Apparently it’s National Cheesecake Day, and I didn’t get the memo until this afternoon.  I’m not a huge cheesecake eater, or baker, but my family loves it and I like to celebrate obscure food holidays.  Since a traditional cheesecake would take a long time to prepare, bake and chill, I knew I didn’t have enough time to complete it in a reasonable amount of time. So, I came up with a fast way to make something cheesecake inspired, with what I had on hand.  From beginning to end, it took 10 minutes to put this together.  As a bonus, it can chill while you eat dinner and finish the dishes, and just when you’re ready to settle in for some binge-watching of Netflix, or maybe a good book, they will be ready.  I’ll get right to the recipe, keeping this post short and sweet, a lot like the recipe for these parfaits! Here we go:

  
Oreo Mini Cheesecake Parfaits

20-24 Oreo cookies

2 T. Butter, melted

8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened (I used a greek yogurt cream cheese–FANTASTIC!)

1/4 c. Sweetened Condensed Milk

2 T. Milk

1 t. vanilla extract

pinch of kosher salt

Crush 12 of the cookies in a food processor or place in a plastic zip top bag and crush with your hands. Place the crumbs into a bowl and combine with the melted butter.  This is your crust.  Divide among small bowls, ramekins, or even teacups.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix the cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, regular milk, vanilla extract and salt until smooth, about 2-3 minutes.  Crumble 6 of the remaining cookies and fold into cream cheese mixture. Spoon on top of the crust, and place the reserved cookies on top of each parfait for garnish.  Place in refrigerator and chill for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  These can keep in the refrigerator, without garnish for 2 days.

Feel free to mix it up and try different mix-ins.  Replace the cookies with graham crackers for a more traditional cheesecake flavor, and fold in cherry pie filling.  Use golden Oreos for the crust and fold in chopped strawberries or blueberries and white chocolate chips for a berries and cream version.  I hope you enjoy this quick and easy dessert and add it to your recipe stash for when you need a fast and delicious treat. Happy National Cheesecake Day!