Ultimate Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake with Oreo Crust

❤️Why you will love this recipe

• Easy to make, with simple ingredients.
• The combination of chocolate Oreo crust and creamy peanut nut butter filling in this baked cheesecake makes this a truly decadent dessert.
• The rich peanut butter flavor in this delicious cheesecake makes it a perfect dessert for a peanut butter lover.
• The cake is great to be enjoyed as a dessert after a hearty home cooked meal or as a cake for a special occasion.

Crust

• Oreo cookies (with filling) -these make the chocolate crust for the cheesecake.
• Butter (melted) - I use salted butter, but unsalted butter will also work fine.

Filling

• Cream cheese (at room temperature) - use full fat cream cheese for best results. Choose the block cheese and not the spreadable one.
• Granulated sugar (caster sugar) - fine sugar works best compared to coarse sugar is it dissolves better.
• All purpose flour - sift first to break any lumps.
• Eggs - use large eggs (large sized eggs).
• Whipping cream - cooking cream or heavy whipping cream
• Salt - enhances the taste of the filling.
• Peanut butter - can be the smooth peanut butter or crunchy peanut butter. Both will yield same results but the latter will have tiny chunks of peanuts in the filling.
• Vanilla extract - adds a lovely flavor and aroma to the cake.
• Chocolate chips - these are optional. You can choose to omit them completely or even change the quantity. Reduce them if you want lesser chips in your cheesecake, or add more if you want more in your cheesecake.

Garnish

• Chopped toasted peanuts - to toast the peanuts, place them in a large roasting pan (without any oil) and stir constantly with a spatula. Use low heat and roast until they start to brown lightly and aromatic. The peanuts may not be crunchy while hot, but should be crunchy to eat after they have cooled down.
• Chocolate ganache - to drizzle on the cake.
• Caramel sauce - to drizzle on the cake.

🧾Substitution and variations

• Oreo cookies can be replaced with chocolate wafers crust or other chocolate cookie crust. And if you prefer non-chocolate bases, you can use graham cracker crust. If using plain cookies or crackers, add 15g of granulated sugar on the finely crushed crumbs before adding the melted butter.
• I used dairy whipping cream in this chocolate peanut butter cheesecake batter. This can be substituted with sour cream.
• To make a larger cake, double the recipe and baked into a 9 inches round springform tin.

Making the cheesecake crust

1. Crush Oreo cookies (along with the filling ) into fine crumbs. You can do it in a food processor or fill the cookies in a ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin.
2. Transfer the crumbs into a small bowl. Add the melted butter.
3. Mix until the crumbs are all well moistened.
4. Press the crumbs firmly into an even layer into a 7 inches round springform pan (line bottom of pan with parchment paper first). You can do this with the back of a spoon or the back of a flat measuring cup or drinking glass. Once the crust is all level and firm, leave it aside while you prepare the cheesecake filling.

Making the cheesecake filling

1. Place softened cream cheese into a large bowl. Beat on high speed for about 30 seconds with an electric mixer (hand mixer or stand mixer). Use paddle attachment. 
2. Scrape the sides of the bowl, add the flour, sugar, and salt, and beat again for another 20 seconds.  
3. Next, add the eggs and vanilla extract into the cream cheese mixture. Add both the eggs at once. Beat for about 10 seconds, scrape the sides of the bowl, and beat again for another 10 seconds. If the batter appears lumpy, beat it a little longer but take note to not overbeat as overbeating at this stage will incorporate too much air into the batter, causing your cheesecake to have a bubbly surface after baking.
4. Scrape the bowl again and beat in the peanut butter until it is all well combined.
5. Next, fold in the heavy cream.
6. Finally, add the chocolate chips and mix well.

Baking the cheesecake

• Pour the creamy peanut butter cheesecake filling (batter) into the prepared chocolate cookie crust and level the surface. Bake cheesecake in a water bath at 160 degrees Celsius for 55 to 60 minutes. 
• For the water bath, you can either wrap the bottom of your tin in foil and place it in a dish filled with water or place your tin in a slightly larger tin and put both in a water-filled dish in the oven. Both ways will prevent water from seeping into your springform cake tin.
• Check the chocolate peanut butter cheesecake at least 5 minutes before the baking time is up. Press the edges lightly with your finger. If it is firm to the touch, the cake is done. If not, continue baking a little longer. The ideal stage to turn off the oven is when the edges are firm but the center still wobbly.
• The chocolate peanut butter cheesecake will continue to bake as it cools down, so it is important that the oven heat is turned off at this point.
• Let the cheesecake rest in the oven for another 10 minutes after turning off the heat. Remove it from the oven and let it rest at room temperature on a wire rack for another 20 minutes. Run a jam knife around the sides of the pan before loosening and removing the tin. Leave the bottom of the tin with the cake on it. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Decorating the cheesecake

1. When ready to be decorated, run a jam knife underneath the parchment lining at the bottom to separate the chocolate peanut butter cheesecake from the tin bottom. Carefully slide it into a board or serving plate along with the parchment lining.
2. Fill chocolate ganache and caramel sauce into 2 separate piping bags. Cut a tiny hole at the tips. Chop peanuts and toast them (if not already toasted). You can also use store-bought salted peanuts, they will be equally yummy too.
3. Place a round container lid in the center of your cheesecake top. This lid is a guide to make sure you get a perfect circle of chopped peanuts in the center of the cheesecake top. With the lid on top, pipe drizzles of ganache, and caramel sauce generously all around the cheesecake, let it drip to the sides. Remove the lid.
4. Pipe some additional caramel sauce in the center.
5. Add the chopped, toasted peanuts in the center to complete the chocolate peanut butter cheesecake.
6. Keep the cheesecake chilled. Leftovers should also be kept chilled.

🍽️Serving & storage

• This chocolate peanut butter cheesecake should be kept chilled all the time. It can last in the fridge for a good one week. Keep it in a closed and airtight container to avoid it from drying out in the fridge.

Line your tin with parchment paper

• I prefer to line the bottom of my tins with parchment paper. The parchment paper makes it so much easier to transfer the chocolate peanut butter cheesecake onto a plate without risking the crust breaking.
• All you need to do is run a jam knife between the paper and the bottom of the tin to loosen them and slide the cake (along with the parchment paper) onto a plate.

Use the lowest rack in your oven

• Cheesecakes are best baked in the lowest rack in your oven. That way, they are placed further away from heat which can help avoid them from cracking due to high heat. This also helps the cheesecake tops from over-browning.

Disable the 'fan' function in your oven

• If your oven comes with a fan function, disabling it can help avoid cracks in your cheesecake too.

Use a reduced oven temperature

• I often bake my cheesecakes at reduced temperature as compared to the temperature I use for regular cakes. A reduction of 10 degrees Celsius would be sufficient. This also helps in avoiding cracks in cheesecakes.

💭FAQs