Oh booooooooy, these were goooooood! I love it when I come across recipes like this. So impressive but so easy to throw together. Seriously, don’t they look like they took a bit of effort? Nope. Threw them together in less than 30 minutes (not including baking time and time spent de-creaming Oreos…). All of the work is done by the food processor. It really couldn’t be easier.
I have to warn you though- this is a creamy, soft cheesecake. NOT a hard, dense cheesecake. Just want to give you guys a heads up, for some people that can be a deal-breaker. Personally, I love creamy cheesecake. It’s just my personal preference. I can actually eat more than 3 bites without being overwhelmed… it’s nice. This particular cheesecake is still served best in small bites though. It is made from an 8″ square pan and then cut into 16. It makes the perfect sized treat. Feel free to subequal amounts of sour cream for the heavy cream to get a thicker cheesecake.
And I don’t want to forget to talk about the flavor combinations here. Just AWESOME! The Oreo cookie crust is thick and delicious. Nutella is mixed into 1/3 of a plain cheesecake mixture and creates an equal layer of deliciousness on top. No flavor is too overwhelming or pronounced, it’s very nicely balanced. Of course, you can always sub out the oreo crumbs for graham cracker crumbs. And then you could just use the plain cheesecake mixture to make regular cheesecake squares. Although I wouldn’t do that… I definitely urge you to take the extra steps to create this tri-colored, show stopper treat.
Nutella Cheesecake Squares
Ingredients:
- 2 cups Oreo crumbs
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
- 16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 1 vanilla bean, halved and seeds scraped (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
- 1/3 cup Nutella
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter an 8×8 baking dish and line with parchment paper, making sure that the parchment is well pressed in the corners. Set aside.
In a food processor, pulse Oreos until they become crumbs. Add in melted butter and pulse until moistened. Press Oreo mixture evenly into the bottom of your baking dish. Bake crust until set, about 12 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Clean out the food processor. Add cream cheese, eggs, sugar, ¼ cup heavy cream, and vanilla. Pulse until smooth. Put 2/3 of the cream cheese mixture in a bowl and set aside. Add Nutella and 1 tablespoon of heavy cream to the remaining 1/3 cream cheese mixture in the processor. Pulse until smooth.
To assemble, spread the plain cheesecake mixture over the cooled Oreo crust, being careful of the crust. Then pour the Nutella cheesecake layer on top of the plain cheesecake layer and spread evenly. Bake on the center rack of the oven for about 35 minutes, or until the center jiggles slightly. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a cooling rack. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
When ready to serve, lift the bars out of the pan by lifting up the parchment paper (it should release easily). Cut into 16 squares and serve.
