No Bake Peppermint White Chocolate Cheesecakes

Ingredients

• 12 regular size original Oreos
• 2 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 8 Tbsp powdered sugar, divided
• 4 oz white baking chocolate
• 10 oz cream cheese, softened, 1 8oz pkg + 2oz
• 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
• Red food coloring, optional
• Mini oreos and more white chocolate, optional
• Candy canes, for decoration

Directions

1. Pulse the Oreos in a food processor until they become fine crumbs. If you prefer, crush them in a large Ziploc bag with a rolling pin, transfer the crumbs to a mixing bowl, and stir them with the melted butter. With the food processor on low, drizzle in the melted butter and pulse until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Divide about 2 1/2 Tbsp of the crumb mixture into each of 6 serving cups, smooth the layers, and set them aside.
2. Melt the white chocolate using the package instructions; the microwave method is fine. Set it aside until it is just barely lukewarm but still fluid, because if it begins to firm up, you may end up with little bits of white chocolate in the filling.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the heavy cream with an electric hand mixer until soft peaks appear. Add 3 Tbsp powdered sugar and continue whipping until the peaks are stiff, then place the bowl in the refrigerator.
4. In another mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric hand mixer until it looks smooth and airy. Beat in the remaining 5 Tbsp powdered sugar and the 1/2 tsp peppermint extract. Add the cooled white chocolate and mix it in. If you want half the filling tinted red, move half of the mixture to a separate bowl, color it, and then fold half of the whipped cream into each bowl. Otherwise, fold all of the whipped cream into the cheesecake mixture.
5. Transfer the filling to a piping bag and pipe it over the Oreo layer in the cups. If using both pink and white fillings, pipe them as desired. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
6. Right before serving, finish the cups with crushed candy canes, candy cane sticks using only the bottom half, or peppermint white chocolate dipped mini Oreos.
7. For the peppermint white chocolate dipped Oreos, melt white chocolate or vanilla almond bark according to the package directions, then dip the mini Oreos into it. Move them to wax paper, add crushed candy canes before the coating sets, and leave them at room temperature until firm.