Oreo Cheesecakes

**Before this post starts, I would like to draw attention to the fact that I just added a new page to the blog.  You'll now see a tab called "Recipe Index" which is a list of all the recipes I've blogged about!  Now I won't have to search through every post to see if I've already written about a particular recipe or not!  And you will be able to find a past recipe if you want!  Yay!

Alright!  So I finally broke down late last week and bought a package of Oreos.  I love them dearly, but they're just not something I need to keep stocked in the house.  So I rarely buy them, but I've been craving some Oreo desserts, so I caved!

And on Sunday, I decided to make some Oreo cheesecakes for Bible study.  Best. Idea. Ever!  Lol.  Maybe not my absolute best idea ever, but, man were these things delicious!  And they're so, so easy to make!  And even better, the crust is just a whole Oreo!  None of that crushing up Oreos, mixing them with butter, and then pressing them into individual cupcake liners.  Nope.  Just plop an Oreo in the bottom and you're done!  Wow!

Confession: Thomas and I are still eating the leftovers of these, and it is sooooo hard to only eat one.  I'm pretty sure I could go raid the fridge right now and eat all of them, but I won't.  I will exercise what little will power I have.

Oreo Cheesecakes
From: Cate's World Kitchen
Makes: 20 cupcakes
*Cate's original recipe made 16 cupcakes.  I wanted a few more without changing all the amounts, so I just filled my cupcakes a little less full to allow the batter to fill 20 cupcakes instead of the original 16.  You could also adjust the amount of batter you put in each cup, just remember that you may have to adjust the baking time also.

Ingredients:
26 Oreos (20 whole, 6 crushed)
16 ounces of cream cheese, at room temperature (I used 1/3 less fat)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, lightly beaten, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
Pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.
2. Line 20 cupcake cups with paper liners and place an Oreo at the bottom of each liner.
3. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese with a mixer.
4. Slowly add in the sugar and vanilla until everything is combined.
5. Beat in the eggs a little at a time.
6. Add the sour cream and salt, and beat until well-combined and fluffy.
7. Stir in the crushed Oreos with a spatula or spoon.  (I sampled the batter at this point, and it tasted pretty strongly of sour cream, but trust me, once baked and cooled, they did not have a strong sour cream flavor at all.)
8. Pour the batter into the prepared cupcake liners.
9. Bake, rotating the pans about halfway through, for about 20-23 minutes, or until filling is set.
10. Allow the cheesecakes to cool in the cupcake pans for 10-15 minutes, then remove to a plate to cool in the fridge for about 4 hours.  (I only had about an hour and a half until these had to be done, so I just popped them into the freezer for about an hour and then into the fridge, and that seemed to work just fine for me.)
11. Enjoy!

These were so delicious, and I can't believe how easy they were!  I will definitely be making these again sometime!  Yum yum!