Peanut Butter Cheesecake with mocha ganache – made with part greek yogurt and less sugar than traditional cheesecake. You can even use gluten-free chocolate sandwich cookies too! 

Doesn’t get much better than peanut butter cheesecake, amiright?

Cheesecake always reminds me of this time in high school, when my beloved baking Pal had made me cheesecake for my birthday. It was a traditional cheesecake recipe and quite delicious. I brought home a few pieces on a plate, covered it in plastic wrap, wrote “Ashley’s – DO NOT EAT” on said plastic wrap and stuck it in the fridge…

Living in a household with six other people and trying to hide your desserts is easier said than done. I thought putting my name on the plastic wrap was self-explanatory… DO NOT EAT.

But when your big brother comes home from college and finds a plate of cheesecake in the fridge… Well let’s just say I was left with a couple BITES of my birthday cheesecake and extremely furious coming home from dance to realize my cheesecake had been found.

Apparently “DO NOT EAT” is synonymous with “What’s yours is mine” in a full house.

Anyways… that’s my story and I forever will be scarred by my big brother stealing my cheesecake.

Peanut Butter Cheesecake with Mocha Ganache

So I made this peanut butter cheesecake over on Instagram late last year (with Chobani) and it was just toooo delicious not to have a home here on the blog.

I should also note that I am fairly certain this peanut butter cheesecake was my first full circle, regular sized cheesecake I had ever made. Crazy! I have a few mini cheesecakes but no regular, full-sized cheesecakes.

Until now.

Cheesecake is just so delightful, isn’t it?

And really not all that difficult to make. A lot of time people worry about cheesecakes cracking (which supposedly can be solved by baking in a water bath) …

But when you cover your cheesecakes in a mocha ganache no one will ever know. HOLLA.

But if you like peanut butter and you like cheesecake… this dessert was made for you. And the mocha ganache can be just made into a regular chocolate ganache if you’re not a fan of coffee.

This recipe seems like a lot of steps but just read through the instructions first before starting so you have a better handle on things. I promise it isn’t hard!

Peanut Butter Cheesecake with Mocha Ganache

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• Author: Ashley
• Prep Time: 4 hours
• Cook Time: 50 minutes
• Total Time: 4 hours 50 minutes
• Yield: 12
• Category: dessert
• Cuisine: American

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Description

Peanut Butter Cheesecake with mocha ganache – made with part greek yogurt and less sugar than traditional cheesecake. You can even use gluten-free chocolate sandwich cookies too. This recipe is rich without being super heavy. 

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Ingredients

crust:

• 24 chocolate sandwich cookies, processed into crumbs
• 4 TBS butter, melted

cheesecake:

• 16oz cream cheese, softened (reduced fat or regular)
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (I’d use no-stir kind*)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar (dry sweetener of choice)
• 1 cup Greek yogurt, room temperature (2% recommended; plain, vanilla or coffee)
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla

mocha ganache:

• 1 cup quality dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk (or heavy cream)
• 1/2 TBS instant espresso or coffee powder

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325ºF. Line bottom of 9″ springform pan with parchment.
2. Make the crust: in bowl mix cookie crumbs with melted butter. Press evenly into bottom of springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool.
3. Make the filling: Meanwhile, in large bowl with electric mixer beat softened cream cheese and peanut butter until thick and fluffy – about 1 minute. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until smooth for another minute. Add yogurt and eggs one at a time, mix on low so you don’t over-mix eggs. Batter should be smooth, but it’s okay if some lumps are present.
4. Prepare the cheesecake: Pour filling into prepared, pre-baked crust. Bake for 45-50 minutes at 325ºF, or until the middle is just set. If it cracks it’s alright because we’re covering it with chocolate 😉 Turn oven off and allow cheesecake to cool in oven with door open for 20 minutes. Then chill in fridge for 4 hours.
5. Make the ganache: combine coconut milk (or cream) and chocolate chips in small saucepan over low heat. Stir continuously until smooth. Pour overtop of chilled cheesecake.
6. Garnish with peanuts if desired and re-chill until ready to serve. Enjoy!

Notes

*I’d use a creamy peanut butter like JIF for this recipe to make sure the oils aren’t separated when mixing together with cream cheese.

Room temperature ingredients are also helpful here to ensure even incorporating.

SOME OF THE PRODUCTS I USED IN TODAY’S RECIPE

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