Frosted Animal Cookie Mini Cheesecakes seemed the perfect dessert for Emily’s birthday celebration. She had sent me a picture and recipe for a “frosted animal cookie cheesecake” a while back. Frankly, it was not pretty. In fact, it looked like a mess. The concept is not a bad one but the implementation of it was not good.
I responded to her post, “That does not even look appetizing.“
A few weeks later, she sent a picture of another “frosted animals cookie cheesecake”, which was well done and looked quite pretty. Alright, at this point, I realized Emily wanted a “frosted animal cookie cheesecake”.
Don’t you love these cookies? They are just shortbread cookies with pink or white icing and sprinkles but I have to admit I really like them myself. Remember the shortbread cookies I made earlier? The family loved these cookies as simple as they are. Maybe I need to make those again, only smaller and add icing and sprinkles to create a homemade version.
Anyway, the idea of a cheesecake made from these iced cookies actually seemed a little over the top and would almost assuredly be bordering on sugar overload! My thought was mini cheesecakes would be perfect while a whole piece of cheesecake would be a bit overwhelming. Mini desserts are such a great idea because you can enjoy the taste in a small dose without overindulging.
Research and Creating This Recipe
I did a little research to figure out how these cookies are used exactly. The cookie crumbs, of course, are used for the crust. Some of the cookies are coarsely chopped and added to the top of the baked crust. Additional crumbs are added to the batter just before pouring into the pan.
With that information and my favorite base recipe for mini cheesecakes, this recipe was created.
Frosted Animals Cookie Mini Cheesecakes
Preheat oven to 325°
Crust
- 1- 1/2 cup Frosted Animal Cookie crumbs
- 3 Tblsp. melted butter
Combine the cookie crumbs and butter in a small bowl.
Lightly coat the tins with non-stick cooking spray. Combine the cookie crumbs and the melted butter in a small glass bowl. Divide the crumb mixture into each of 18 little tins. This should be about 1 Tablespoon of the mixture for each little tin. Press down firmly with a wooden mini tart shaper, or a shot glass works well, too.
Bake the little crusts for about 10 minutes in the 325° oven.
Tip** Place a sheet pan on the rack underneath the mini cheesecake pan. Butter does tend to leak out of the bottoms, which could create a smoky mess on your oven floor.
Remove and cool on a baking rack while you prepare the cheesecake.
►Turn the oven down to 300°.
Tip*** Forgot to set the block of cream cheese out to soften? Don’t worry! To soften cream cheese, completely unwrap the package of cream cheese and place it in a glass bowl. Microwave on high for 10 seconds just until softened.
Cheesecake Filling
- 2 – (8-ounce) blocks of softened Cream Cheese
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup of heavy cream
- 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 cup chopped frosted animal cookies, divided
Add the sugar and the salt, and completely mix.
In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add the sugar and the salt, and completely mix.
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the heavy cream and the vanilla.
Fold in 1/2 cup of the chopped animal cookies. Stir just until combined so the color from the sprinkles doesn’t bleed into the batter too much.
Divide the remaining 1/2 cup of the chopped animal cookies and sprinkle on top of the crusts in the mini cheesecake cups.
Pour the batter on top of the crusts and fill almost to the top.
Bake for 20 minutes in a 300° oven.
Remove from the oven and cool on a wire baking rack.
Remove each from the pan and place it in a covered platter or dish. Chill for at least two hours.
These mini cheesecake pans
make such cute little desserts and they work perfectly! Two of these pans are used for this recipe but only 18 of the cups are needed. (If you purchase from this Amazon affiliate link, we may receive a small percentage of the sale at no cost to you. Thanks for supporting our website!)
When the little cheesecakes have cooled for at least 2 hours or overnight, make the white chocolate ganache.
White Chocolate Ganache
- 3/4 cup white chocolate chips.
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- Pink gel icing color
- Sprinkles
Whipped Cream
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 4 Tblsp. powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Ganache:
Place the white chocolate chips in a small heatproof glass bowl. In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream until it just begins to come to a boil. (You can also heat the cream in the microwave. Bring the chocolate just to a boil but watch carefully!)
Pour the hot cream over the white chocolate chips in the glass bowl and allow to sit for a minute. Whisk until smooth. Add some of the pink gel food colors to the desired depth of color.
Spoon the ganache over the mini cheesecakes and spread evenly over the tops before serving.
Whipped Cream:
In a medium bowl, combine the whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Whip on high until stiff peaks form. Pipe onto the tops of the mini cheesecakes and garnish with frosted animal cookies and additional sprinkles.
So, I was wrong. These were really tasty! My fear of them being almost unbearably sweet was for naught. These just might be one of my favorite mini desserts!
These look really appetizing, too, don’t they? After all, you eat with your eyes first! The presentation is everything! Frosted Animals Cookie Mini Cheesecakes, aren’t they adorable?
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Frosted Animal Cookie Mini Cheesecakes
Ingredients
Crust
- 1- 1/2 cup Frosted Animal Cookie crumbs
- 3 Tblsp. melted butter
Cheesecake Filling
- 2 - (8-ounce) blocks of softened Cream Cheese
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup of heavy cream
- 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 cup chopped frosted animal cookies,
White Chocolate Ganache
- 3/4 cup white chocolate chips.
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- Pink gel icing color
- Sprinkles
Whipped Cream
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 4 Tblsp. powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325°
Crust
Combine the cookie crumbs and butter in a small bowl.
Lightly coat the tins with non-stick cooking spray. Combine the cookie crumbs and the melted butter in a small glass bowl. Divide the crumb mixture into each of 18 little tins. This should be about 1 Tablespoon of the mixture for each little tin. Press down firmly with a wooden mini tart shaper, or a shot glass works well, too.
Bake the little crusts for about 10 minutes in the 325° oven.
Tip** Place a sheet pan on the rack underneath the mini cheesecake pan. Butter does tend to leak out of the bottoms, which could create a smoky mess on your oven floor.
Remove and cool on a baking rack while you prepare the cheesecake.
►Turn the oven down to 300°.
Cheesecake Filling
In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add the sugar and the salt, and completely mix.
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the heavy cream and the vanilla.
Fold in 1/2 cup of the chopped animal cookies. Stir just until combined so the color from the sprinkles doesn't bleed into the batter too much.
Divide the remaining 1/2 cup of the chopped animal cookies and sprinkle on top of the crusts in the mini cheesecake cups.
Pour the batter on top of the crusts and fill almost to the top.
Bake for 20 minutes in a 300° oven.
Remove from the oven and cool on a wire baking rack.
Remove each from the pan and place it in a covered platter or dish. Chill for at least two hours.
These mini cheesecake pans make such cute little desserts and they work perfectly! Two of these pans are used for this recipe but only 18 of the cups are needed.
When the little cheesecakes have cooled for at least 2 hours or overnight, make the white chocolate ganache.
Ganache:
Place the white chocolate chips in a small heatproof glass bowl. In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream until it just begins to come to a boil. (You can also heat the cream in the microwave. Bring the chocolate just to a boil but watch carefully!)
Pour the hot cream over the white chocolate chips in the glass bowl and allow to sit for a minute. Whisk until smooth. Add some of the pink gel food colors to the desired depth of color.
Spoon the ganache over the mini cheesecakes and spread evenly over the tops before serving.
Whipped Cream:
In a medium bowl, combine the whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Whip on high until stiff peaks form. Pipe onto the tops of the mini cheesecakes and garnish with frosted animal cookies and additional sprinkles.
Notes
These look really appetizing, too, don't they? After all, you eat with your eyes first! The presentation is everything! Frosted Animals Cookie Mini Cheesecakes, aren't they adorable?
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