Peanut Butter & Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

My favorite candy, hands down, is Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. When I was little, if I was really good (which wasn’t often), my mother would let me get a package of them. I would slowly savor each bit of the cups…mostly because I knew it would be a while before I was well behaved enough to get another. For a time, I even took to hoarding them under my bed…until the trail of ants pointed my mother straight to my hidden stash. So when I saw that the Cookthink: Root Source Challenge ingredient was peanut butter, my thoughts immediately went to ways to recreate my beloved peanut butter cups. Since I’m an old hand at making cheesecakes, I decided to add that into the mix to come up with a Peanut Butter and Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake.

Crust Ingredients:

15-20 Keebler Peanut Butter Cup Cookies (enough to make 2 cups of crumbs)
4 Tablespoons Butter, melted

Cheesecake Ingredients:

4-8 Ounce Packages Cream Cheese, softened
1 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Cornstarch
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
2 Large Eggs
1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1/2 Cup Chocolate Ganache (recipe below)
3/4 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter

Chocolate Ganache Ingredients:

5 Ounces Bittersweet Chocolate
1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream

Topping Ingredients:

Remaining Chocolate Ganache
Mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

Preheat oven to 350

For the crust, pulverize the cookies in a food processor. Pour the cookie crumbs in a bowl and add the melted butter. Stir until all the crumbs are moistened. In a greased, 9 inch springform pan, press the crumb mixture into the bottom of the pan, covering it completely. Place the pan in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes. You want the crust to be a bit firm, however, watch the crust closely to ensure it doesn’t burn. Remove the crust from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Next, make the ganache. Place the heavy cream and chocolate into a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and set aside.

For the filling, place the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream until well blended and then slowly add the corn starch and vanilla. Continue beating, adding one egg at a time. Add the heavy whipping cream and peanut butter, mixing until the peanut butter is evenly incorporated.

Pour half the batter into the crust and then pour 1/4 of the ganache onto the top of the batter. With a butter knife, make chocolate swirl patterns in the cheesecake batter. Pour the remaining batter into the pan and then pour another 1/4 of the ganache onto the top of the batter, making swirl patterns again.

Place the pan in the oven, baking the cake for 70 to 75 minutes or until the center is firm. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature. Then refrigerate the cake for at least 4 hours.

Right before serving a slice, drizzle it with ganache and decorate with mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. From the first bite, I tasted my beloved Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups…and I didn’t have to be good to get it!

As a side note, the lawyer-like presence in my life suggested I credit photographs not taken by yours truly. So thanks must be given to my private photographer Food Guy for capturing my beloved stand mixer in action!