MOCHA PEANUT BUTTER CHEESECAKE

I developed this recipe for Beterrecipes.com's Best Cheesecake contest. It didn't win but was ranked as a 5-star dessert. I didn't take a photo, sorry. We had a July 4th party, and I served this as one of the desserts. There wasn't a crumb left and everyone raved over it. It's really very good. It uses chocolate peanut butter which for East Coasters like me, is a fairly new product. I think the West Coasters have had peanut butter concoctions for a while, thanks to PB Loco. When you combine cheesecake, chocolate and peanut butter, it's pretty easy to please just about everyone.

Mocha Peanut Butter Cheesecake

INGREDIENTS:
CRUST: 9-10 graham crackers (1 package from a box)
¼ cup sugar
½ stick butter or butter substitute

FIRST LAYER: 1 cup chocolate-covered peanuts
1 Tbsp. milk
2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. sugar
½ cup commercial or homemade chocolate peanut butter, at room temperature

CHEESE FILLING: 2 Tbsp. coffee liqueur
1 tsp. vanilla
Dash of salt
1 tsp. instant coffee granules
16 oz. Neufchatel or regular cream cheese at room temperature
2 large eggs at room temperature
½ cup sugar

TOPPING: 1 Tbsp. butter
1-1/2 tsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. commercial or homemade chocolate peanut butter at room temperature
½ cup chocolate-covered peanuts

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Fill a 9x12 pan ½ full with hot water and place on bottom rack of oven. Break crackers into 7-cup workbowl of food processor. Pulse several times to make crumbs. Add sugar and butter and pulse till butter disappears. Spread mixture on bottom of 8” springform pan. Coarsely chop 1-1/2 cups chocolate-covered peanuts in food processor. In small glass bowl, microwave 1 Tbsp. milk and 2 Tbsp. butter until butter is melted. Add 1 Tbsp. sugar and ½ cup chocolate peanut butter. Stir with spoon or spatula till combined. Spread over cracker crust. Sprinkle with 1 cup of chopped peanuts. Set remainder of peanuts aside in small dish or bowl. Wipe workbowl and blades with paper towel.

In small cup, mix coffee liqueur, vanilla, salt and coffee powder. Set aside. Blend 8 oz. cheese and 1 egg in workbowl till creamy. Add remaining 8 oz. cheese and 2nd egg and blend till creamy. Stir bottom and sides with spatula. Add sugar and liqueur mixture and blend till creamy and well combined. Pour over peanut butter mixture in pan. Bake for approximately 40-55 minutes, or till center is almost set. Open oven door all the way and leave cheesecake in oven for 1/2 hour. Continue cooling on wire rack for 1 hour, then place pan in refrigerator uncovered for 1 hour, or till completely cooled.

Prepare topping: In small glass bowl, microwave 1 Tbsp. butter till melted. Add the sugar and the chocolate peanut butter. Stir till combined. Microwave again just till slightly syrupy, then immediately Drizzle over top of cooled cheesecake in a crisscross pattern. Sprinkle with the reserved chopped nuts. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Yield: 10 servings. Start to finish time: 3-1/2 hours. Prep time: 45 minutes

COOK’S NOTES: For test purposes, Chocolate Dreams (manufactured by Peanut Butter & Co., http://www.ilovepeanutbutter.com/ available in Wal-Mart stores for about $3.34, and other food stores nationwide and in Canada; also available online) was used for the cocoa-peanut butter blend. (Homemade chocolate peanut butter: 1-1/2 cups creamy peanut butter; ¼ cup butter; ¼ cup 10X sugar; ¼ cup cocoa powder; 1 tsp. vanilla.. Mix all ingredients till well blended.)