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.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bundt Cake

I couldn’t help myself. I had to buy it…

As I was walking through the store yesterday, I looked over and saw this shiny, fluted… bundt cake pan! It was just sitting there shouting my name, “ROSE! Buy me!” So I did. I’m kind of surprised that I don’t already have one, but I’m even more surprised that I have never made a bundt cake! Can you believe it? Me neither. So I decided it was about time. I mean, what better time than now, with the birth of my blog and all?

On my drive home I was contemplating what kind of cake I should make. Then it hit me – pumpkin, of course! I figured it would be best to continue my pumpkin spree so that I won’t feel so guilty for abandoning it for a good portion of the month. Plus, it helps me to be in the fall and Halloween spirit :-) It's been awhile since I've made any type of pumpkin cake, but I happen to love pumpkin cake/cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, so I wanted to combine the two in a Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bundt Cake! A delicious pumpkin cake filled with a sweet cream cheese center... Remember when I mentioned the smell through the house from the Pumpkin Granola? This cake was even better! The cinnamon, the nutmeg, the vanilla... the combination was amazing. When I took it out of the oven, it looked so delicious. I knew that I should let it cool completely on the cooling rack, bundt I just couldn't help myself. (Ha! Get it? But... Bundt... Okay, corny, I know.) Needless to say, I loved this cake and I hope that you do too. 

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bundt Cake

Ingedients

1 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour 

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1 15 oz can pureed pumpkin

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup coconut oil, slightly melted

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 eggs

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease bundt pan.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Set aside.

In a the bowl of a stand mixer, combine pumpkin, sugar, coconut oil, applesauce, and vanilla. Use the paddle attachment to mix. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Once eggs are mixed in, add half of the dry ingredients, mixing until just blended, then add the remaining half, again mixing until just blended.

In a small mixing bowl, combine softened cream cheese, sugar, egg, vanilla, and cinnamon, mixing until smooth.

Spread half of the pumpkin batter evenly into the bundt pan. Carefully spoon the cream cheese mixture evenly over the batter. Spoon in the remaining batter. 

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then place cake on a cooling rack to cool completely. 

Top with a dusting of powdered sugar.