Goat Cheese Cheesecakes with Shortbread Cookie Crust

Last Monday I enjoyed cooking on Talk of the Town with Lelan Statom. We created goat cheese cheesecakes using Girl Scout shortbread cookies (Trefoils) to make the crust.

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Lelan admitted that everyone thinks his favorite way to eat those cookies with cheese is kind of weird so clearly the cheesecake with a cookie crust was destined to be his favorite dessert. I’m glad he enjoyed it because no one had any idea that he would be working around the clock the next few days trying to keep as many people safe as possible during the Nashville tornados that hit that very night. I hope those leftover cheesecakes were a small treat for Lelan and his co-workers as they all remained on duty at the station.

While our hearts are broken for our city, we all remain unbelievably proud of how Nashville comes together in the wake of tragedy to support our neighbors and rebuild our city. It’s what we do in Nashville.

So I will share this delicious dessert made from the original girl scout cookie whose recipe was first published in 1922 and be glad I had the opportunity to be with the lovely family that is Channel 5’s Talk of the Town. Enjoy!

Goat Cheese Cheesecakes with Shortbread Cookie Crust

Crust:

1 sleeve short bread cookies, about 20 (Trefoils Girl Scout cookies or other shortbread cookies)

2 Tbsp melted butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper muffin cups.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, or by hand combine cream cheese and goat cheese.

Mix in crème fraiche, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and lemon zest to thoroughly combine.

To make crust: crush shortbread cookies into crumbs. (Put cookies in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin!)

Mix crumbs with melted butter and press even amounts into prepared muffin cups.

Pour in filling almost to the top of each muffin cup.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until set and beginning to brown.

Cool thoroughly and refrigerate until chilled.

Garnish with fresh fruit.