peanut butter cheesecake with chocolate chip cookie crust

Have you heard of my obsession with cheesecakes?
I should re-phrase that: my obsession with kicked up cheesecakes.
Cheesecake is my comfort food.
Why do I create so many cheesecakes?
It stems from having one really bad cheesecake.
Baby Watson Cheesecakes.
Remember those?
I hated that cheesecake.  I was like "where's the crust?"
That was all cake, no crust, no add in's, nada.
Like, what's the point of having all those calories?
If I'm going to ingest all that fat, calories, and flavor there should be crust, a little bit of texture, maybe some fruit, or other add in.
It's like my argument on soft serve ice cream: too plain, too boring for me; I need something with all that plainness to jazz it up, unless I have the flu or stomach bug and have to eat soft foods.  LOL.
Get to the cheesecake already!
OK, so the latest cheesecake invention involves peanut butter, but I didn't just want another graham or chocolate crust, I wanted to see if crushed chocolate chip cookies would "crust".
And they did.  Perfectly actually.
You must give this crust a go.



The perfect bite: cheesecake, peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies.



Do you like crust on your cheesecake?
Thick or thin crust?

peanut butter swirl cheesecake with chocolate chip cookie crust

print recipe

crust:

2 cups of crushed (fine) chocolate chip cookies (choose a hard/crisp cookie—I used Trader Joe’s mini crispy chocolate chip cookies)

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Generous pinch of sea salt

cheesecake filling:

4 - 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, room temp

½ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup heavy cream

3 large eggs AND 2 large egg yolks

peanut butter swirl:

½ - ¾ cup peanut butter (creamy or chunky)

cook notes: This makes a nice thick crust.  If you don’t like a thick crust then use less. To make peanut butter swirl easily, just warm it up in the microwave a bit.

It really helps to have a chopstick or other narrow stick to make the peanut butter swirls in the cheesecake.

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

In a measuring cup, crack open the eggs and egg yolks, set aside until ready to use.

Spray a 9 or 10-inch springform pan with non stick spray.

In a food processor grind up the cookies into a fine crumb. In a bowl, combine the cookies, a pinch of salt, and the melted butter. Mix, then press into the bottom and partially up the sides of the springform pan. (I use a flat bottomed glass to press it in evenly). Recipe by vanillasugarblog.com

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until crust is just lightly brown around the edges, set aside and let cool. Reduce the oven heat to 300°F.

In a food processor or mixer, mix the cream cheese, with the eggs, eggs yolks, sugar and heavy cream.  Mix until you have a nice custard-like consistency and no lumps are visible.

Pour cheesecake batter into cooled crust pan.  Take your peanut butter, and GENTLY place down three or four glops/piles, spaced evenly, around the batter. 

Using a chopstick (or other small, pointed stick) gently swirl the cookie butter around until you have a nice array of swirls.

baking:

Most people like to do a water bath for their cheesecake. I never do, I find all too annoying. But if you want to do this feel free; it’s best to bake your cheesecake how ever you feel most comfortable.

I baked this cheesecake at 300°F for 50-55 minutes; turned off oven and left it alone for a couple hours.  You know the cheesecake is done when there is no jiggle in the middle and the middle batter has set up.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely, and then you need to cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.

When ready to serve, slice with a wet knife and serve with fresh whipped cream.