Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cheesecake

I have become famous, or perhaps infamous, in my family for cheesecakes. For every occasion, they can somehow justify serving cheesecake. I actually enjoy making them, so it’s not really a huge imposition on me. Sunday was my daddy’s birthday, so out came the best cheesecake book I’ve ever found. (Seriously, get this book. Feel free to check out previous evidence of its goodness.) No one loves peanut butter more than he does, so this choice was a no-brainer.

Let me begin by saying that every recipe I’ve ever made from this book calls for a 9″ springform pan. I usually use a 10″ pan. Even using the larger pan, I almost always have batter left over. Maybe her 9″ pan is a good bit taller than mine. Anyway, with a larger diameter pan, it stands to reason that you’ll need more crust. This cheesecake has a cookie crust, so making more is no problem. I’ve found that you can’t really screw up a cookie crust. Cookies, butter, maybe some nuts. And pretty much whatever consistency you like. For this cheesecake, I decided to go all out on the peanut butter flavor and use peanut butter sandwich cookies instead of the book’s recipe with non-filled peanut butter cookies and chocolate wafer cookies. Those peanut butter-filled Oreos would have been good, too, I think.

Mixing a cheesecake is, to me, one of the simplest things to do. Basically, everything goes in my stand mixer, and I let it do all the work. The best advice I can give you, as with just about anything you bake, is to avoid overmixing. The only tedious part of making a cheesecake is the time you must devote to it. Most cheesecakes I make are in the oven for about 4 hours. I usually just plan on sticking close to home for the day.

Everyone loved this cheesecake. Wonderful creamy texture, big peanut butter flavor with a hint of chocolate, just the perfect crunch from the crust and peanuts. As I write this, I am a bit sad, though, because I only had one piece. We left later that day for North Carolina (where I am writing this) to visit our very dear friends, so the cheesecake was dispersed to the family. I didn’t think cheesecake would survive the road trip. Well, we know what that means. I’ll have to find a new excuse to make cheesecake.

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Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cheesecake

Yield 12 to 14 servings

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 2 hours 15 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 45 minutes

This peanut butter cheesecake has a creamy peanut butter base with a hint of chocolate, and a nice crunch from the cookie crust and peanuts. It's a perfect treat for a special celebration!

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Ingredients

For the crust:

• 2 cups crushed peanut butter sandwich cookies (e.g. Nutter Butters)
• 1/3 cup (42g) peanuts, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

• 32 ounces (907g) cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup (200g) firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 cup (113g) sour cream
• 5 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup (191g) creamy peanut butter
• 6 ounces (170g) semisweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
• 2/3 cup (83g) peanuts, chopped

For the topping:

• 6 ounces (170g) white chocolate
• 3 tablespoons (48g) creamy peanut butter
• 1 ounce (28g) semisweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled

Instructions

To make the crust:

1. Combine the crust ingredients until thoroughly combined.
2. Press onto the bottom and partially up the sides of a lightly greased 10-inch springform pan. Set aside.

To make the filling:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Beat together the cream cheese, brown sugar, cornstarch, and sour cream until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Mix in the vanilla extract and peanut butter. Mix in the melted chocolate, followed by the peanuts. Pour the filling over the crust. (I recommend setting the pan on a lined rimmed baking sheet to catch any potential spills or leaks.)
3. Bake for 15 minutes.
4. Reduce oven temperature to 200°F, and bake for 2 hours to 2 hours 10 minutes, or until the center is set and doesn't look wet. Remove the cheesecake from the oven, and run a knife around the edges to loosen it from the pan.
5. Return the cheesecake to the oven, turn the oven off, and leave the cheesecake in the oven for 2 hours.
6. Refrigerate overnight.

To make the topping:

1. Melt the white chocolate and peanut butter in a saucepan over low heat. (Or at half-power in the microwave in 30-second increments until melted) Cool to lukewarm.
2. Spread the cooled topping over the chilled cheesecake.
3. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the topping. Use the dull side of a knife to create a swirl design. Chill until the topping sets.

Notes

Recipe slightly adapted from I Love Cheesecake.

Recommended Products

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• 
  Fat Daddio's Aluminum Springform Cake Pan, 10 x 3 Inch, Silver
• 
  I Love Cheesecake

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