Sweet Saturday: Mini Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecakes

Happy Saturday, my dear friends! :o)

Despite the recent shortage of new sweet treats, I've done a little baking this month! I'm ecstatic, as I adore the entire process of transforming simple ingredients into marvelous confections. Since the sporadic Sweet Saturdays due to busy weeks were bothering me, I opted to get a wee bit ahead before posting. No more unsweetened Saturdays in the near future! :o)

This week I'm sharing with you a dessert I made for Easter. :o) Shortly before the holiday I was blessed with a mini cheesecake pan, so I eagerly put it to good use for our celebration. I love the removable bottoms in each well! I had a plethora of recipes already bookmarked, but in the end I decided upon one that my mom and sweetheart would especially love.

Mini Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecakes! Aren't they cute?! :o)

For anyone who loves the classic chocolate-peanut butter combination, this is positively dreamy. An Oreo crust is topped with a creamy peanut butter cheesecake, which is scrumptious all on its own... but when there's an opportunity for a ganache topping, I always take it. ;) I used a french star tip to pipe it on all pretty. (I'm pretending I intentionally piped the front one off-center.)

The cheesecake portion is slightly dense and perfectly peanut buttery, which was enjoyed by my entire family. I love these as a mini dessert because it is the ideal portion for this indulgent treat. :o) I'm looking forward to using my pan for all sorts of cheesecake varieties! I suppose it's only natural for me that chocolate needed to be involved with my first use. ;) If you're a cheesecake or peanut butter lover, or know someone who is, I hope you'll make and enjoy these bites of joy!

Thank you for fluttering on by! I wish you a sweet and sunshiny weekend! :o)

Note: Based on comparisons with recipes that were written specifically for mini cheesecake pans, I only baked the crust for 5 minutes.

Mini Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecakes

Yield: 24 mini cheesecakes if using a muffin pan OR 12 mini cheesecakes if using a mini cheesecake pan

Ingredients:

For the crust:

1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs (I used Oreos)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon sugar

For the cheesecake:

12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

¼ cup sour cream

½ cup peanut butter

⅔ cup sugar

1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk

Dash of vanilla extract

Pinch of coarse salt

For the ganache:

4 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

½ cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Lightly spray a 24-well mini muffin pan (or 12-well mini cheesecake pan) with cooking spray. Set aside.

To make the crust, combine the chocolate cookie crumbs, melted butter, and sugar in a small bowl. Mix with a fork until evenly blended. Divide the crust mixture between the wells of the prepared pan, about 2-3 teaspoons each. Press the crumb mixture into a flat layer on the bottom of the well. (The bottom of a shot glass or flat utensil is great for this.) Bake for 10 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300ºF. To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese, sour cream, and peanut butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth and well-blended. Add in the sugar and mix until incorporated, about 1 minute more, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Blend in the egg and egg yolk, vanilla, and salt. Continue to beat until the mixture is complete smooth. Divide the mixture evenly over the cookie crumb crusts and slightly smooth the tops.

Bake just until set, about 22 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature. Once completely cool, transfer the pan to the refrigerator and chill thoroughly, at least 3 hours.

Once the cheesecakes are well-chilled, carefully remove them from the pan. To make the ganache, place the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer over medium heat. Once simmering, remove from the heat and immediately pour over the chocolate. Let stand 1-2 minutes.

Whisk in small circular motions until a smooth ganache has formed. Whisk in the butter until completely incorporated. Let the mixture stand at room temperature until slightly thickened for piping onto cheesecakes. (Speed this process in the refrigerator or freezer, but be sure to whisk every 10 minutes or so.) Once the ganache has thickened, transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip and pipe onto the cheesecakes. (I used a french star tip.) Cover and refrigerate until the ganache is set.

When ready to serve, remove from the refrigerator for a few minutes to let the chill subside a bit. Ten minutes was perfect for me.

**If using mini muffin pans, the silicone variety lends themselves to the easiest removal of cheesecakes. If you don't have a silicone pan, you may want to consider using mini cupcake liners for easy removal.

Source: Barely adapted from Annie's Eats