three weeks to goThis Reese’s Peanut Butter Cheesecake with Oreo crust is one of my favorite most epic cheesecake recipes of all time. It’s a huge crowd pleaser and just perfect for any celebratory occasion! So good and worth every calorie.
Since it’s my birthday today (tear tear, my youth is slipping away) it’s only appropriate that I share one of my favourite, decadent, unique cheesecake recipes and finally reveal my travel plans. If you’ve checked out my about me page or the travel tab in the top menu you already know what I’ve got planned for the future. For those of you who haven’t, here goes; on September 15th D and I fly to Osaka, Japan on a way way ticket to embark on a 2 year backpacking trip through Asia and Europe. Woah right?
Yep I’m leaving the exciting and scintillating world of accounting behind and trading my briefcase for a backpack, heels for sandals and bed for a sleeping bag. With 2 years of work experience post college it’s time for a change – a big one. Time to take control of our lives and do what we want to do because let’s face it life is short, flies by and in the end you most likely regret the things you didn’t do than those you did. With no serious responsibilities (mortgage, kids, secure jobs) now is the time to be reckless and selfish.
Are we afraid? You bet. But for the first time in years it’s exciting to be in control, to venture into the unknown and to be in charge of every day, every moment. At the end of the day this isn’t just a two year hiatus from the 9-5 office world; we are trying to restructure our lives and change our paths forever.
Being the business minded people that we are – we have a plan. We have started a travel blog where we will share our travel reflections, restaurant reviews and blogging resources. The travel blog and this food blog we will treat as our small business ventures and try to run them as such. In today’s world there is money to be made outside of the regular 9-5 office jobs and we’re going to try to see if we can make this work for us. Whether we advertise on our blogs or release ebooks, offer consulting courses, who knows, we are going to try to make this work. The worst case scenario? We go on a 2 year trip, spend all of our $50,ooo in savings and come back to the US, hopefully older, wiser and with more wordly experience to apply to our everyday lives.
With only three weeks to go before our trip my emotions are starting to go through a rollercoaster – all at once I am excited, nervous, overwhelmed, stressed out, anxious, you name it but for the first time since college I am looking forward to the future and all that it may bring.
If you are interested in following along you can find us twitter, facebook, pinterest, stumble upon, youtube and of course the travel blog itself. Interested in pursuing a similar trip? We are more than happy to answer any questions you may have and have posted various articles on planning, budgeting, and even our own monthly savings.
Now on to one of my favourite unique cheesecake recipes – this reese’s peanut butter cheesecake. I made this for D’s birthday in 2010 for the first time and he absolutely loved it. It’s rich, creamy, dreamy, decadent, it’s almost too much deliciousness to process at once.
Somewhat time consuming to make, this Reese’s peanut butter cheesecake recipe is worth every minute and every calorie. Not the dessert to indulge in everyday, but on special occasions reserve a spot for this cheesecake recipe.
Quite simply this is one of the most epic and unique cheesecake recipes I’ve ever taken on.
What’s your favorite dessert? Any other unique cheesecake recipes to share? Let me know what you think of this Reese’s peanut butter cheesecake in the comments below.
Helpful kitchen tools for this recipe:
• KitchenAid KFP7I5 7-Cup Food Processor, White – really a must for making this Reese’s peanut butter cheesecake crust – I can’t imagine having to crush the graham crackers by hand!
• Nordic Ware Leakproof Springform Pan, 10 Cup, 9 Inch – when I first started making cheesecake years ago, I used a pie pan because that’s all I had, the result wasn’t quite the same. A good leakproof pan is required.
• Proctor Silex 62509R 5-Speed Hand Mixer, White – this hand mixer is more old school and pretty weak in power compared to some of the newer models but it is actually perfect for making cheesecakes where it is crucial not to overbeat the batter otherwise the texture will be grainy/gritty.
This post contains affiliate links from which I would earn a small percentage from your purchase
A rich, decadent, dreamy cheesecake perfect for a celebratory occasion - this Reese's Peanut Butter Cheesecake is the most epic cheesecake of all time
- 18 oz Oreo cookies 1 package
- 1 cup chopped roasted peanuts
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 32 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 5 eggs room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 cup peanut butter I used smooth
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 9 oz reese’s mini peanut butter cups cut up into small pieces
- 5 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 mini heath bar grated
- heavy duty aluminum foil
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Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Process oreos and peanuts in food processor until mixture resembles crumbs and combine with melted butter
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Tear off several pieces of heavy duty aluminum foil and wrap tightly around and up the sides of the spring-form pan. Pat the crust mixture in bottom and half way up the sides of 10 inch spring-form pan. Refrigerate crust while you are making the batter.
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In separate bowl beat the cream cheese until smooth (do not over beat)
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Add eggs one at a time, beating just until combined
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Add cream, peanut butter, and sugar, beat until just combined
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Add vanilla and fold in peanut butter cups (reserving a few to sprinkle on top of the cake when baked) with a spoon or spatula
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Pour batter into spring-form pan
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Put spring-form pan into roasting pan and pour hot water into roasting pan 1/2-1 inch up the sides
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Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes then decrease temperature to 200 degrees F and bake for 2 hours. Turn oven off. Remove cheesecake from oven and run a thin knife around the sides to loosen it from the pan. Put cheesecake back in the oven for another 2 hours. (It is important for the cheesecake to bake slowly at different temperatures and cool down gradually so that it does not crack in the middle).
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To make chocolate topping melt semi-sweet chocolate chips with sour cream over low heat and spread over cheesecake.
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Refrigerate overnight.
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Decorate cheesecake with heath bar shavings and a few cut up mini peanut butter cups.
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Recipe adapted from Bake or Break
If you’re looking for a different cheesecake recipe be sure to check out my vegan strawberry cheesecake, classic New York cheesecake with strawberry and nutella, strawberry ricotta cheesecake,
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
Happy Birthday!!!
Oh my word what an adventure you’re about to embark on! I hope it’s fun!
Also–I don’t like cheesecake…but if I did…it’d be this one. It looks so so soooo good!
Vicky says
Thanks! Yes it will certainly be an adventure! What is it about cheesecake you don’t like? Too rich and creamy? Cheesecake is actually one of the only cakes I do like!
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
I love rich, but I’m not a fan of cream cheese, in general, esp. in my desserts–I don’t like tart flavors at all. Idk, I’ve just never liked cheesecake *shrug*
Vicky says
Yea if you’re not a fan of cream cheese in general I could see why cheesecake wouldn’t be your thing. I’m not a huge fan of sweets and my sweet tolerance is incredible low so when you throw a savory food into a dessert that’s usually the winner for me!
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
Ahh—I have a HUGE sweet tooth lol!
Rachel says
Happy Birthday Vicky! Hope you have a fantastic day!
Vicky says
Thanks! My company closes at 1pm on Fridays in August so though I had to go to work on my birthday at least it was only a half day so that was great!
Caz Makepeace says
Happy Birthday! I didn’t realize you had a food blog as well! Love it. Thanks for writing such a great post for us. Enjoy your travels.
Vicky says
Thank Caz! Yep I actually started this food blog back in 2010 but am going to continue to run this blog along with the travel blog during our travels! Hoping to take tons of cooking classes and share some of the recipes on here! Thanks so much for featuring our post on your site!
ally says
so much to be excited about – your trip, this cheesecake – all so yummy & wonderful!
xo
http://allykayler.blogspot.ca/
Vicky says
Haha yes thanks! With the trip coming up in a little over two weeks there’s still so much to do and figure out!
Kari@Loaves and Dishes says
Happy Birthday!!! Good for you while doing this trip. I hope you have a great time and stay safe.
This cheese cake looks sooooo good. It looks really creamy and I love peanut butter and chocolate. Totally worth all that time it takes to make.
Vicky says
Thanks so much! Definitely a little worried about staying safe but hopefully everything will be okay!
Natalie @ Once Upon a Cutting Board says
This may be the best looking cheesecake I’ve ever seen! Happy belated birthday and I look forward to reading about all your future adventures!
Vicky says
Thank you for all the compliments! I made this cheesecake and posted in my blog back in 2010 and I can happily say the photo is looking significantly better this time around!
Heidi @ Food Doodles says
Wow, your trip sounds amazing! Can’t wait to read about it! And your cheesecake looks absolutely incredible! Happy birthday!
Vicky says
Thanks Heidi! With so little time left before we leave there’s so much to do and I’m trying to cook as much as possible since soon I’ll no longer have my fully stocked kitchen!
Anita at Hungry Couple says
Happy birthday! I celebrated mine a few weeks ago and cheesecake is my preferred b’day cake. I’ve never had a peanut butter version but considering how much I love pb, I’m sure I’d fall dangerously in love with it. Your plans sound amazing. Good for you for trying to carve your own path in life!
Vicky says
Thanks! Happy belated birthday to you too! I’m not a fan of floured cakes at all so if it’s going to be cake it’s got to be cheesecake! If you love pb you would love this. It’s definitely verry verry rich but a small sliver goes a long way! THe good thing about cheesecake is that you can freeze sections of it for months and then just defrost as you go! With only 10 days to go until our one flight to Osaka things are starting to get very hectic and stressful – eeeek!
Sarah says
What a fun trip! And happy birthday! AND THIS CAKE LOOKS DELICIOUS!
Vicky says
Thanks Sarah! Our one way flight to Osaka is in 12 hours and with all the excitement I definitely can’t get to sleep!
Lisa says
OMG!!! Words cannot describe how amazing this is! You are a genius! :-))
Lisa says
Forgot to rate it…
Vicky says
Thanks so much!!! Glad you enjoyed it. This is hands down Dave’s favorite cheesecake!
Cassandra Millender says
I love cheesecake and wanted to make this for the pastor of our church which happens to be my husband. I wanted this sent to my email acct but can’t figure out how to do it. I am on laptop and printer is not near. Is there anyway that you can email it to me. I bake all the time for the bakesale at our church to raise money for youth group and young boy at our church wanted me to make a Reeses Cup Cheesecake. I did not even know they existed, and could not figure out a recipe to make one. Please send this recipe to me. Casandra Millender at: maxmillender@yahoo.com
Vicky says
Hi Cassandra, I sent the recipe to your email – hope you got it. Let me know how the cheesecake turns out!
Janna says
Hey
Looks amazing! I only have a 9″ springform pan, Is there anything you would do differently?
Thanks! Can’t wait to try it.
Vicky says
I’ve only made this in a 10 inch pan but I imagine everything should be the same for a 9-inch. Just be careful when pouring the batter into the pan so that it doesn’t overflow or go up too close to the edge. With even a 10 inch pan the cheesecake is pretty high. Good luck! Let me know how it goes!
Cassandra Millender says
I am getting ready to make it. Do I take cream off of the cookies first? Please answere ASAP so I can get baking. Thanks Vicky.
Vicky says
No need to take the cream off the cookies — just throw them into the food processor! Hope this gets to you in time. It’s only 5:45 am here in China so I wasn’t able to respond sooner!
Danielle says
Help me out here. I’ve got the cheesecake in the oven and it’s 1 hour into the 2 hours after I’ve shut the oven off and still seems jiggly!!! Is it done? How do I make sure? I’m taking this to the family’s for Christmas tomorrow.
Vicky says
Hi Danielle, It really depends on how jiggly it is. If you hit the springform pan on the side with a knife the center should be a little bit jiggly but definitely not the whole cake. With cheesecake it’s always a little bit difficult to tell, since it really solidifies and holds its shape after being in the fridge overnight. So as long as it is only jiggly in the center it should be fine but since all ovens cook differently if you feel like it is still undercooked just turn on the oven to 200 degrees F for a little bit longer. I’m sorry this isn’t a perfect answer — it’s hard to say without looking at it myself! Enjoy your Christmas with the family and I hope the cheesecake comes out well!
Danielle says
Can I send you a video? Email me
Ines says
I’ve never made cheesecake so I have a few questions…when you turn the oven off and put the cheesecake back in, is it going back in the roasting Pam with water? Also, the last 2 hours in the oven is the oven off? If you could please email me so I see this sooner (I’m headed to work) I would really appreciate it! Thank you!
Ines says
Also, when you pour the water into the roasting pan, should the water be 1/2-1in up the side of the cheesecake pan or is the cheesecake above the water? Thanks again!!
Heidi says
Hello there, I do not understand if I bake the cheesecake for 4 hours and 15 minutes or 2 hours and 15 minutes… Please help!
Vicky says
Bake it at first at 350 F for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 200 F and bake for another 2 hours. Then turn the oven off, remove the cheesecake to run a thin knife around the edges to loosen it and place back into the turned off oven for another 2 hours. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Amy says
My family will love this!