I do not for the life of me remember the occasion that I created this dessert for. It was a few years ago and I left them in the pan for transport, but that is all I remember about the circumstances, but you want to know what I do remember? They were DELICIOUS! So while I can’t tell a cool story about where the idea came from, I can tell you how to make these delicious desserts for yourself. Please note, you do not have to make these mini, you can make regular cupcakes, bars, or even a whole cheesecake by following these steps.
All the Ingredients You Need
Let me start out by noting there is one change I would make to the ingredients shown above so this would be even easier to make: there is now premade cheesecake you can buy in a tub that would take out a huge step from the process and from the setting time, so use that instead of the mix if you can. I do recommend baking your own brownies either from a box or from scratch for this for two reasons. First, you can add crushed Oreos to the top before you bake them, and second, you can control the thickness and shape based on what your final product will be. The mini Oreos make a perfect topper for the cheesecakes, but as you can see below, the full sized ones cut up work as well. You can also use any other sandwich cookies you like. Finally, some chocolate that you can melt and drizzle on top. This adds a great background to the Oreos and keeps them stuck on top. I used chocolate chips but you can use any type of melting chocolate.
How to Build Your Mini Brownie Cheesecakes
Once your brownies are baked cut them into the shape you need for the “crust” of the cheesecake (see below for tips on tools for that process.) For mini cupcakes I baked my brownies in a very large bar pan so they wouldn’t be too thick for the mini cupcakes. Next, pipe or spoon in the cheesecake on top of your brownie crust making sure to smooth the top of each with a spatula or the back of a spoon. Then put them in the fridge for as long as the recipe or package calls for to set the cheesecake. Once the cheesecake is set, melt your chocolate and drizzle some on top of each cheesecake in a zig-zag pattern. Before the chocolate sets, press a mini Oreo or other decoration into the chocolate so it sticks to the top. Then let the chocolate set before you remove them from the pan. They are quite sturdy when set, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble removing them from the pan when you are ready.
Tools and Tips
There are a few things you may want to know or think about before you get started. I recommend using cupcake liners if you are making cupcakes or mini cupcakes. I have never had much success making this type of dessert without a liner and I think using them makes things so much easier. You also do not have to worry about how the layers look when things are done. To cut the brownies to the correct size you will need to look around your kitchen for something the right size to cut them. Think of glasses, bowls, coring tools, etc. If you are lucky enough to have a set of ring cookie cutters, you can just find the right size in your set. I ended up using one end of a pineapple corer and cutter. This worked well because it was hallow and I could push the cut pieces out with a chop stick. If you cannot get mini cookies to use as your topper, you can carefully cut a full cookie into fourths and use them either laying down or standing upright which would add a bit of height. I used a piping bag to put my chocolate on, but if you do not have one available you can drizzle it on with a fork or several skewers. If I am not using a piping bag I like to use wood skewers and hold 3 or four in one hand with the pointy end down, then dip them in a cup of melted chocolate held right next to what I am decorating and then move them over the item. This makes things a bit more abstract but still pretty.
So Easy and So Delicious
These desserts turned out so wonderfully and tasted really good. I really do wish I could tell you why I came up with these all those years ago, but alas, I cannot. Now if you wanted to, you could switch things up here a little to match your particular tastes. Oreo is always coming out with new flavors you could use as inspiration and I think a lot of other cookies could work here as well. Think of a soft chocolate chip cookie as the base with a mini one on top, that sounds amazing. You could also make blondies for the base which would allow you to make a non-chocolate flavor work well. Blondies can also take on a lot of other flavors if you want or need. I know B loves lemon Oreos, so I may need to try that next time. Will you try these desserts as is or switch them up some? I would love to hear all about it in the comments below.
