Bailey's peppermint chocolate cheesecake

based on this, makes one 9" springform and one 9" pie pan

crust:
2.5 c crumbs from cookie parts of 1 box TJ's peppermint Jo-Jos (insides saved)
3 T sugar
1 stick butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350F. Crush cookie crumbs in small batches in the food processor. Stir in sugar, then stir in melted butter. Press into bottom and sides of pans. Bake for 8 min, and cool before filling with cheesecake.

filling:
5 8-oz packs cream cheese
1.5 c sugar
2 t vanilla
5 eggs
1/2 t salt
1.5 c sour cream
3/4 c Bailey's

Preheat oven to 325F. Put the whisk attachment on the Kitchenaid. Beat cream cheese until smooth, then beat in other ingredients one at a time (eggs a couple at a time). This pretty much fills up the Kitchenaid, so be careful, and scrape down the sides from time to time. When the crusts are cool, divide cheesecake between the pans; both will be very full! Place in the oven on a baking sheet and bake for a good long while (about 1 hr for pie pan, 1 hr 20 min for springform) until browning on top and reasonably set. They will rise tremendously while baking and crack a bit, and some pieces may even fall off the sides---it's quite a sight! Cool on the counter for half an hour, during which time the cheesecakes should collapse back on themselves somewhat, then cover with buttered foil and stick in the fridge to set (overnight if it's bedtime, or presumably one could chill for just an hour or two before topping with ganache).

ganache:
8 oz dark chocolate from TJ's Pound Plus bar
6 cookie insides
1/2 stick butter
1 c cream

Get the cheesecakes out of the fridge and set them on the counter. Chop up chocolate, butter, and minty insides into cubes and put in a large bowl. Bring cream to boil, pour over chocolate, and stir until melted and smooth. Let stand for a few minutes if it seems too hot, then pour over the cheesecakes. Stick in the fridge until serving time. Decorate with more cookie insides and serve for Christmas dessert.