Samoas Cheesecake!

It's Girl Scout cookie time and I bought my favorite box of cookies again - Samoas, I just love the combination of coconut, caramel, chocolate and shortbread cookie :)  This time though to prevent myself from eating the whole box I thought to transform the cookie into another dessert - how about a samoas cheesecake?   I wanted to infuse all those good flavors into the cheesecake and into every bite.  This was an experiment so feel free to tweak things here and there to your preference, here's what I came up with:

Use 1 box of Samoas cookies, minus 1 or 2 cookies that you can't resist eating.  Put them in a food processor and pulse until you get medium cookie crumbs, or chop or crush.  Set aside.

1 1/2 cups shortbread cookies like lorna doone or graham crackers processed in a food processor to fine crumbs, add 1 Tbsp sugar to that and 3 1/2 Tbsp melted butter and process again until combined, then press this mixture into a 9 inch cheesecake pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes until set and lightly golden, let cool and set aside.

Beat together the following ingredients in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until well blended and smooth:
2 1/2 8 oz packages of cream cheese brought to room temperature
3 large eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 Tbsp granulated sugar

Then fold in about 2/3 of the crushed samoa's

Sprinkle the bottom of the crust with mini chocolate chips - just to cover- this will give it a cookie/ chocolate layer at the bottom, then pour batter over.

Sprinkle the top of batter with about 1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut

Line bottom of pan with a double layer of aluminum foil and bake on a cookie sheet at 325 degrees for about 1 hour - when its about 15 minutes left of cooking time sprinkle the top with about 1/2 the remaining cookie crumbs, continue baking until middle is almost set, will still be slightly jiggly. Let cool. Drizzle top with caramel and melted semi sweet chocolate chips with a few drops heavy cream to help melt, then top with any remaining cookie crumbs. 

 Refrigerate for several hours or overnight, then cut into and enjoy this very sinful cheesecake!  

I made mine using a 6 inch cheesecake pan and had leftover batter.  I used the extra batter to make several mini cheesecakes with prepared mini graham cracker crusts, following all the above steps except for the cookie crust.   Alternatively you can make the whole recipe with these mini cups, these were fun to eat! 

 

 

What will you do with your girl scout cookies???

Whatever your plan enjoy them!