I’m recently guest posted this over at Sweet Treats and More for her Seven Days of Valentine’s Sweets filled with a whole lot of treats and decadence.

And speaking of decadence, I literally have been wanting to make this cheesecake for over two years but couldn’t justify making an entire cheesecake that is so sinful without a good reason. Valentine’s day is totally enough justification and the perfect reason to make this creamy peanut butter and chocolate cheesecake.

I caught my husband dipping the extra Oreos in the the leftover cheesecake batter. “There’s no way this can’t turn out good.”

peanut-butter-cheesecake-closeThis cheesecake starts with an Oreo crust and then a layer of chocolate cheesecake topped by a layer of peanut butter cheesecake. And if that wasn’t enough, we’re finishing it off with chocolate ganache and peanut butter cups on top.

Can you hear your treadmill calling you? It can wait.cheesecake-ganacheThe chocolate ganache is pretty thin going on but it sets up nice and thick in the fridge.ganache  Better use a cookie sheet to catch the extra chocolate.

whole-peanut-butter-cheesecakepeanut-butter-cheesecake-slice

The layers are supposed to be even but either I eyeballed it wrong or the weight of the top layer condensed the bottom layer. Any way you stack it, it’s good.

Peanut Butter Cheesecake

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Chocolate ganache and a peanut butter fudge layer make for a decadent cheesecake.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Rest: 1 hour
Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Servings: 16 servings

Ingredients

Crust:

  • 1 1/2 cups crushed Oreo cookies, about 15 cookies

Cheesecake:

  • 4 8 ounce packages cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

Chocolate Ganache:

  • 1/2 cup whipping cream
  • 1 cup milk chocolate chocolate chips

Garnish:

  • Reese Peanut Butter cups, optional

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Press crushed Oreo cookies into bottom of 10-inch spring-form pan. Bake 5-6 minutes or until set. Do not burn! Cool on wire rack while preparing cake. Reduce oven heat to 300 degrees.
  • Beat softened cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth and creamy; add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Divide batter equally between two bowls.
  • Melt 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips; stir into one of the bowls of cheesecake batter; pour batter into crust prepared pan. Microwave peanut butter until soft, about 20-25 seconds; stir into other bowl of cheesecake batter and pour on top of the chocolate layer.
  • Bake cheesecake at 300 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until center is almost set (not jiggly). Do not overbake. Don't worry if there are a couple of cracks. They will come together when refrigerated and were covering it in chocolate anyway.
  • Place pan on cooling rack; cool approximately 1 hour. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan and remove sides of pan. Place cream in a microwave safe bowl and heat for one minute or boiling. Pour chocolate chips into cream and let sit until soft. Stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth and creamy. Pour chocolate over top and sides of cheesecake. You may want to place your cheesecake on a cookie sheet to catch the run off. Refrigerate overnight; cut optional Reese Peanut Butter cups into quarters and garnish top of cheesecake. Serve with a dallop of whipped cream. It's great to cut the richness. Refrigerate leftovers.

Notes

adapted from KSL.com
Cuisine: American
Course: Dessert