Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake – a step by step guide

This is quite possible my most favorite dessert I have ever made. Layers of chocolate and peanut butter cheesecake, on top of a bed of Reese’s pb cups, in an oreo crust, topped with chocolate ganache.

Difficulty: 3 (you can do it)

Hands On Time: 30 minutes    Cook Time: 60 minutes    Set Time: 2 hrs    Total Time: 3 hrs 30 minutes     Servings: 10-12

Behold, the glory of Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake. There may just be Reese’s PB cups in here. Mmmhmmm. You heard me. REESE’S PB CUPS IN THIS CHEESECAKE.

Cheesecake has been a long time favorite dessert of mine. When I was younger I always would get the cheesecake desserts at restaurant. As I’ve gotten older, it’s usually the chocolate desserts. But when there’s chocolate cheesecake? No contest. I don’t care how much I’ve stuffed myself with appetizer bread and dinner. Gosh darn it I’m going to order and eat all of that chocolate cheesecake. Or this one. This Berry Cheesecake is pretty darn good too.

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RECIPE

FOR THE CRUST
20 oreos
4 tbsp buter – melted

Step 1: Heat oven to 350.
Step 2: Place the oreos in a food processor and blend until completely chopped.
Step 3: Mix the chopped oreos with the melted butter.
Step 4: Press the oreo mixture into the bottom of a buttered 9 inch spring form pan.
Step 5: Bake for 5 minutes.

FOR THE CHEESECAKE
24 oz cream cheese – room temperature
1 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
½ cup sour cream
½ cup peanut butter
6 oz semi sweet chocolate – melted
15 Reese’s peanut butter cups

Step 1: In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the cream cheese and the sugar until smooth.
Step 2: Add in the salt, vanilla, eggs and sour cream – blend until smooth.
Step 3: Divide the cheesecake batter evenly between two bowls.
Step 4: In one bowl mix in the peanut butter.
Step 5: In the second bowl, mix in the melted chocolate.
Step 6: Place the peanut butter cups in the bottom of the pan with the oreo crust, as many as you can fit!
Step 7: Pour the chocolate cheesecake mixture over the oreo crust and the peanut butter cups.
Step 8: Carefully pour the peanut butter cheesecake mixture over the chocolate cheesecake mixture.
Step 9: Bake for 45 minutes (cheesecake will still be jiggly after 45 minutes, that is okay)

Step 10: Chill the cheesecake for 1-2 hours. Then carefully remove from the springform pan.

FOR THE GANACHE TOPPING
2 cups cream
1 bag (12 oz) semi sweet chocolate chips

Step 1: Heat the cream in a small sauce pan until it just starts to bubble.
Step 2: Remove from heat and add the chocolate chips – let sit for 5 minutes and then whisk until smooth.
Step 3: Carefully pour chocolate ganache over cooked and cooled cheesecake.
Step 4: Let sit in the fridge for 1-2 hours before serving.

13 Comments

  • Marie says:

    are these supposed to be the mini pb cups??

    • The DIY Foodie says:

      Great question! I used regular sized PB cups but you can use mini and it will work just as well. Thanks for pointing that out! I will be sure to change the recipe to include that 🙂 hope you enjoy it!

  • Marie says:

    awesome thanks! I just wanted to be sure to use enough… I’ll just double or do whatever “looks” right…thanks again! 🙂

  • Nhon says:

    Hi there, they do sell oreo crumbs just like gram cracker crumbs. How many cups would I’d have to use to make the crust?

  • Kat says:

    Does the chocolate ganache get poured on top when the cheesecake comes out of oven or should you wait for it to cool? if so, how long should you wait? thanks!!

    • The DIY Foodie says:

      That is a GREAT question! I definitely need to go edit that in the recipe. After you take the cheesecake out of the oven, chill it for about an hour. Then carefully remove the springform pan and pour over the (room temperature) chocolate ganache. If you don’t want the ganache to run down the sides of the cheesecake, you can pour the ganache on while it is still in the pan and chill it again for about 30 minutes. Hopefully this makes sense, please let me know if you have any more questions! And thank you for bringing that to my attention 🙂

  • Lola says:

    15 regular Reese cups sound like so many. This sounds like very costly to make

  • Emily says:

    Can you make this recipe using less sugar? 1 cup sugar sounds too sweet for me, given the chocolate chips in the ganache, the cookie crumb crust, and the Reese’s PB cups! Thanks:)

    • The DIY Foodie says:

      Hey Emily, you can definitely try it! I would think it would work out just fine, but I have never tried it myself. Maybe you can cut the sugar in half to start and see how it is? Let me know if you try it that way and how it turns out!

  • Dawn says:

    Could you use chocolate graham crackers in place of the Oreos? Also could you put sea salt on top?

    • The DIY Foodie says:

      Hi Dawn! Those both sound like awesome suggestions! I’m sure the graham cracker crust would work just fine and the sea salt sounds like a nice touch 🙂

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