Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

Earlier this week was Adam's birthday! I asked him if he had any special baking requests, and right away he asked for the Oreo Cheesecake Cookies. Fine by me! These cookies are one of my favorites for many reasons: they're soft and chewy, they are covered in Oreo crumbs, and the cookie itself reminds me of the Oreo cream filling! No joke!

I won't lie, I did burn the first batch because I wasn't paying attention to the time. Grr! I couldn't live with myself if Adam had to eat burned cookies for his birthday, so I made another batch. Luckily the cookies came out better than ever!

What you need (serves between 12-15 cookies)
- 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 3 oz softened cream cheese
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 cup Oreo cookie crumbs (about 11 Oreo cookies)

What you do

1. Crumble up Oreo cookies in a large Ziploc bag until you get small crumbs. Pour into a small bowl and set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper

3. In a mixing bowl, cream together butter (1/2cup) and cream cheese (3oz) until well-combined and smooth.

4. Add in sugar (1cup) and vanilla extract (1tsp) and mix until well-combined. Add in flour (1cup) and mix until flour is incorporated. Then, fold in both the semi-sweet (1/2cup) and white (1/2cup) chocolate chips.

5. Scoop cookies into about 1 1/2 to 2-inch balls and then roll into cookie crumbs. Place the cookie balls on your baking sheet and flatten out slightly. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the edges are so very slightly golden. **Tip: Cookies won't look completely done (when they actually are) so don't wait until you are actually seeing golden edges if you want a softer cookie all-around.**

6. When cookies are done, they won't actually look done or be firm. No need to worry! Let them cool for a few minutes before enjoying.

Cheesecake Marbled Brownies with a Twist

The past week has been filled with lots of excitement! Adam and I moved from San Francisco to Oregon, we got engaged, and we found our new home in Portland within days of relocating. Things seriously couldn't get any better!

To help celebrate all of these wonderful things, I knew I needed to make something incredibly delicious. I remember making the Smitten Kitchen Cheesecake Marbled Brownies a few months back, and everyone seemed to enjoy them. So I thought, "Why not?! They were good the first time, and maybe I can make it even more yummy!"

With a minor adjustment of adding peanut butter chips, I was right. The brownies came out perfectly and the peanut butter made a world of a difference! Everything blended well together and the brownies were moist. The fat kid in me was very happy!

Brownie Batter

- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

- 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

- 1 cup sugar

- 2 large eggs

- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

- Pinch of salt

- 2/3 cup flour

Cheesecake Batter

- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened

- 1/3 cup sugar

- 1 egg yolk

-1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Other

-Few handfuls of chocolate chips and peanut butter chips (or 1/2 cup each)

What you do

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8X8 pan

2. In a medium-large bowl, melt butter (1 stick) and unsweetened chocolate (3oz) double-boiler style: simmer water in a pot and place mixing bowl with ingredients on top. Whisk occasionally just until ingredients are melted and remove from heat.

3. Whisk in the sugar (1cup), eggs (2), and vanilla (1/2tsp), and a pinch of salt until well combined.

4. Whisk in flour (2/3cup) until well combined. Pour batter into pan and spread evenly.

5. In another bowl, mix cheesecake batter ingredients until smooth (cream cheese, 8oz; sugar, 1/3cup; 1 egg yolk; vanilla extract, 1/4tsp).

6. Dollop cheesecake mix over brownie batter, then swirl with a knife. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and peanut butter chips.

7. Place batter into oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. When finished, you can serve warm or at room temperature.

I'm very pleased with the way these turned out, especially because I got my future mother-in-law's approval! I'd 100% recommend to make these for any gathering. People will be going for more than just one!