Peppermint Bark Cheesecake Food

PEPPERMINT CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Place a greased 9-in. springform pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 18 in. square). Securely wrap foil around pan. , In a small bowl, combine cookie crumbs and butter. Press onto the bottom and 1 in. up the sides of prepared pan. Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake until set, 12-14 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. , In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the sour cream, flour and extracts. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Fold in chips. Pour into crust. (Pan will be full.) Place springform pan in a large baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan., Bake at 325° until center is just set and top appears dull, 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours. Remove springform pan from water bath. Cool on a wire rack 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight. Remove sides of pan., For topping, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Stir one-fourth whipped topping into mixture; fold in remaining whipped topping. Spread or pipe onto cheesecake. Garnish with miniature candy canes if desired.

PEPPERMINT BARK COOKIES AND CREAM CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F.
• Use pulsing action of food processor to process 18 cookies until finely ground. Add butter; mix well. Press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Bake 10 min.
• Crush 30 mints, then chop 10 of the remaining cookies. Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with mixer until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Stir in crushed mints and chopped cookies. Pour over crust.
• Bake 55 min. or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate cheesecake 4 hours.
• Meanwhile, crush remaining mints, then chop remaining cookies. Cover baking sheet with parchment. Melt chocolates separately as directed on packages. Spread semi-sweet chocolate into thin layer on prepared baking sheet; top with tablespoonfuls of the white chocolate. Swirl gently with spoon. Top with crushed mints and chopped cookies. Refrigerate until firm.
• Break chocolate bark into small pieces; sprinkle over cheesecake before serving.

PEPPERMINT BARK CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Bark: Butter baking sheet (to secure parchment) line baking sheet with parchment paper, smoothing out any wrinkles. Microwave dark chocolate with 1 teaspoon vegetable oil for 1 and a half minutes, stir, add peppermint extract. Spoon mixture onto prepared baking sheet, spreading as THINLY as possible. Cool in refrigerator, while doing next melting step. You do not want the dark chocolate to get too hard or the two chocolate layers will not bond. Microwave white chocolate with 1 teaspoon vegetable oil for 1 and a half minutes, add peppermint extract. Spread white chocolate over dark chocolate. Before white chocolate cools press in peppermint candies. Refrigerate two hours. Dump out onto towel. Store in air tight container up to one week.
• Crust: preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 10 inch springform pan for water bath by putting tin foil on outside of pan. In a medium bowl, combine cookies and melted butter. Press mixture into bottom and 1 inch up sides of a 10 inch spring form pan.
• Filling: Boil some water for water bath. Chop Peppermint Bark. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar at medium speed with a mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in peppermint extract, vanilla extract, sour cream and 3/4 of the Peppermint Bark. Reserve the other fourth of bark for garnish. Spoon batter into cooled crust. Put spring form pan into rimmed baking dish, add boiling water to outside of springform pan. Lol! But you never know.
• Bake about one hour, edges should be firm. Turn oven off, and leave cheesecake in oven with door closed for 1 hour. Remove from oven, and cool completely on a wire rack. Cover and chill overnight before serving. Garnish with whipped cream and Peppermint Bark, if desired.
• Note if you reduce size, reduce the baking time. If reduced to 4 servings, try 20 to 30 minutes.

PEPPERMINT BARK CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F.
• Mix cookie crumbs and butter until blended; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Bake 10 min.
• Meanwhile, crush 25 mints. Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with mixer until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Add white chocolate, crushed mints and extract; mix just until blended. Chop half the semi-sweet chocolate; stir into batter. Pour over crust.
• Bake 55 min. to 1 hour or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate 4 hours. Meanwhile, crush remaining mints; chop remaining semi-sweet chocolate.
• Spread cheesecake with 1 cup COOL WHIP just before serving. Drop remaining COOL WHIP in dollops around edge of cheesecake. Sprinkle remaining crushed mints and chopped chocolate over center of cheesecake.