulty: Medium
Yield: 9 cup cakes
Cookie Type: Shortbread
Attribution: Gina Krull, local baker

Ingredients:
Crust
1 sleeve Shortbread Cookies, chopped fine
1 Tbsp Sugar
3-4 Tbsp Melted Margarine
Cup Cakes
1 package No-Bake Cheesecake
Variations
1 Tbsp Caramel Ice Cream Topping
Pecan Pieces
1 Tbsp Hot Fudge Ice Cream Topping

Directions:
Crust:
Mix cookies, sugar, and margarine well for crust.

Line 9 cupcakes with papers.
Put 1 spoonful of crust mixture on bottom of cupcake.
Press down with small cup.

Cup Cakes:
Mix 1 package of No-Bake Cheesecake according to package directions.
Scoop equal amounts into each cupcake.

Variations:
Put 1 Tbsp Caramel Ice Cream Topping in bottom, top with pecan pieces
OR put 1 Tbsp Hot Fudge Topping in bottom

Contains: Wheat, soy, milk, flour


May Contain: Peanuts

Variation Contains: Pecans

Lemonade Cake with Thin Mints

★★★★★

Quick Info:
Difficulty: Medium
Yield: 1 cake
Cookie Type(s): Thin Mints, Lemonades
Adapted from: Tried and True Cake Recipe

Description: This lemony cake goes even better with Thin Mints. Delicious and filling.

Ingredients:
Cake
½ pound Butter, room temperature
2 cups Sugar
4 Large Eggs, room temperature
¼ cup Grated Lemon Zest
1 ¼ cups All Purpose Flour
1 box Lemonades, finely groud (yields 2 cups)
½ tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
¼ cup Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
⅝ cup Buttermilk, room temperature
1 tsp Vanilla
1 sleeve Thin Mints, chopped to size of chocolate chips, dusted in flour
Syrup
¼ cup Sugar
¼ cup Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
Frosting
1 sleeve Thin Mints, ground to consistency of flour
½ cup Heavy Whipping Cream
Garnish
3-4 cookies Lemonades, crushed

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan. Cream together the butter and sugar in mixer for 5 minutes. Add eggs to mixer, one at a time, then the lemon zest. Sift together ground Lemonade cookies, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine lemon juice, buttermilk and vanilla. Add the Lemonade cookie flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately in thirds to the creamed butter, beginning and ending with the Lemonade cookie flour. Toss the chopped Thin Mint pieces with flour and add to the batter. Pour into the pan, and bake for 50 minutes. Let cake cool on wire rack for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the syrup. In a small saucepan, over medium-low heat, cook the sugar and the lemon juice until the sugar dissolves. Remove the cake from the pan, set it on the rack over a tray and spoon the syrup over the cake. For the icing, melt the ground Thin Mint cookies and heavy cream in a saucepan, stirring until the icing is warm and smooth consistency. Take off the heat, let cool slightly until consistency of honey. Drizzle over top of cool cake. Garnish cake with crushed Lemonade cookies on top.

Contains: Wheat, soy, milk, cocoa, flour, eggs

Irish Cream Thin Mint Cheesecake

★★★★

Quick Info:
Yield: 1 cheesecake
Cookie Type: Thin Mints
Attribution: Halverson's Supper Club

Description: Halverson's

Ingredients:
Cake
1 ½ cups Thin Mints, crushed
2 Tbsp Butter, melted
3-8 ounces Packages Of Cream Cheese, room temperature
1 ¼ cups Sugar
¼ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
3 Tbsp Flour
3 Eggs
½ cup Sour Cream
¼ cup Irish Cream Liqueur
Ganache Topping
8 ounces Semi-Sweet Chocolate
½ cup Heavy Cream
2 Tbsp Butter
½ sleeve Thin Mints

Directions:
Cake:
Preheat oven to 450℉.

In large bowl, mix crushed cookies and butter together. Press into bottom of 9 in. spring-form pan. Put into refrigerator and cool for 15 minutes.

In another large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, cocoa powder, and flour. Beat at medium speed until blended and smooth. Add one egg at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add sour cream and Irish Cream, mixing on low speed. Pour over set crust.

Bake at 450℉ for 10 minutes. Then reduce oven temperature to 250℉ and continue baking to 60 minutes.

With knife loosen cake from rim of pan. Let cool, remove rim of pan. Chill before adding chocolate ganache topping.

Ganache Topping:
Break chocolate into small pieces and put into bowl.
Heat cream and butter until boiling. Pour over chocolate and let rest for 5 minutes. Then mix until smooth.

Pour over cake, then smooth over edges.

Coarsely crumble Thin Mints over top and chill for at least 2 hours, before serving.

Enjoy!

Contains: Wheat, soy, milk, cocoa, flour, egg