Cranberry Cheesecake with Oatmeal Cookie Crust

I have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. I have been blessed in so many ways. Even though I'm sad that my family could not be together today, I had a wonderful day at home hosting my amazing in-laws.

Oh man... I'm full. Really, really full. Sad thing is, it's been several hours since I finished eating. I made a lot of food today. Not only was this my very first attempt at making a turkey, but also my first time to make the entire meal. I sure had fun making it, but man am I exhausted. I mean, I. am. warn. out. In case you were wondering, here's a recap of today's menu:

• Roasted Turkey


• Mashed Potatoes


• Gravy


• Stuffing (from scratch)


• Green Bean Casserole (from scratch)


• Mac and Cheese (from scratch)


• Rolls (from scratch)


• Sweet Potato Pie (crust and filling from scratch)


• Whipped Cream (from scratch)

and last, but not least...

• Cranberry Cheesecake with Oatmeal Cookie Crust

Of all these options, I've decided to highlight the cheesecake in today's post. I admit, I seriously failed at posting recipes for Thanksgiving. Please forgive me. Maybe I'll do a bit better for Christmas? I'll attempt to begin making it up to you by providing you with this deliciously amazing cheesecake. A few months back I wanted to make a cheesecake to bring over to my neighbor's for dinner. Lucky for me, my mother-in-law has a mean cheesecake recipe. I'm so glad I got it from her. It is to-die-for. Her recipe calls for a graham cracker crust, which is what I usually use, but the other day on the Cooking Channel I saw a cheesecake made with an oatmeal cookie crust. I was so intrigued, I had to try it.

How do you feel about cranberry sauce? My family has always had it on the Thanksgiving table, but I've never cared for it. I do like cranberries though. So instead of topping this with a canned pie filling, I decided not to leave cranberries behind and made a cranberry compote. It makes a great sweet and tangy topping for the cheesecake.

Ingredients

For Crust
• 3/4 cup oats
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract.
• 1/2 unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
For Cheesecake
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 eggs
• 1 (16 oz) container sour cream
• 3 1/2 (8 oz) cream cheese bars, room temperature
For Compote
• 2 cups fresh cranberries
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp cornstarch

Instructions

For Crust
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a cookie sheet.
• In a medium bowl, stir together oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream 1/4 cup butter with sugar, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract.
• Add oat/flour mixture to butter mixture and mix until flour is incorporated.
• Spread the cookie dough onto the prepared cookie sheet until about 1/2 inch thick.
• Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Allow to cool on the baking sheet.
• After the cookie has cooled, place in a large freezer bag.
• Crush to small crumbs (the same as you would for a graham cracker crust) and pour in 1/2 cup melted butter and 1/2 tsp cinnamon.
• Once the butter and cinnamon are well incorporated into the cookie crumbs, dump the mixture into a spring form pan.
• Press the mixture firmly onto the bottom and slightly up the sides of the pan. Set aside.
For Cheesecake
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, on low speed, blend eggs, sugar, vanilla, almond, lemon juice, and salt until fluffy (about 1 ½ to 2 min).
• Blend in sour cream.
• Cut each cream cheese bar into quarters and add a quarter at a time to mixture while mixer is on.
• Pour over the cookie crust.
• Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the edges are slightly brown.
• Turn the oven off and prop open the oven door.
• Allow the cheesecake to cool completely in the oven.
• Move the cheesecake to the refrigerator and cool overnight or for at least 4 hours.
For Compote
• Place cranberries, sugar, orange zest, and 1/4 cup water in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
• In a small bowl, stir together water and cornstarch. Add to the saucepan.
• Reduce heat to low and simmer until cranberries soften and begin to "pop."
• Remove from heat and cool completely.
• Serve over cheesecake.