Strawberry Shortcut Cheesecake!

     Confession time:  I hate baking cheesecake. It's one of the only things in the whole world that makes me grimace a bit when someone asks me to make it (the other thing is fried chicken -- I'm a bad Southerner, ok?). It's just so fussy and time-consuming and then if it cracks at the very end I have all the bad feelings in the world. 

     But I had been getting requests to make cheesecake from a certain very-pregnant sister of mine, and cheesecake did sound pretty good. So on Sunday I whipped up this amazing, super-delicious shortcut cheesecake! It had all the cream-cheesy tastiness of cheesecake, and a lovely light texture,  but it only took me about 15 minutes to put together! 

 

     Here's how I threw this thing together: 

1.  Crushed up a decent amount (half a package, at least. Always better to err on the side of having too much!) of Oreo cookies, then stirred in about half a stick's worth of melted butter to make a nice crumbly crust that just barely held together when I shaped it with my hands. Dumped it into a springform pan and smooshed it around the bottom and up the sides of the pan to form the crust. 

2.  Mixed together a package and a half (about 12 ounces) of cream cheese (I had let it soften for a while first to make the mixing easier), a cup of confectioner's sugar, and a tub of good old fashioned Cool Whip! Once it was all smooth, I plopped it in the pan and spread it out all nice-like. 

3.  Then I just topped the whole thing with a can of pre-made strawberry pie filling (obviously if you're in the mood for cherry or blueberry or blackberry or what have you, follow your heart) and stuck it in the fridge until it was time to eat. 

     And it was that easy! This dessert was a big hit, too; everyone had seconds. I think the Oreo crust is what makes it. Seriously, if you're looking for a way to make a dessert, any dessert, taste better, add Oreos and butter. It's a Law of Baking.