Rich and decadent, this Reese’s Peanut Butter Cheesecake Recipe starts with a cookie crust, is filled with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, then topped with a chocolate ganache and even more peanut butter cups.
Sometimes, I just can’t get cheesecake off the brain. I adore cheesecake, but I don’t often have an excuse to make a whole cheesecake. But sometimes you just have to make an excuse, right?? Well, when I decided to make a peanut butter cheesecake, I knew I wanted to go all out. I didn’t want a 1-inch cheesecake. I wanted this baby tall and rich and creamy and packed with so much peanut butter and chocolate that it would cure any peanut butter craving. And that is exactly what I ended up with! This peanut butter cheesecake is rich and decadent and totally celebration worthy. It really might be my favorite cheesecake!
A few hints – make sure you wrap the springform pan tightly with foil so that the water doesn’t leak in. (More on this below!) I used to never have problems with water leaking, but I’ve ruined a couple cheesecakes lately because of leaks. And believe me – this is one cheesecake you don’t want to ruin!!
Leaving the cheesecake in the oven to gradually cool it down helps to reduce the risk of the cheesecake cracking. But since this cheesecake is covered with a ganache, if your cheesecake does crack, it’s no big deal. You’ll be the only one that will know!!
And because this is such a tall cheesecake, it does take some time to bake through. I always worry about overbaking, but could have left mine in a few minutes longer. But I do love how creamy it turned out!!
This will be the perfect dessert to take to your next holiday get together!!
Tips for making this Reese’s Peanut Butter Cheesecake Recipe
Here are a few tips to ensure that your cheesecake comes out perfectly:
- Make sure all of your ingredients are room temperature – not just the cream cheese. Set them all out about 30 minutes before you are going to start the recipe.
- Don’t overmix. Overmixing will add too much air to the batter, which means your cheesecake will fall and you’ll be left with a big crack in the top of your cheesecake.
- A water bath makes a big difference! Read more about this below.
- Make sure to chill the cheesecake thoroughly.
How to Bake a Cheesecake in a Water Bath
A water bath can be a little controversial. Many cheesecakes have been ruined by leaking pans. So here are a few tips to make sure that pan is wrapped well so that you won’t end up with leaks.
- Wrap the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil. Make sure to go high up enough on the sides so that the water can’t sneak in through the top.
- Make sure the foil is wrapped tightly to the pan on the bottom.
- I like to place the filled springform pan into the larger pan, and then place those in the oven before adding the hot water. That way water won’t splash up while you are transferring the pan to the oven.
- If water leaking into your pan is a common occurrence, it may be your springform pan. Make sure it is tight fitting, and if all else fails, buy a new pan.
- I have heard of many people having luck skipping the water bath and just adding a pan of water to the rack in the oven below the cheesecake. I have tried this, and while it does help some, I don’t think it has quite the same effect that the actual water bath does. Besides preventing cracks, the water bath also helps the cheesecake to cook more even, and I think that the pan below doesn’t really help with this. But if not worrying about the water leaking is your biggest concern, this is definitely an option!
More Cheesecake Recipes
Lemon Cheesecake
Mini Cheesecakes
Dulce de Leche cheesecake
Sour Cream Cheesecake
No-Bake Nutella Cheesecake
Snickers Cheesecake
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Reese’s Peanut Butter Cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust:
- 30 chocolate sandwich cookies
- 6 tablespoons butter melted
- Dash of salt
Cheesecake:
- 32 oz cream cheese softened
- 5 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 1 cup smooth peanut butter
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 12 oz Reese’s Peanut Butter miniature cups unwrapped and roughly chopped
Topping:
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 8 oz package Reese’s Minis
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Put the chocolate sandwich cookies in a food processor and process until they form fine crumbs. Add in the butter and salt and process to combine. Press the mixture into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes, then set aside to cool. Wrap aluminum foil around the sides and the bottom of the springform pan.
- Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl in between each addition. Add in the brown sugar, peanut butter, cream and vanilla; beat until combined. Gently fold in the chopped up Reese’s Miniatures. Pour the mixture into the cooled crust.
- Place the pan inside a larger pan and carefully add about 1 inch of hot water in the larger pan. Bake the cheesecake until it is just set, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Turn off the oven and allow the temperature to come down gently for about an hour. Remove from the oven, cool completely, then refrigerate until completely cool.
- To make the chocolate topping, heat the cream until simmering, just before boiling. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate chips. Allow the mixture to sit for a couple minutes, then stir until smooth. Pour over the top of the cheesecake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Sprinkle the Reese’s minis over the top of the cheesecake.
Lori says
I sure hope this works! LOL!! I have it in the oven but the only pan I could find my springform pan does not fit all the way down in the only pan I could find that was even close to big enough!!! I have it wedge in a corner! Hopefully it wont move and spill! Ha! My only other option was a dutch oven style pot that the springform pan fit pretty snug and I would not be able to kit much water around it. Wish me luck!!
Deborah says
I hope it worked out for you!!
Lisa Sipe says
Epic fail. Did not set up at all. Very expensive mistake for me and I followed your directions explicitly. So sad. It looked completely set in middle and started lightly browning.
Hummingbird says
Sorry if this is a silly question but, I have never made a cheesecake before! This will be my first try!!!!!!
I am wondering what is the purpose of wrapping with aluminum foil?
Thank you
Deborah says
Unless you know for sure that your springform pan won’t leak, I would wrap it in foil. It’s just so that the water from the water bath won’t leak in and ruin your cheesecake. I always wrap mine just to be safe!
Dori says
I made this for my husband for Valentine’s day and it is phenomenal! Honestly the best cheesecake I’ve ever made and very easy to do. He loves peanut butter cups but isn’t a huge chocolate fan (weirdo! ha!) so this was a little over the top for him. When I make it again I’ll probably just drizzle chocolate on top (though I thought it was great!) and he requested a graham cracker crust. I’m not sure how that will be but I’d recommend going with plain chocolate wafers (or take the middle out of the oreo) because the crust is super sweet. So great!
Deborah says
I’m so glad you loved it! It is quite sweet, so a small slice goes a long way. And I’m guessing a graham cracker crust would pair great with it!
Natalia says
Epic fail
Deborah says
So sorry it didn’t work out for you! I’ve had quite a few people make this successfully – could you let me know what went wrong so I can try to pinpoint the problem?
Michael says
I made this cheesecake for my wife. She loved it. It came out perfect! Thank you for the recipe. Can we freeze the leftovers? It’s far too large for just 2 people to finish, and way too good to go to waste!
Deborah says
I’m so glad it was a hit! I haven’t tried freezing it, but cheesecakes usually freeze pretty well, so I would give it a go!
Chanda says
I am a bit disappointed on how this turned out. Followed recipe to a T, looked forward to it tonight after chilling overnight and center is way too soft. I’d maybe recommend baking a good 10-20mins longer. So hard to tell when to take out. Was lightly brown on top. Cooled an hour in oven. Any advise?
Thanks!
Deborah says
I would recommend baking it a bit longer. Ovens are all so different, and I’m guessing a little time in the oven would have firmed it up a bit. It should look set in the center when it is done.
Robin says
What kind of larger pan do you use to put this one in? I am having a hard time finding one large enough. Do you use a round one or long one and does it matter? Thanks.
Deborah says
Robin, I usually use the broiler pan that came with my oven. The shape doesn’t matter, as long as the pan fits inside.
RA26 says
I find it coincidental that your PB cheesecake filling is identical to Ruggle’s yet the latter was posted in 2005 and yours 8 years later. Why do you not source? It’s pretty dishonest blogging.
Deborah says
This is actually a very basic cheesecake recipe that is probably hundreds of places on the web. I have honestly never even heard of Ruggles before your comment. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you will know that I always source when I use or adapt another recipe.
Leah says
I am making this now but cannot accommodate a water bath….how long should I bake for….about 1:15 still?
Thank you!
Deborah says
Hi Leah – just got your comment, so I’m hoping the cheesecake came out great! I haven’t tried baking without the water bath, but I’m guessing the time would remain about the same.
Pam says
Try this recipe, easier and I bet just as good.
PEANUT BUTTER SILK PIE
8 OZ. CREAM CHEESE
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 TBL melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream, beaten until stiff
9 inch chocolate cookie crust
TOPPING
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3 TBLs. Strong coffee
1. FILLING: Beat cream chese, sugar, peanut butter, butter and vanilla in large mixer bowl until creamy. Gently fold in beaten cream. Spread in crust
2. TOPPING: combine chocolate chips and coffe in bowl, microwave on high 1-2 1/2 minutes, stir until smooth, cool slightly then pour on top of pie. Freeze.
Mia says
I’ve been dying to try this recipe, but I do have one problem: I can’t find heavy cream anywhere in Toronto! Google’s been giving me various options for substitutes, but I was wondering if you (or anyone else) knew what might work best in this case.
Deborah says
Hi Mia,
I haven’t tried anything besides cream, but I think milk would probably work. I had a blogger tell me also that she uses almond milk or canned coconut milk successfully, too. Good luck!
Bonnie says
I made this for my son’s 16th birthday (12/26), he loved it! Correction, we all loved it!
Deborah says
So happy to hear! And happy belated 16th to your son!!
Mona says
hi from Saudi Arabia .. what a great recipe … i’m dying for making this right now … but i have one question … can you tell me how many cups of cookies i should use because some cookies brands vary in sizes … thanx a lot 🙂
Deborah says
I just used the typical Oreo cookies. I think you would probably need about 2 1/2 cups of crumbs.
Erin says
Best PB Cheesecake I’ve had! Everyone at the Christmas Party loved it. I’ll definitely be making this over and over again 🙂
Dini says
Hi! This looks absolutely amazing and I am making it for Christmas! Just one question – did you use light brown sugar or dark brown? Thanks for posting!!
Deborah says
Sorry I didn’t get this before Christmas!! I used light brown sugar – I hope you loved it!