New York-Style Oreo Cheesecake

This ULTRA thick rich and creamy New York-Style Oreo Cheesecake is so satisfying and surprisingly simple to bake!

My love affair with cheesecake began in my early twenties, when I was a waitress at – wait for it – the cheesecake factory! I know a lot of folks who hate on that place, but if I’m being completely honest, I loved it. Heck, I still love it. I had a lot of fun working there and met a ton of great friends. And I also learned that I LOVE cheesecake. Sadly, I don’t have any top secret recipes or anything like that. But I do think a lot of my recipes are inspired by the ones I ate there years ago.

Including today’s recipe for rich and creamy New York-Style Oreo Cheesecake! Funny enough, this was one of my least favorite cheesecakes at the CCF, but one of the best cheesecakes I’ve ever made! I think it’s because I used the batter for my tried and true New York-Style Cheesecake, and just added a ton of Oreo’s! Oh, and an Oreo crust. And some more Oreo cookies on top! With fresh whipped cream, too. Suffice it to say, this cheesecake is NOT diet food. But it is delicious and, in my opinion, worth every single calorie. And that’s coming from a girl who hates the treadmill with passion! #willrunforcheesecake

Tips and Tricks for Recipe Success:

• Before you begin, be sure to lightly spray the entire baking pan with non-stick spray. If you don’t have – or don’t use – canned sprays, you may grease the pan with butter or even shortening. Greasing the entire pan will ensure your crust and cheesecake don’t stick to the pan. No sticking = perfect slices.
• Because this recipe begins with the crust, that is also where we will begin. To make the crust you will need melted butter and crushed Oreo cookies. Yep – just two ingredients! You do not need to remove the cream from the center of the cookies. Simply place them in a blender or food processor and pulverize them into small crumbs. Once they’re crushed, you will combine them with the melted butter and then press this mixture into your prepared pan. And that’s that. You just made a homemade cheesecake crust! When pressing the Oreo crust down into the bottom of the spring form pan, you’re going to want to press it down very firmly. A firmly packed crust will bake up nice and thick, and most importantly, won’t crumble too much when sliced. I recommend starting to press the crumbs down in the center of the pan, then working the crust out and just a little bit up the edges. You can use the back of a spoon to do this, or wrap your hand in a piece of plastic wrap (also known as saran wrap) and do it manually.
• Room temperature ingredients are crucial when it comes to making a cheesecake! So be sure you bring your cream cheese, eggs, sour cream, and heavy cream to room temp before you begin making the batter.
• And finally, we need to talk about the dreaded water bath. I say dreaded because I know so many folks fear making one or have had really bad experiences with them. But baking your cheesecake in one is a must if you want silky smooth, creamy, crack free results. My big tips here are to wrap your pan in multiple layers of heavy duty aluminum foil and to only fill the pan up an inch. And you’ll want to push the cheesecake into the oven very carefully, so that the water doesn’t move around too much. Many reader’s have told me they sometimes use a crockpot liner in addition to ensure no water gets in; I’ve never tried this but wanted to through the idea out there in case you want to give it a shot.
• If you’re not up for trying a traditional water bath – or just ran out of aluminum foil – you can place your spring form pan in a larger pan, and then place them in an even larger pan. Then fill that pan with a few inches of water. Does that make sense?

If you love cheesecake and Oreo’s, you’ll love this New York-Style Oreo Cheesecake. And if you don’t… ship me your leftovers, please and thank you 😉

And if you try this recipe for New York-Style Oreo Cheesecake, let me know! Leave a comment below and don’t forget to snap a pic and tag it #bakerbynature on instagram! Seeing your kitchen creations makes my day.