Cheesecake Oreo Cookies

I'm a huge fan of oreos; double stuffed, peanut butter, mint.  All and any kind of oreo, bring it on, because I will like it.  I came across a couple oreo recipes recently on some of my favorite blogs, and decided to try them out!  I figured, why not?  I love oreos just as they are, some additional butter, sugar, and chocolate, can't do any harm. This recipe is from "The Way the Cookie Crumbles" and let me just say, thank you!

I pulled the butter and cream cheese out of the fridge, and put them in the mixing bowl. They're much easier to beat if they're soft, so I let them sit at room temperature for a couple minutes.  Then added salt, and beat them together until they were creamy.

Gradually added the sugar and continued beating until the mixture is fluffy.

Add flour, continue beating and add the vanilla extract.  My Mom gave me some homemade vanilla for Christmas, and this was the first time I was able to try it out, it was awesome.  Maybe one of my upcoming posts will be recipe for homemade vanilla, or maybe I'll just keep putting that on my Christmas list each year!

Mix in chocolate chips, I used mini chocolate chips because the cookies are kind of small and they don't really expand. If your dough is a little wet, you can add a little flour.  Keep in mind though, it won't be nearly as thick as normal cookie dough, due to the cream cheese.

Roll the dough into 1-inch balls. I found the dough a little too wet to work with. If you put it in the fridge for a few minutes, it makes this step a lot easier. Then, stop, drop and roll through Oreo crumbs.  

Note that these don't expand when you cook them.  They will pretty much stay the same size and shape you rolled them into.  This makes it a little difficult to know when they're finished in the oven.  I found that I needed to lift the cookie up off the cookie sheet to see if they bottom was a little brown.  I cooked them for 12-14 minutes. As always, I left them a little gooey in the middle, so if you like them fully cooked I would leave them in the oven for a few minutes longer.

They were a hit!  At first I had to get my mouth used to the consistency, because they weren't the normal chocolate chip cookie.  I ended up really liked them though, and C loved them.  He was pretty happy cause I wasn't taking them into work, or sending them to someone, so he got to enjoy all by himself. Well, I stole a couple, of course.

Weekend is finally here, everyone have a great one!!

Cheesecake Oreo Cookies
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup oreo cookie sandwich crumbs (about 8 oreos)

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or tin foil, and I sprayed some non-stick on there.
In a bowl beat cream cheese, butter and salt on medium-low speed until smooth and creamy.
Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until mixture is light and fluffy.
Beat in vanilla and flour, mix until just combined.
Mix in chocolate chips.
Roll dough into 1-inch balls.
Drop and roll balls in the bowl of oreo cookie crumbs.
Arrange balls 2 inches apart on baking sheets.
Bake cookies for 12-14 minutes, until edges and bottom start to brown.
Cool for a minute on the sheets, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.