Crème De Menthe Cheesecake

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 55 mins

Ingredients

• 14 -16 cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies (1 1/4 cups finely crushed)
• 4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, double-strength
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 8 -12 drops green food coloring (optional)
• 2 (4 2/3 ounce) packages chocolate creme de menthe candies, unwrapped, divided (about 56 candies total)
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate morsel
• 1 1/2 cups whipped topping, frozen, thawed
• 7 chocolate creme de menthe candies (reserved from filling)

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 325°f for crust, lightly spray sides of springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. line sides of pan with two 3 x 15-in. pieces of parchment paper. press cookie crumbs bottom and slightly up sides of pan. bake 8 minutes. remove pan from oven to stackable cooling rack.
• 2 for filling, place cream cheese, sugar, 3 tbsp of the flour and vanilla into stainless 4-qt. mixing bowl; beat on medium speed of electric hand mixer 3 minutes or until well blended. add eggs; mix on low speed 2 minutes. add sour cream and food coloring, if desired; mix until smooth.
• 3 set aside seven of the candies for topping. cut remaining candies in half crosswise and toss with remaining 1 tbsp flour. pour half of the filling into crust. arrange candies, slightly overlapping, over filling; gently spoon remaining filling on top. bake 55-60 minutes or until center appears nearly set when gently shaken (center will firm as it cools). remove from oven to cooling rack; cool completely, about 3 hours.
• 4 for topping, place chocolate morsels, whipped topping and reserved candies into small micro-cooker. microwave on high 1 1/2-2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring after each 30-second interval. spread topping over center of cheesecake using small spreader. refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.