Peanut Butter Cheesecake

The filling is velvety smooth and will practically melt in your mouth. Even better, I top my cheesecake with chopped peanut butter cups making each bite jam-packed with peanut butter flavor! While there are a few components to this cheesecake, it’s worth the effort to make. Make sure you budget enough time, as there’s no rushing a cheesecake. Want another tasty cheesecake? Try my strawberry cheesecake recipe, blueberry cheesecake recipe, or chocolate cheesecake recipe.

What You Need to Make This Recipe

Chocolate sandwich cookies — the crust recipe uses about a whole 15.35oz package of Oreos. You can use regular or double-stuffed Oreos. You can use graham crackers if you’re not a fan of chocolate sandwich cookies. Butter — to help the crust hold together, you’ll need melted butter. Make sure to buy unsalted butter to keep the crust from tasting salty. Cream cheese — for the cheesecake batter, I recommend using full-fat cream cheese for the best flavor. Do not buy the spreadable type from a tub. Cold cream cheese will lead to a lumpy batter so always bring the cream cheese to room temperature beforehand. Sour cream — to make the cheesecake filling soft, moist, and tender, you’ll need full-fat sour cream. It also provides a nice tangy flavor to the cheesecake. If you forgot to pick some sour cream up, try making my homemade sour cream with only three ingredients. Peanut butter — make sure you buy creamy and not chunky peanut butter. I don’t recommend using natural peanut butter for the filling, as it’ll be too runny for the cheesecake filling. Eggs — eggs help make the filling smooth and give it a rich texture. Heavy whipping cream — you’ll need heavy whipping cream to add moisture and soften the texture of the cheesecake. It’ll also be the base of the ganache. Chocolate — I recommend using high-quality pure chocolate baking bars for the chocolate ganache as they melt smoother than chocolate chips.

How to Make Peanut Butter Cheesecake

1. In a food processor, process the sandwich cookies and sugar until finely ground, about 30 seconds.
2. Place in a medium mixing bowl, and stir in the melted butter until well combined. Press into the bottom and about 1½ inches up the side of a 9-inch springform pan covered with aluminum foil. Refrigerate while preparing the filling, or at least 30 minutes.
3. In the stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese and sour cream. Beat on medium-low speed until smooth and creamy, then add the peanut butter.
4. Next, add the sugar and salt. Beat until combined.
5. With the mixer on low, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Slowly pour in the cream and vanilla until fully combined. Pour the filling into the chilled crust, spreading into an even layer.
7. Place the pan in a large roasting pan and on the lower third oven rack. Carefully pour boiling water into the roasting pan until it reaches about 1 inch deep. Bake for 1 to 1½ hours. Turn off the oven, and crack the door open. Let the cheesecake cool in the oven for 1 hour. Remove the cheesecake from the roasting pan and discard the foil. Refrigerate the cheesecake, uncovered, for at least 4 to 24 hours.
8. Place the chopped chocolate in a medium mixing bowl. In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave the cream on HIGH until it just starts to bubble, about 1 minute. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let stand without stirring for 10 minutes. Stir in slow circles until the chocolate is fully melted and the ganache is smooth.
9. Pour the ganache over the chilled cheesecake, spreading gently to the edges and allowing the ganache to drip down the sides.
10. Garnish the peanut butter cheesecake with chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Pro Tips for Making This Recipe

Do not overmix the peanut butter cheesecake batter, as it will introduce too much air to the batter. Air in the batter leads to the cheesecake rising too much in the oven and collapsing in the middle.The best way to avoid overmixing is to bring your cold ingredients, such as eggs, sour cream, and cream cheese, to room temperature. Doing so will ensure they will easily incorporate into the batter without overmixing.When you pour the cheesecake batter into the pan, gently tap the pan on the counter to pop any air bubbles in the batter.Make sure the exterior of the pan is tightly wrapped with foil, so the water from the water bath does not leak into the cheesecake.For the garnish, I used the Unwrapped Reese’s mini to save time on unwrapping all the peanut butter cups! Alternatively, leave them off or top the cheesecake with roasted peanuts or whipped cream.

If you’ve tried this Peanut Butter Cheesecake recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!