Oreo Cheesecake Pops & My First Ever Blog Award!!!

What's better than candy apples on a stick... NEW YORK STYLE CHEESECAKE COVERED IN MILK CHOCOLATE AND CRUSHED OREO'S... THAT'S WHAT!!!!!

My sister-in-law Heidi is having her baby shower and in honor of her new bundle of joy... I've made Oreo Cheesecake Pops! You can use anything you'd like instead of Oreo's... Graham Crackers, Sprinkles, etc.

So here's for Heidi and her baby boy! I love her so much... she's like the big-sis I never had and always wanted!

A little tip... This really is super easy... and just in my opinion... much better if process is split up into 2-3 days. Definitly do the cheesecake on Day 1, then follow day 2 and 3 or combine 2 and 3... but definitly split it up! It's not so overwhelming and you can have more fun making these yummy treats!

Cheesecake Pops

(From Past Daring Bakers Challenge)

5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature

2 cups sugar

¼ cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

5 large eggs

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

¼ cup heavy cream
Boiling water as needed

Thirty to forty 6 or 8-inch lollipop sticks

3-4 pounds chocolate, finely chopped – you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white (Alternately, you can use flavored coatings, also known as summer coating, confectionary coating or wafer chocolate – candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.)

2 tablespoons vegetable shortening(Note: White chocolate is harder to use this way, but not impossible)

Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees...OREO'S... Graham Cracker crumbs etc.) - Optional

**Day 1**

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F.In a large bowl, with an electric mixer set at low speed, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.Lightly grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a spring form pan). Pour the cheesecake batter into the cake pan and place in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

**Day 2**

When cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls (NOTE: If you have an ice cream scoop with one of those pusher-outer mechanisms... this is perfect...save the money of having to buy a cookie dough scoop...that's what I used for mine after going to the store and seeing it was basically the exact same thing... my ice cream scoop is about 2 oz. and has a lever on the side to help push the ice cream or in this case -cheesecake- out) and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours or overnight. (NOTE: If your pops aren't perfect spheres... let them harden about 60-90 minutes until they are firm enough to be malliable in your hands. Remove breifly from freezer to reshape as needed...then return to freezer to completely freeze before going on to next steps).

**Day 3**

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate (not too long only a few taps on the side of the bowl or the chocolate will start to harden and you won't get any decor on there!!). If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.

**A little tip... You can cut pieces of cardboard and cover with parchment instead of cookie sheets. That's what I did because my freezer is side-by-side and super skinny... no cookie sheets goin' in there!!*

*INSERT DRUM ROLL* IS DRUM ROLL 2 WORDS OR IS IT DRUMROLL?????

Now on to the blog award *ahem* MY FIRST EVER BLOG AWARD!!




Thanks to Amanda!! at http://jayhawkgirlskitchen.blogspot.com/

Here are the rules for this award:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post

2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great attitude and /or gratitude

3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post

4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog

5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award!

And now for my turn to pass out some much needed awards! (Just for the record they are in no specific order...I'm an equal opportunity blog lover)!

1. Prepared LDS Family http://preparedldsfamily.blogspot.com/

2. Recipe Girl http://www.recipegirl.com/blog/

3. Cookies With Boys http://cookieswithboys.blogspot.com/

4. The Hungry Housewife http://thehungryhousewife.blogspot.com/ (who has already been given this award... but I don't care... I love her site!)

5. The Sisters Cafe http://sisterscafe.blogspot.com/

6. My Kitchen Cafe http://mykitchencafe.blogspot.com/

7. Kirsten's Food Blog http://kirstensfoodblog.blogspot.com/

8. Culinary Infatuation http://culinaryinfatuation.blogspot.com/

9. I Dream Of Dessert http://www.idreamofdessert.com/idream/

10. SarahJBakes http://sarahjbakes.blogspot.com/