Oreo Cheesecake Cookies & Pie Pops

Have you ever baked something just because it was easy and fast, and you needed something to accompany your other baked good?  How about then having that mediocre-sounding recipe turn out to be one of the best recipes you have?  It's always quite a nice surprise when that happens. That's what happened with these cookies.

Just look at the picture.  They don't even look very good. They're all crumbly and yellow and rock-like.  They are cream cheese oreo cookies. I was in a hurry while baking these, and just threw everything together, baked them very sloppily and only half expected them to turn out to be edible.   I even forgot a step in the recipe and they still turned out delicious!  

Here's another picture.  Gross right?  Wrong.  

The other thing that I made had much more time and effort put into.  And although it was probably the cutest little dessert that I have ever made, I believe that it was not quite as delightful as it's low-maintainence, surprisingly yummy little sidekick.  

Adorable right?  I little tiny pie that fits right in your had.  Best part?  It's on a stick!  Pretty sure that I, (borrowed from Bakerella)  made the phrase "cute as pie" come to life.  I made mini apple and pecan pies.  They were pretty good, but I have many changes that I'll do when I make them again.

You might be wondering if the face on that yellow spoon up there is the face of the Koolaid guy?  It is.  It's my favorite.  I inherited it from an aunt.  So these pie pops.  First of all, I made my traditional pecan pie filling to put in the little things, but the sugar all settled and the bottom of the bowl and did not get to be scooped into the filling, hence making it not as sweet as I would have liked.  Also, they were a bit runny to stay put in their cute little crusts.  The apple filling turned out just fine because the sugar and spices just adhered to the apple pieces.  I also would use a pie crust with shortening rather than with butter so that it stays cohesive better while cutting and molding the tiny dough rounds.   

I found some candy wrappers and sticks at Michaels and they worked out perfectly.  

The highly requested recipes:

Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

from TastyKitchen

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

3 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1 cup oreo cookie crumbs

Preheat oven to 375 and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  In a large bowl, cream together cream cheese and butter.   Add the sugar and vanilla and mix well.  Add the flour and mix on low until incorporated.  Stir in chocolate chips.  scoop dough into 1" balls and roll in oreo crumbs until covered.  Put on baking sheet and bake 12-15 minutes, until edges are golden and cookies are puffed up.  Cool and enjoy!  

* I also was going to drizzle some vanilla icing/glaze over the top of the cookies after they were done, but I forgot!  

Pie Pops

Adapted from Bakerella

There really is no set recipe for these...use any pie filling you'd like (I would suggest a less runny filling than pecan pie).  Use any pie dough crust for this recipe also (I also suggest a pie dough that uses shortening rather than butter).  There are so many possibilities!  

Make your basic pie dough, and use either the top of a drinking glass or a biscuit cutter to cut out rounds.  Place a stick on the bottom round, and top with a teaspoon or two of pie filling.  Then top with another pie dough round and crimp the edges with a fork.  Brush the pies with a mixture of egg white and water and top with a sprinkle of sugar. After all the pies are assembled, line them on a baking sheet and bake for about 15-20 minutes, until the dough is golden.  

That's it!  Very simple!