Mint Chocolate Cheesecake

Crust

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Lightly spray the sides and bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick baking spray. Place a 3-inch wide strip of parchment paper against the sides of the pan.
3. In a food processor, add in the oreo cookies. Pulse until the oreo cookies are a fine crumb.
4. Add the melted butter into the oreo cookie crumbs and pulse a couple of times until the butter has coated all of the crumbs
5. Dump the cookie crumbs into the prepared springform pan. Press the crumbs firmly and evenly into the bottom of the pan.
6. Place the pan into the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool while you work on the cheesecake filling.

Cheesecake Filling

1. In a large mixing bowl, add in the cream cheese. Beat on medium until creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
2. Add the sugar in with the cream cheese. Beat on medium until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Add the vanilla extract, mint extract, and the eggs one at a time into the cream cheese mixture. Beat until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
4. Add in the sour cream, heavy cream, and green gel food color and beat until the food color is evenly distributed.
5. Stir in the chopped chocolate until evenly distributed.
6. Wrap the bottom of the springform pan with heavy tin foil. I always double wrap it to prevent leaking. Place the cheesecake into a slightly bigger pan and fill with 1 to 2 inches of hot water. Make sure the tin foil protects the cheesecake so water doesn’t leak into it.
7. Spray the sides of the springform pan with nonstick cooking spray.
8. Pour the cheesecake batter on top of the oreo cookie crust.
9. Place in the oven. Let the cheesecake bake for 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 40 minutes or until done. To make sure the cheesecake is done, give it a wiggle. If it slightly jiggles in JUST the middle like jello, then it’s done. If it jiggles all over, it needs to bake longer. Turn off the heat, open the oven door, and leave it ajar. Let the cheesecake cool in the oven.
10. Place into the fridge and chill overnight until firm.

Ganache

1. In a microwave-safe bowl, add in the chocolate chips and heavy cream. Microwave for 1 minute and stir until the heavy cream is incorporated. Microwave one more time for 30 seconds and stir until the ganache comes together and is smooth.
2. Pour onto the cheesecake. Chill for at least 30 minutes. You can do this before it chills in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight as well.

Whipped Cream

1. In a large mixing bowl, add in the heavy cream. Beat on medium until soft peaks form.
2. Add in the powdered sugar, mint extract, and green gel food coloring and beat until stiff peaks form.
3. Add the whipped cream in a piping bag fitted with the 1M tip.
4. Pipe swirls on the top of the chilled cheesecake. Add the Andes chocolate mints on top of each swirl of whipped cream.
5. Slice and serve! Store in the fridge.