Peppermint 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 CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Stir cookie crumbs and margarine in a bowl until evenly moistened; press into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until lightly darkened, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature; about 30 minutes.
• Stir gelatin and cold water in a small saucepan over low heat until gelatin dissolves completely, about 3 minutes.
• Beat cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Gradually add gelatin mixture, milk, and peppermint candy; mix until well-blended. Chill filling until thickened, about 2 hours.
• Fold whipped cream and chocolate into filling. Pour filling into crust; chill until firm, about 1 hour.

PEPPERMINT CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Place cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until smooth. Mix in the eggs 1 at a time until well-incorporated. Fold crushed peppermint candies into filling with a spoon, reserving 2 tablespoons for decorating the top. Pour filling into the prepared crust.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cheesecake is set, about 40 minutes. Allow to cool at room temperature, about 1 hour.
• Refrigerate cheesecake until completely chilled, 4 hours to overnight. Sprinkle reserved peppermint candies on top.

CHOCOLATE 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). Wrap foil securely around pan. In a small bowl, mix cookie crumbs and sugar; stir in butter. Press onto bottom of prepared pan. In a microwave, melt chocolate chips; stir until smooth and cool slightly. Repeat with white baking chips., In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in sour cream, flour and extract. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until blended. Remove 2 cups batter to a small bowl; stir in cooled chocolate chips until blended. Pour over crust. Stir peppermint chips and cooled white chips into remaining batter; gently spoon over chocolate layer. Place springform pan in a larger baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan., Bake until center is just set and top appears dull, 75-85 minutes. Remove springform pan from water bath. Cool cheesecake on a wire rack 10 minutes. Loosen sides from pan with a knife; remove foil. Cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight, covering when completely cooled. , Remove rim from pan. For ganache, place chocolate in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil. Pour over chocolate; stir with a whisk until smooth. Let stand 3 minutes. Spread over cheesecake. If desired, garnish with whipped cream and additional peppermint crunch baking chips or kisses.

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 CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Combine crumbs and margarine; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.
• Bake at 350 degrees F., 10 minutes.
• Cool.
• Soften gelatin in water; stir over low heat until dissolved.
• Combine cream cheese and sugar, mixing at medium speed on electric mixer until well blended.
• Gradually add gelatin, milk and peppermint candy, mixing until blended, chill until slightly thickened but not set.
• Fold in whipped cream and chocolate.
• Pour over crust.
• Chill until firm.
• Garnish with additional whipped cream combined with crushed peppermint candies, if desired.

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.

PHILADELPHIA 3-STEP PEPPERMINT CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until blended. Add eggs; mix just until blended. Stir in 1/2 cup crushed mints.
• Pour into crust; sprinkle with 1/4 cup of the remaining crushed mints.
• Bake 40 min. or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm. Top with COOL WHIP and remaining crushed mints just before serving.