A Girl Scout Cookie Thin Mint cheesecake. This cheesecake has a thin mint crust with a minty cheesecake and ice cream-like filling. Garnished with dollups of whipped cream and thin mint cookies.
Happy Pi Day everyone! Or as I’d rather refer to it as PIE day.
Math and I never really got a long.
But if math will give me an excuse to eat pie, then we can be friends. For today. Only today.
So technically this isn’t really a pie, it’s a cheesecake and a frozen one at that. But it has the same shape and look of a pie, so it works right?
In college, I got a C in statistics. The only C I’ve ever gotten in my life. But that class made about ZERO sense to me. Negative sense to me if that is even possible.
Then I meet my husband. Like a month after the class finished.
Just guess what he got in statistics? A 98 percent. That’s just craziness.
We needed to meet like one semester earlier. Maybe then math and I wouldn’t be such bad enemies.
Speaking of the husband, he loves pi day. Because he loves math (he’s a smarty, mathy whiz) and his favorite dessert is pie. Of course we celebrate this holiday in our house.
This dessert is incredibly easy and one of my favorite “pies.” I mean it has thin mint cookies; can you go wrong there?
The crust is crushed up thin mints (nothing added) pushed down into the bottom of a spring-form pan. (Make sure to spray your pan with non-stick spray first!)
The filling is simple: cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, whipped topping, peppermint extract, and green food coloring. That’s right; only 5 ingredients!
And you can’t forget the garnish – whipped topping with little halvsies thin mints. Adorbs.
A few notes: this is a frozen cheesecake so it will need to remain in the freezer up until serving time and any leftovers need to return to the freezer. It also needs to freeze for at least 8 hours before serving and preferably overnight (the only hard part about this dessert.)
If you want to substitute the whipped topping for whipping cream, that will work just make sure to have the right quantities (8 ounces of heavy whipping cream AFTER being whipped).
I used a springform pan and haven’t tried this dessert in any other pan. I imagine a pie tin would work well, but it may be harder to serve this dessert and still have it “look pretty.” I don’t know though, you are probably more talented than me at neatly removing pie slices from a pie pan.
And finally…ENJOY!
- 1 package (9 ounces) Thin Mint Cookies*
- 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese softened
- 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
- 2 teaspoons peppermint extract not mint extract
- Green food coloring
- 1 container (8 ounces) cool whip completely thawed
- Optional garnish: Whipped topping spray and extra Thin Mint Cookies
-
Lightly spray a 9-inch springform pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
-
In a food processor or blender pulse the entire package of thin mint cookies until fine crumbs.
-
Press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan. This will take a little bit of patience because but spread them evenly along the bottom, Press them down with the back of a spatula.
-
In the same bowl (less dishes!) you used to make the crust, put in the cream cheese. Using hand mixers, mix the cream cheese for about 3-4 minutes or until very creamy. Slowly add in the sweetened condensed milk and continue to mix with the hand mixers for another 2-3 minutes.
-
Using a spatula scrape down the sides and continue to mix for another minute.
-
Mix in the peppermint extract and food coloring. Do as much food coloring as you want until you reach the desired color you want your cheesecake to be.
-
With the spatula, fold in the cool whip until it is completely incorporated. Be careful to not overmix the cool whip with the rest of the ingredients.
-
Freeze overnight or for at least 8 hours.
-
Serve directly from the freezer and return to the freezer as soon as you are finished serving. It is like ice cream and will melt easily and quickly!
-
Optionally garnish by spraying dollups of whipped cream around the outside. Cut some thin mints in half with a knife and stick the cookies into the whipped cream.
*You can substitute oreo cookies (and leave in the filling) but add 1/4 cup sugar and
6 tbsp. butter melted. You could also use an off brand Fudge Mint cookies, but remove 4 of the cookies for this recipe. (And by remove, I mean eat em!)
Craving More?
Taylor @ Food Faith Fitness says
Umm….hello favorite recipe alert! Thin mints are my life…and so is cheesecake.
Love frozen cheesecakes since they are SO EASY. I wish I had heard about Pi day before yesterday…such a fun idea! Pinning!
chelseamessyapron says
Haha!! Crack me up! Thanks for the pin Taylor! Hope you’ve had a great weekend so far!
Chloe @ foodlikecake says
thin mint cheesecake! Sounds like the best thing ever and it’s so photogenic!
chelseamessyapron says
Thank you Chloe! 🙂
Ashley says
This cheesecake looks and sounds amazing! Plus it’s perfect for St. Patty’s day and Pi day! Double win right there! haha Hope you have a great weekend friend!
Lori @ RecipeGirl says
I want it for breakfast– right now!
chelseamessyapron says
Haha! That would make one awesome breakfast! Thanks Lori 🙂
Melanie @ Carmel Moments says
This is so cool! Looks like it goes together very easily too. My kind of dessert!
Jamie | Jamie's Recipes says
I’ve never had frozen cheesecake before but I think one made with Thin Mints would be a good place to start.
Beth @ bethcakes says
This is SO pretty, Chelsea!! The color is just perfect! I bet I could eat the Thin Mints crust all by itself, haha. But of course it would be so much better with a whole slice. Preferably a large one. 🙂 Love the whipped cream and Thin Mints on top!
Christine @ Cooking with Cakes says
Chelsea this is flat-out gorgeous!! I love that you froze it, that’s one of my favorite ways to enjoy no-bake cheesecakes. love the pi day timing too 🙂
Kelly @ The Pretty Bee: Cooking + Creating says
This is so pretty ! I love how springy it looks! Pinning!
Meg @ The Housewife in Training Files says
What is it with guys and being awesome at math? My fiance is the same way. Its fine…we’ll just win the kitchen over! Girl Scout Cookies + Cheesecake = win in a my book!
wokandspoon says
Frozen cheesecake? yum! Frozen cheesecake with Oreos!? Double yum!!
Jenn @ Deliciously Sprinkled says
Chelsea, this pie looks amazing! I have never had frozen cheesecake before, and I need to try this recipe ASAP because I love cheesecake and of course thin mint cookies. Perfect dessert to celebrate Pi Day and St. Patrick’s Day, pinned 🙂
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
My fiance’ loves Pi day too. Mostly because he loves pie. lol. I’m also not super into math but ohhhhh pie. loveit! And this cheesecake is something my Michael would FLIP for! For him thin mints + cheesecake=OMGAMAZINGYUMYUMYUM. That’s my kind of math
Kelly - LEFT SIDE OF THE TABLE says
This does look super easy! I feel ya with the math making zero sense girl. Too bad you didn’t meet him before your class ended :/ Ohhh well ya win some, ya loose some right?! Haha just gotta find a box of thin mints to make this! Thanks for sharing, enjoy your Saturday 🙂
Kelly says
This frozen cheesecake looks amazing Chelsea! Love the thin mints crust and this is so perfect for St. Paddy’s day and Pi day! Love it!
Erin | The Emerging Foodie says
Love this, girl! This is quite possibly the best idea for pi day. And the thin mints on the bottom?? Brilliant! 🙂
Lynna says
Ahh, what a wonderful frozen treat! I actually like eating frozen cheesecake! Well, in bite-size form. I know I would love this, since I`m thin mint obessed!
Chris @ Shared Appetite says
You are my hero. Like, you literally just made my entire day. You have no idea how much I love thin mints. This needs (and will) be made immediately. And, thanks to you, I just totally remembered that I have a box of thin mints stashed way in the back of our freezer (if I didn’t bury them in the back, they would be gone by now, haha). Pinning 🙂
Cindy @ Hun... What's for Dinner? says
This is absolutely gorgeous and perfect for those hot summer days (if they ever get here). Thanks again for sharing at Simple Supper Tuesday.
Dona says
This dessert looks amazing! I want to serve it to my friends when I host them for our March card making meeting, but first I made it for my husbands golfing buddies who were visiting from Alaska. They were my guinea pigs. I’m glad that I experimented on them first. The frozen cheesecake tasted great, BUT the thin mint crust did not hold together, and when I cut into the pie I had cookie crumbs all over the counter top. I followed the recipe exactly. What went wrong? i would still like to serve it to my friends, but only if I can solve the crust mystery. Thanks
chelseamessyapron says
Hi Dona! Glad to hear you liked the filling, but so sorry the crust didn’t work out like you were hoping. I’d love to help trouble-shoot it with you, but it’s hard to know what exactly went wrong so I’ll ask a few questions. Did you blend/food process the crumbs until they were super fine? If the cookies were even a little chunky that would cause a problem. Next, did you very firmly press the crust together? I used a hard object to really press the crumbs down and to get them to hold. Some other ideas – maybe the butter measurement was off a bit for your batch? Or you could just try using a little more butter in the crust. Another thing is it’s very important to grease the pan before laying down the cookie crumbs and then pressing them in very well. Hope this is helpful, please let me know if you have any other questions.
Dona says
Thanks for your reply. The answer is yes to your questions: crumbs were super fine and pressed down firmly in the pan. BUT, there was no mention of using butter in the recipe above. I thought that was odd that there was no butter added to the crust, but followed the recipe anyway. How much butter should I add to the crust? That should definitely solve the problem. Thanks! Dona
Dona says
Please try to post the amount of butter you used as soon as possible. I will be making this for a gathering at my house next Wednesday. Thanks!
chelseamessyapron says
Ah I’m sorry Dona, I didn’t use butter in this recipe, I misread the post you were commenting on. When I ground up the thin mints they were so sticky on their own that after pressing them down hard they held perfectly for mine. But perhaps a few tablespoons of butter would help. I would recommend starting with 3 tablespoons and seeing how sticky your mixture is. I’m wondering if the stickiness of your cookies verses the ones I used are due to a brand difference. I used an off brand thin mint cookie package from Wal mart if that helps.
Dona says
Chelsea, Just want you to know that I did not give up on your recipe. Here it is over a year later, and I bought another box of Girl Scout Thin Mints and tried it again. I added three tablespoons of butter as you suggested, and it turned out great. I served it to a group of friends, and they said it was delicious. I might suggest that you add the butter to your original recipe. Thanks! Dona K.
Adele says
I made this last night for a book club meeting tonight. I just tasted it– wowza! So rich and packed with flavor! Really great recipe. I’m sure my ladies will love it.
Dona Kubina says
Adele, glad to hear that you had success with this recipe. My crust did not work, and I want to make it again this week for my scrapbooking club. The recipe does not call for butter, but Chelsea messaged me that I might not have put enough butter into the crust. I have two questions that you may be able to help me with:
1. How much butter did you put into your crust?
2. Did you bake the crust? If so, for how long and at what temp?
I would appreciate your help, since I will try to make it two days from now. Thanks! Dona K.
Dianah says
I really wAnt to make this cheesecake but I will be taking it to a function. What would happen and how would it taste if it thaws before serving?
chelseamessyapron says
It will completely melt. It’s supposed to be a frozen cheesecake so basically like ice cream it has to be eaten out of the freezer and returned to the freezer after serving. Hope that helps!