Lemon Cheesecake with Trefoil Cookie Crust

As the season to purchase Girl Scout cookies comes to a tragic end *inserts tears*, we decided, what better way to say goodbye to the girls in green than with a new recipe?! Here at The Tasty Turn Up, we love all things sweet, so we decided to combine one of our favorite Girl Scout cookies with cheesecake to give you: Lemon Cheesecake with Trefoil Cookie Crust. Please hold your applause til the end!

The Trefoil crust is our favorite part of this recipe. While you may be thinking a shortbread cookie is the least exciting of the fantastic flavors the Girl Scouts have to offer, we think its buttery goodness is unmatched! Adding lemon zest to the crust takes the cookie flavor up a solid 5 octaves, leaving you with a bite that’s out of this world! 

If you’re making this tasty dessert after Girl Scout cookie season is over, don’t stress it! You can use regular shortbread cookies in their place.

Girl Scout cookies are still available! Visit www.girlscouts.org to find a stand near you while supplies last!

 

Ingredients

• 1 9 oz. box of Trefoil Girl Scout Cookies 
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 12 ounces fresh, mild goat cheese 
• 10 ounce cream cheese
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 tsp. finely grated fresh lemon zest (from about 3 lemons)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange zest
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 8 to 10 medium strawberries

Instructions

Part 1: 

1. Preheat oven to 325°. 
2. Ground both rolls of cookies using a food processor and pulse until finely ground. 
3. In a medium bowl, stir 2 tbsp. lemon zest with 1 1/2 tbsp. sugar. Add ground cookies and mix well. 
4. Butter sides of an 8-in. pan with removable rim and press cookie mixture into bottom; bake for 15 min. 
5. Remove from oven and let cool in pan.

Part 2:

1. Lower oven temperature to 275°. 
2. Beat goat cheese and cream cheese until light and fluffy. You can use a hand mixer or standing mixer for this task.
3. Add remaining lemon zest, 1 tbsp. lemon juice, the orange zest, 3/4 cup sugar, the sour cream, and the vanilla.  
4. Scrape bowl and add eggs; beat well.

Part 3:

1. Pour batter onto crust and bake 1 hour, or until set on the sides. Cheesecake should be jiggly in center. 
2. Let cheesecake cool completely then chill, covered, at least 2 hours and up to overnight.

Part 4: 

1. Slowly remove rim from pan (use knife around edges before lifting for clean removal). 
2. Thinly slice strawberries, then toss with remaining 2 1/2 tbsp. sugar and lemon juice. 
3. Arrange on cake and enjoy! 

 

Date Posted: 3-26-2019