Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Three of my dad's favorite things in the world are chocolate, peanut butter, and cheesecake. So when I had to opportunity to feed my family dinner and dessert a few days before his birthday, this was the treat I chose to make.

It turned out super tasty - and suuuper rich. Even with my high tolerance for all things decadent, I struggled to finish one whole piece so make sure you have a lot of people to share it with! 

I looked over numerous recipes to come up with the perfect one, and this was it. It has pretty striped layers instead of two distinct ones and it uses real peanut butter, not peanut butter chips. I hope you enjoy this as much as we all did!

Recipe:

Crust:

4-5 oz. Chocolate graham cracker crumbs (I used one packet out of the box)

3 tbsp melted butter

2 tbsp sugar

Filling:

4 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

4 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, at room temperature

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla

4 eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

Topping:

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 cup chocolate chips

10-15 mini Reese's Cups, quartered

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Coat the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan with cooking spray. Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar until combined and press into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes and let cool completely. 

Melt the finely chopped chocolate over a double broiler until smooth and allow to cool. Beat the cream cheese until fluffy (about 3 minutes) and then add the sugar in a slow, steady stream until combined. Add salt and vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until just combined after each addition. Divide the cream cheese mixture in half. Add the peanut butter to one half and the melted chocolate to the other. Spoon about 1/4 of the peanut butter mixture onto the crust, followed by 1/4 of the chocolate mixture. Repeat this process until all of both mixtures are used up. Bake until the cake is set but still slightly wobbly in the center - about 1 hour. Let cool completely. Run a knife along the edge of the pan and remove the sides. 

Put the chocolate chips in a small bowl. Heat the cream either on the stove or in a microwave safe bowl until just boiling. Pour the cream over the chocolate chips and let stand for about 1 minute before mixing. Mix until smooth and creamy and pour over the top of the cheesecake. It's okay if it runs down the sides, it just adds to the look. Top with quartered Reese's Cups. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. 

Source: adapted and combined recipes from The Girl Who Ate Everything and Martha Stewart