Thin Mint Cheesecake

Yes, it's that glorious time of the year. The one that people near and far look forward to, pine for, dream of. It's up there with Christmas, Halloween, and birthdays. Yep, you know what I'm talking about: the Girl Scouts are selling their cookies again.

My absolute favorite is the Samoa. Even as a kid, where a lot of kids shy away from coconut, that was just the ultimate. The Thin Mint comes in at a close second. The only thing I don't like about it is that it can get stuck in your teeth.

I came across a recipe on Baking Bites a few weeks ago, involving a no-bake cheesecake with a Thin Mint crust. That looked decent enough, but I'm not a huge fan of no-bake's. So I just went with a basic cheesecake recipe and added some chopped up pieces of cookie into the batter itself, for a cookies and cream affect.

We tried some when Dave got home from work. Not bad. I would prefer a stronger minty taste, rather than just getting the majority of the mint from the crust. Or even more of a chocolate-y taste. Maybe a chocolate cheesecake with the added cookies? We'll see if I can pick up another box. All of my guinea pigs are looking forward to this one, and I hope they'll be pleased. :)



Ingredients:
1½ cups crushed Thin Mints (or you could do a bit more to cover some of the sides)
2 Tbsp. butter

3 pkg. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
At least half a roll of cookies, cut up or crushed, to stir into batter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F (325F if using a darker pan)

Combine crushed cookies and butter. Press onto the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Add eggs, beating until combined. Gently stir in cookie crumbles. Pour onto cooled crust.

Bake at 350F(/325F) for 40-50 minutes until center is nearly set. Let cool in pan. Refrigerate for at least four hours before serving.