Because it’s Monday and because I’m going to temporarily forget about the button incident. We’re going to roll with a Peanut Butter Cheesecake.
Full Disclosure: I was not going to post this cheesecake because I didn’t like the way the photos turned out. But Jennifer was all up in my grill with “where is the cheesecake” business and strong-armed convinced me to share.
It really was delicious – like a giant peanut butter cup. Unlike the first one I made which was terrible. So I tweaked it a bit. More importantly, I didn’t forget about it, leave it in the oven to become dried out, and end up with the texture of sawdust. Oops.
I was in a hurry with this one because we were going to a family cookout, so I manhandled it more than I should have. Given the way the first one turned out I wanted to test this before exposing anyone to a culinary disaster. After moving it around a bunch it developed some cracks on the top, so I jammed a fork down in there and dug out a bite. Thank goodness it was delicious and I covered up the damage with some Chocolate Ganache. Again – full disclosure. I’m just trying to be honest here and keep things legit.
Happy Monday, ya’ll!
Peanut Butter Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 2 1/4 cups graham crumbs
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons dark cocoa powder
- 10 tablespoons butter melted
For the Cheesecake
- 5 8 ounce blocks cream cheese
- 1 2/3 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2 tablespoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 cup peanut butter - I used Reese's
- 6 eggs
For the Ganache
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
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Put cream cheese in bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on medium-low until fluffy, 3-4 minutes.
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Meanwhile make crust.
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Combine graham crumbs, sugar, cocoa, and melted butter. Press into bottom and up sides of a spring form pan. Wrap 2 pieces of heavy aluminum foil around pan and set aside
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Sift sugar and flour together and add to cream cheese a little bit at a time while mixing on medium low.
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Add vanilla bean paste and peanut butter, mix on medium-low until combined
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Add eggs one at a time, incorporating each before the next addition
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Tap mixer bowl with batter in it on counter a couple of times and set aside for 20 - 30 minutes.This allows the air bubbles to come up and prevent cracking
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While batter rests, preheat oven to 350
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Pour batter into prepared spring form pan. Set spring form pan into a large roasting pan and fill with boiling water about halfway up sides of spring form pan.
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Bake at 350 for 45 minutes
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Reduce heat to 325 and bake an additional 45 minutes
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Turn off oven, crack door, and leave in oven another 30 minutes
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Remove from oven, let cool completely and chill in refrigerator overnight
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Heat cream in a small sauce pant until steamy, pour over chocolate chips and stir until melted and combined
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Spread over top of the cheesecake (unlike my photos - chill again for the ganache to set - about 30 minutes to 1 hour or more)