Some cheesecake recipes, with a twist

National Cheesecake Day was just a couple of days ago, and that made me start thinking about some recipes I have that are in the cheesecake family.

No, not all of them are the traditional round, water bath, springform-pan types, which is fine with me. I will leave that up to the experts.

But there are plenty of recipes that can be made very easily and are quite tasty and still in that broad cheesecake genre. I decided to go along with the national Cheesecake Day theme and share a few recipes to add to your recipe collection.

No Bake Lemon Oreo Cheesecake

• 12 Lemon Oreo Cookies crushed into crumbs
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• Zest of two lemons
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 tablespoons lemon gelatin powder
• 1 (8 ounce) tub frozen whipped topping, thawed

Evenly divide the crumbs between your individual serving dishes and press into the bottoms of the dishes to form a crust layer.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla and mix to combine. Sprinkle the gelatin powder onto the cream cheese mixture and mix on medium-high speed until thoroughly combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the whipped topping until well blended and no streaks remain. Evenly pipe or spoon the filling into individual serving dishes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

If desired, garnish with additional whipped topping and lemon wedges. You can also use a 9x13-inch dish and cut into squares to serve.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake on a Brownie Crust

For the brownie crust:

• 6 tablespoons butter, melted plus 1 tablespoon butter to grease pan
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon Vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/3 cups unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup peanut butter chips
• 6 whole peanut butter cups, cut into quarters

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan, line with a parchment round and butter the parchment.

Stir together butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Add eggs. Stir in flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Spread in prepared pan. Bake about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle on chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and the peanut butter cups. Lower oven to 325 degrees. Do not forget this step! Pour the cheesecake batter right on top (directions below)

For the cheesecake batter:

• 2 pounds cream cheese, softened
• 5 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• *½ cups heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla

Beat cream cheese in bowl of mixer until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time. Add sugar, peanut butter and cream until smooth. Add vanilla. Pour filling into pan. Make sure you lowered oven to 325 at this point. Wrap foil around springform sides and set in large roasting pan. Add hot water to roasting pan so it comes up 1-inch to the sides of the pan, making a water bath. Place entire roasting pan in the oven. Bake at 325 for 90 minutes.

Let cool 1 hour. Run knife around edge and chill at least 4 hours.

For the topping:

• *¼ cup heavy cream
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 7 peanut butter cups, cut in half

Combine ingredients and microwave cream till hot. Add chips and let sit a minute. Whisk chips until melted and smooth. Drizzle all over the top reserving some. Use the reserved chocolate to dip the peanut butter cup halves into and stick them on the cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I really enjoy anything that uses toasted pecans, good quality caramel and chocolate as ingredients. If you enjoy that as well, you will love these bars.

Turtle Cheesecake Bars

For the crust:

• 3 cups finely chopped pecans
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1/3 cup sugar
• *¼ teaspoon salt

For the cheesecake filling:

• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• *¼ cup full-fat Greek yogurt or sour cream
• *¾ cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Toppings:

• 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
• 1 (11-ounce) bag caramel candy, unwrapped
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 6 tablespoons milk, divided

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Line a 13x9 pan with parchment paper, so that parchment extends over long side of pan. In a bowl, mix crust ingredients together with a fork; press mixture onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake crust for 20 minutes; while crust bakes, prepare filling. Cream together cream cheese, yogurt or sour cream, sugar and vanilla.

Beat in eggs, one at a time. After crust bakes, remove from oven and immediately sprinkle on 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips. Pour filling over chocolate chips and return to oven; bake for 50 minutes. Allow cheesecake to cool for about hour, then place in refrigerator to chill overnight. When ready to serve, remove cheesecake from pan using parchment paper and place on serving platter, then prepare toppings.

For the toppings: Toast pecans in oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Unwrap caramels and place in a microwave safe bowl, along with 4 tablespoons milk. Microwave in 30-second intervals until caramels have melted and sauce is smooth. Pour caramel sauce over cheesecake and immediately sprinkle on toasted and chopped pecans. Place chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl, along with 2 tablespoons milk, and microwave in 30-second intervals, about 2 minutes total. Stir until smooth and drizzle over caramel-pecan topping. Allow chocolate to set before serving.

I know it is not the fall season yet, and many people only think about pumpkin recipes when it turns cool and fall decorations start going up. I, however, am planning for that time and thinking ahead. This is a great recipe for fall and all through the winter months.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 (9-inch) prepared pie crust (or Graham cracker crust, whichever you prefer)
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, not canned pumpkin pie mix
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Remove 1 cup of batter and spread into bottom of crust; set aside. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over the batter in the crust. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until center is almost set. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Cover with whipped topping before serving.

Have a great week, and until next time, happy cooking.