Thick, creamy and chewy, glazed with salted caramel sauce, these cool peanut butter cheesecake bars will be your favorite treat while the summer is still on!
Did I tell you that I am a cheesecake lover? Anyone else? A couple weeks ago I just posted a recipe for No bake Cheesecake which I’m sure it tastes amazing. But that’s not enough. Today I found a good combination which has a full flavor of peanut butter and richness of cream cheese, and more importantly: it’s so easy and quick to make these delicious bars! I love the taste and texture that peanut butter adds to this cake!
CRUSTS SUBSTITUTE
Definitely I am on the side with Oreo cookies crust as I love them so much and I have to say, Oreo cookies could become a perfect match for any cake that requires crusts at the bottom! However, graham crackers are commonly used ingredients in baking (I’m not sure to be honest, I’ve just seen so many recipes using graham crackers and they turned out really good though) and if you don’t have Oreo cookies on hand, there are good options over there that work well too: Vanilla Wafer Cookies, Crackers, Biscuits.
GLAZE YOUR CHEESECAKE BARS
You can add any kind of sauce as your choice of flavor but I would say that chocolate ganache or salted caramel sauce would be going very well with the taste of peanut butter. To see how to make the caramel sauce, I already posted my favorite fail proof recipe here.
PRO TIPS FOR PERFECT PEANUT BUTTER CHEESECAKE BARS
- You should start off with cream cheese at room temperature. If the cream cheese is too firm the batter will not be smooth or if the cream cheese is too soft the finished product will not give a good consistency as expected
- Beat the cream cheese and sugars until completely smooth
- Press the crust tightly then you can get the nice shape after cutting.
- This cheesecake recipe includes eggs so it is calling for the baking process. A good rule for all cheesecake baking: add the eggs last. As soon as you add the eggs, make sure to mix until they are combined or the cheesecake will be overly dense.
- Regardless of flavor, cheesecake is best after chilling at least for a few hours before serving so be patient.
More Cheesecake Recipes:
Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
For Crust
- 10 Oreo cookies
- 4 tablespoons (60g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
For Filling
- 16 ounce (450g) cream cheese (2 blocks), room temperature
- 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream, cold
- 1/2 cup (120g) peanut butter, creamy
- 2/3 (150g) cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
For Caramel Sauce
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon (13g) unsalted butter
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 330°F/165°C. Line an 8-inch baking dish with parchment paper or you can spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
- Place all Oreo cookies into a food processor and blend until ground. Transfer the crumbs to another bowl. Combine the crumbs, melted butter, salt and stir until well combined. Using your finger to gently press the crust into the bottom of the baking pan. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then remove the crust from the oven. Allow it to cool.
- In a large bowl, using an electric mixer fitted with beaters to beat the cream cheese, granulated sugar together on low medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time until fully combined. Add peanut butter and beat on low speed until incorporated.
- In another bowl, beat heavy cream and vanilla extract until soft peak. Fold in with the cream cheese mixture until well combined.
- Pour the batter into the cooled Oreo crust, using a rubber spatula to spread out evenly. Bake for 30-40 minutes. The filling should be a little jiggly in the center. Remove the cake from the oven and let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes to an hour or until it is cool. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- Make Caramel Sauce: Cook sugar over the medium high heat until it’s melted and amber color, then add in butter and whisk constantly. Add in heavy cream and salt and stir until the sauce smooths out.
- Once it’s completely set, lift the cheesecake out of the pan and place onto a cutting board. Cut into squares/bars. Glaze 2 spoons of salted caramel sauce on top of those squares and they are ready to serve.
- These peanut cheesecake bars can be stored in the fridge up to 7 days.
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