Every year in October, the NC State Fair rolls into town with fun rides and great entertainment, but for foodies like us the best attraction is always the FOOD! We especially love all the amazing deep fried desserts & concoctions that people come up with.
I decided to create my own fried cheesecake desserts: Deep Fried Cheesecake Oreos & Fried Cheesecake-Filled Donuts. We had a blast and invited some friends over to enjoy them with us! These are perfect for parties, family gatherings, cookouts, and fairs/carnivals anytime of the year!
The full recipe is below to try it yourself!
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Here's the full recipe:
Ingredients
CHEESECAKE FILLING
24 ounces Cream Cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup heavy whipping cream
(OPTIONAL) Add additional flavors to the base vanilla filling, for example:
Oreo - 1/2 cup of Oreo crumbs
Banana Pudding - 3.4oz of banana pudding power
Chocolate Chip - 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
FUNNEL CAKE BATTER
Vegetable (or neutral) oil for frying
1 cup buttermilk pancake mix
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
Approximately 1/2 cup water
Scale 2-3 times depending on how much you need
CHEESECAKE OREOS
Oreos (obviously lol)
Frozen sheet of cheesecake batter, 1 inch thick
DONUTS (Yield: About 1 dozen)
11⁄4 cups milk
21⁄4 teaspoons (one package) active dry yeast
2 eggs
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled
1⁄4 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon salt
41⁄4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the dough
2 quarts vegetable (or neutral) oil for frying, plus more for the bowl.
Instructions
CHEESECAKE FILLING
In a large mixer bowl, mix the cream cheese and sugar until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the sour cream, vanilla extract and heavy whipping cream, mix on low speed until well combined.
If you want to add flavors (like Oreo or Banana Pudding) you can add after everything is mixed.
Split filling in half.
Put one half in a container to store in the refrigerator.
With the other half, spread a ~1 inch thick layer onto a baking sheet(s) with parchment paper, then freeze overnight.
FUNNEL CAKE BATTER (courtesy of The Spruce Eats)
Add the pancake mix, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract to a large bowl
Add the 1/2 cup of water and stir until the batter is combined and no lumps are left. If needed, gradually add more water, the consistency should be thick but smooth.
CHEESECAKE OREOS
Take the frozen sheet of cheesecake batter out of the freezer and separate a dozen or so Oreos onto a baking sheet
With a small donut or circular cookie cutter, cut out circles of cheesecake and place them in between the Oreo cookies where the filling goes.
Repeat until you're content or run out of ingredients. Store the Oreos on a baking sheet in the freezer until you're ready to fry them.
Preheat the oil in your fryer to 375 F. Meanwhile, line plates with paper towels.
Carefully drop 2-4 Oreos (depending on how big your fryer is) into the oil. Make sure your baskets are already dropped into the oil BEFORE dropping the Oreos, this prevents them from sticking to the bottom of the basket before they float.
Fry for 1-2 minutes until the bottom is golden, then flip each Oreo with a slotted metal and cook until golden all over.
Repeat until finished, top with powdered sugar and serve!
DONUTS (courtesy of NY Times)
Heat the milk in a large bowl until it's warm but not hot, about 90 degrees. Combine it with the yeast. Stir lightly and let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes.
Using an electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, beat the eggs, butter, sugar and salt into the yeast mixture. Add half of the flour (2 cups plus 2 tablespoons), and mix until combined, then mix in the rest of the flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Add more flour, about 2 tablespoons at a time, if the dough is too wet. If you’re using an electric mixer, the dough will probably become too thick to beat; when it does, transfer it to a floured surface, and gently knead it until smooth.
Grease a large bowl with a little oil. Transfer the dough to the bowl and cover. Let rise at room temperature until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.
Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface, and roll it to 1⁄2-inch thickness. Cut out the doughnuts with a doughnut cutter, concentric cookie cutter or a drinking glass, flouring the cutters as you go. Knead any scraps together, being careful not to overwork, and let rest for a few minutes before repeating the process.
Put the doughnuts on floured baking sheets so that there is plenty of room between each one. Cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise in a warm place until they are slightly puffed up and delicate, about 45 minutes. If your kitchen isn’t warm, heat the oven to 200 at the beginning of this step, then turn off the heat, put the baking sheets in the oven and leave the door ajar.
About 15 minutes before the doughnuts are done rising, preheat the oil in your fryer to 375 F. Meanwhile, line cooling racks, baking sheets or plates with paper towels.
Place 2-4 donuts (depending on how big your fryer is) into a fry basket and slowly lower it into the oil. If you don't have have a basket, carefully add donuts to the oil a few at a time.
Cook 45 - 60 secs until the bottoms are golden, then flip each donut with a slotted metal spoon or tongues and cook until golden all over
Transfer the donuts to a prepared plate or rack and repeat with the rest of the dough, adjusting the heat as needed to keep the oil at 375 F.
Poke a hole in each cooked donut and fill with the cheesecake filling we made earlier. Top with powdered sugar.
Serve em while they're still hot!