Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Hey All! I'm back from a long and relaxing vacation! We went to Florida and soaked up every bit of sunshine and enjoyed every wave of ocean we could. We were there for a week, but it was too short. I could've sat and listened to the ocean forever. It's just such a tranquil sound I can't get enough of. 

But like all great things, the trip had to come to an end. So we headed back home and spent some time with family. My Grandpa-in-law turned 89 yesterday and we all got together to celebrate. My baby sister graduated from high school (wipes away tears) and we enjoyed congratulating her at her graduation party. And we got to visit some good friends, and I got to go to our local water park. All in all it was a great two weeks!

One of the friends we spent time with was my best friend (or bestie as we call each other) Kyra! She is an awesome woman who I am so lucky to have in my life. She's just one of those friends who gets my weird, dry, goofy, off-the-wall humor and I love her so much for it. Our list of inside jokes is dangerously long :) 

For my recent birthday she bought me a Springform cheesecake pan because A) she knows how much I love to bake and B) she loves cheesecake and secretly hoped I would make her one. Well wish granted! Since I love her so much I decided to make her a scrumptious Peanut Butter Cheesecake!

First I baked a homemade crust made out of vanilla wafers. I had used them in a recipe a while back and wanted to use them up before they got stale. The vanilla mixed with the cinnamon and the butter made the cheesecake have an amazing sweet crunch! I definitely recommend using vanilla wafers at least once in your life for your cheesecake. You won't regret it!

Then I added my cream cheese/peanut butter filling and topped it with pieces of my peanut butter concoction I used in these brownies. It was the perfect addition to my cake!

And of course I had to add some chocolate...because what goes better with peanut butter than chocolate?!

Ingredients:
CRUST:
1 1/2 Cups crushed vanilla wafers
6 Tbsp melted butter
1/3 Cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

CHEESECAKE:
2 8oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 Cup peanut butter (if you aren't a huge PB fan, use 1/2 cup)
3/4 Cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 Cup flour
2 Tbsp vanilla
1/2 Cup heavy cream

PEANUT BUTTER TOPPING:
1/4 Cup peanut butter
1 tsp butter, softened
2 1/2 Tbsp powdered sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp light brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:
CRUST:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine all crust ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir until everything is combined. Press into a Springform pan or pie pan with your fingers or using the back of a spoon.

Bake for 7 minutes. Remove and allow to cool while you make the cake part. Reduce oven temp to 350 degrees, also.

CHEESECAKE:
Combine the cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar and eggs by hand in a large bowl. 

Add in the flour and stir until combined. Then stir in the vanilla. 

Add the heavy cream and whip for about a minute, or until there are no more clumps and the batter is smooth. Pour over the crust.

PEANUT BUTTER:
Combine all the ingredients together. Cut into small pieces and place them on top of the cream cheese batter. 

Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. Remove and allow the pan to cool before placing it in the fridge. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 hours.

Remove the cake and run a knife along the edge, release the Springform pan and VOILA! Awesome cheesecake!

I want to say thank you to my bestie Kyra for the amazing gift and I hope you all enjoy this cake as much as we did! Here's a link to a Springform pan if you need one!


Nordic Ware Leak Proof 9 inch Springform Pan

So got any fun summer plans? Going on any great trips? Love to hear about them! Here's a picture of me and the Hub getting dragged through the ocean while parasailing! I was terrified! #firsttimer!

Thanks for stopping by!

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