oreo cheesecake cupcakes

For my friend Kate's birthday, she specifically requested cupcakes with oreos. Now, Kate is not someone that you don't follow their directions. So, I looked up recipes for oreo cupcakes. I could have sworn that I saw one on SK, but nothing came up in the search, so I turned to google. I found a couple recipes that looked good and similar, but then I decided I wanted to do something a little different and make cheesecake cupcakes. Part of the motivation here is because my roommate is trying to clean out her pantry (as we are all soon leaving the country), and she has been on a baking spree. I mean, three batches of brownies in one night, two types of chocolate cookies another, and now chocolate cupcakes. I knew that my cupcakes would be presented alongside several dozen chocolate chocolate-chip cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate cupcakes. Instead of forgoing the baking route altogether, I decided to opt for something a little unusual to vary it up a little. Thus, I was drawn to the oreo cheesecake recipe on a blog previously unknown to me (as I'm sure mine is to her).

22 Oreos, 16 left whole, and 6 coarsely chopped
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature (Neufchatel is fine) [I used the local Bulgarian version]
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 275 F. Line 12 standard muffin tins and 4 ramekins (or 16 muffin tins, if you have them) with paper liners. Place 1 whole Oreo in the bottom of each lined cup.

Beat the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium. Gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Pour in the beaten eggs, a little at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

Pour the batter into the prepared tins, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, 22-25 minutes.

Cool in the pans for about 15 minutes, on a wire rack, then transfer to a plate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.