My birthday is on Sunday and honestly, I almost forgot it was this week. It’s funny how some years I’m all like “Woohoo it’s my birthday month! Let’s celebrate all month long!” and other years I’m like “Oh yeah, today’s my birthday now that you mention it.” This year happens to be the latter but as soon as I realized my birthday was less than a week away, I got serious about figuring out what kind of cake to make. Regardless of how excited I am about my birthday one thing remains the same: there will be dessert to celebrate. And wine. But first, dessert.
Since I have Tuesdays off I took advantage of some free time to make my birthday treat to share with my co-workers. I’ve never been good at anything that requires decorating (like cakes) so I opted to make something that speaks for itself without fancy decorations: cheesecake. The thing about cheesecake that I don’t like is that it’s just so rich and intimidating. Yes, intimidating. I mean, even a thin tiny slice sits in your stomach like a rock of cream cheese and sugar. For some reason, when they are miniaturized, they seem less gut rock-ish. Maybe it’s all in my head (probably), I don’t know.
Another reason I wanted to make them into cute little mini-cheesecake cupcakes: the ratio of crust to cheesecake is higher. When it comes to desserts with crust I am all about the crust. Pastry crust, graham cracker crust, shortbread crust, whatever. I love it all.
I’m pretty sure the ingredients in these cheesecake cupcakes speak for themselves. Nutella. Oreos. Cream Cheese. Sugar. Butter. I’m pretty sure there’s no way any combination of those ingredients could be bad. Never ever.
It’s a good thing calories don’t count on your birthday because I might be asking for a bigger pair of pants if they did. These are just as good as you’d think they are, multiplied by a hundred. Maybe a thousand.
The cheesecake has that hazelnut and chocolate flavor from the Nutella, and is filled with chunks of chopped up Oreo which obviously goes perfectly with the Oreo crumb crust. It wouldn’t be a birthday without frosting, so I oped for a whipped cream topping, sprinkled with more Oreos and some chopped hazelnuts to tie it all together. If you love Nutella (and who doesn’t?) you will love this dessert!
Ingredients
- 16 Oreos
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter melted
for the cheesecake:
- 16 oz cream cheese at room temperature
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup Nutella
- 8 Oreos chopped
for the whipped topping:
- 1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3 tbsp powdered sugar
- chopped Oreos and chopped hazelnuts for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Line 18 muffin tins with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- Finely chop 16 Oreos in food processor until they are fine crumbs.
- Add melted butter and pulse until well combined.
- Add heaping tablespoon to each liner and press down to form crusts.
- Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes.
To make the cheesecake:
- In large bowl with electric mixer, beat cream cheese until fluffy, about 1 minute.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined, scraping the edges if necessary.
- Add sugar and beat until well combined.
- Add heavy cream and vanilla and beat until well combined.
- Add Nutella and beat until well combined.
- Chop remaining 8 Oreos and fold into cheesecake mixture.
- Fill each cupcake liner to top.
- Bake in preheated oven for 22-26 minutes, until centers just loosely jiggle.
- Let cool in muffin pan for 30 minutes, then place in refrigerator to cool completely, about 2 hours.
- Once completely cooled, make the whipped cream.
- Place heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar in large bowl with electric mixer.
- Beat on high until stiff peaks form.
- Scoop into large plastic baggie (which is what I did) or pastry bag, and pipe frosting onto cupcakes. If you use plastic baggie, cue one edge off to pipe through.
- Top with chopped Oreos and hazelnuts.
- Enjoy!
- Store in refrigerator.
Happy early Birthday, Taylor! These cheesecake cupcakes look amazing, I love anything with Nutella, and especially Oreos, can’t wait to try! Pinned 🙂
Happy almost birthday, friend! These cupcakes look like the perfect way to celebrate.
Happy Birthday you smart woman, the cupcakes sound awesome!
Happy almost birthday! My dessert is definitely cheesecake as well! It tastes great and, like you,I have -100 decorating abilities!
I love the nutella and oreo. You can never go wrong with chocolate, especially in 2 different forms! Pinned
Thanks Taylor! Glad I’m not the only one 🙂
wow these look to die for. I’d look forward to anyone’s birthday getting to enjoy these!
Thanks Emily! I’m looking forward to having another reason to make these 🙂
haha I am allll about the crust too with desserts! These look so so good! And happy early birthday!! I hope that you have a great day!!
Thanks Ashley!
I hope you had a great birthday! These cheesecake cupcakes sound like the perfect way to celebrate!
happy belated birthday! these look like they were a good way to celebrate…lucky coworkers 🙂
Thanks Nat! 🙂
This sounds so good. Gonna give this a try over the weekend. Thanks for sharing.
Simon
Great! Let me know how you like them, Bristol!