A fun, minty cheesecake that is made from Girl Scouts Thin Mints® cookies. This is a great dessert for your next party!
One of our neighbors hosts a pig pickin’ every year. They roast a whole hog and a whole turkey and invite all the neighbors over. Every year, they’ve had it catered so you have a full bar plus a random assortment of side dishes.
Sadly, the neighbor did not host the party this past year. We believe it’s because their daughter was graduating high school so they wanted to save the funds for that party. While we were sad that this epic party didn’t happen, we were happy that another neighbor decided to host a holiday party instead. I didn’t know what to expect in terms of food but knew that I had to make a dessert (I normally bring my signature chocolate caramel bars to the pig pickin’).
When I asked my husband what I should bake for the holiday party, he said that I should bake a cheesecake since it’s usually something that people enjoy (and don’t bring). He half jokingly said that I should bring the chocolate caramel bars too, but I decided against that. I wanted something festive and more holiday-ish so cheesecake it was.
My husband remembered that we had some Girl Scout cookies in the freezer and that I could turn them into a cheesecake. Brilliant! I went to the internet to find a base recipe and was surprised at how few results got returned. I guess people aren’t eating Girl Scout cheesecakes for some reason.
Well, I am here to change that. May I present to you… this fabulously minty, Girl Scout Thin Mints cheesecake! It’s loaded with Thin Mint cookies in the crust, filling and on top for a pretty presentation.
This cheesecake was a hit at the neighbor’s holiday party, and my husband and daughter both regretted not taking any of the cheesecake home to enjoy. Guess I’ll have to make this again!
Girl Scouts Thin Mints® cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust
- 25 Girl Scouts Thin Mints cookies crushed
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted
Filling
- 3 8 ounce packages cream cheese, softened
- 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 10 Girl Scouts Thin Mints cookies crushed
- Additional cookies for decorating optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line the outside of a 10" springform pan tightly with foil and set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix the crushed cookies and melted butter together. Transfer to your prepared springform pan and press the mixture on the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, mix the cream cheese and sugar together on medium speed and nice and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Add the vanilla and peppermint extract and mix well. Slowly add in the crushed cookies and mix until everything just comes together.
- Pour the batter on top of your crust and even out the top with a spatula.
- Bake in your preheated oven for 45-60 minutes or until the top is no longer jiggly. Turn off the oven and crack the oven door open (but leave the cheesecake inside the oven). Let it slowly cool down in the open oven for about 1 hour. Then transfer to the refrigerator and allow to cool and set, another 4 hours. You can also chill the cheesecake overnight.
- Decorate with whipped cream rosettes and additional cookies if desired. I added a ganache on top of mine (mixture of heated heavy cream and chocolate) to hide the cracks.