Oreo Cheesecake

So I got this cookbook for my birthday and its really neat. It's called America's Most Wanted Recipes and it has all these recipes in it that are 'clones' of restaurant recipes. Pretty much, the author experimented until he had recipes that taste almost the same as the ones in the recipes. Now, as the title suggests they come from mostly American restaurants, some of which I have never heard of, but overall it seems like a really great recipe book.

The first recipe from it that I tried is 'The Cheesecake Factory"s Oreo Cheesecake. Now, again, being not an American the only reason I've heard of 'The Cheesecake Factory' is because its the place where Penny on Big Bang Theory works. So, I've never had the original of this recipe and so I can't exactly compare it.

"The Cheesecake Factory" Oreo Cheesecake

2 tbsp melted butter (or margarine)
1 1/2 cups Oreo cookie crumbs

3 pkgs cream cheese
1 cup sugar
5 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup flour
1 cup sour cream
5-10 chopped Oreo Cookies (for filling)
5-10 more chopped Oreo Cookies (for topping)

Allow all ingredients to come to room temperature (I didn't do this, although I did soften the cream cheese in the microwave as instructed on the package) Preheat oven to 325. Mix melted butter and Oreo crumbs and press into the bottom and partially up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan, set aside. Using an electric mixer beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in sugar, slowly. Beat in eggs, one at a time until combined. Add the salt, flour and vanilla. Beat until well blended. Add sour cream, beat well. Stir in the filling Oreos by hand. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Top with topping Oreos. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Use whichever cheesecake crack prevention methods you prefer. I have tried several different methods (water bath, leaving the oven door open for an hour afterwards, running knife around rim, doing nothing special and just letting it do its own thing) and I really haven't found a method I prefer, so whatever you usually do with cheesecakes, just do that. :)

I really liked this recipe, although I overcooked it a bit. It was really tasty and had that nice combination of soft and crunch. It even survived a 6 hour, 500km, road trip to my Grandmother's all nicely wrapped up in Saran and newspaper with an icepack attached. It was pretty great, now I can't compare it to the original, so the jury's still out on that. But I do think I will be trying other recipes from this book soon.

But! Even sooner that that I am going to be sharing a post with you that is so filled with awesome that your win-o-meter will be blown off the charts! I don't want to give any hints if you don't already know what's coming but make sure you tune in next week sometime for the most epic post you have seen on this blog so far. :D