Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake

Last week I made the decision to cut sugar out of my diet. Completely. Which also meant giving up coffee because coffee without sugar is just not my thing. I had a headache for 3 straight days and finally, a week later, I feel good. I really put off posting this cheesecake because I was struggling with the sugar addiction. I craved the cheesecake for weeks after it was gone and, if I had another one, I could probably eat the whole thing in one sitting.

I made this as my birthday cake and the week leading up to my birthday I was searching for the perfect peanut butter chocolate cheesecake. This was definitely it. As mentioned in previous posts, my favourite cheesecake bakery has amazing peanut butter chocolate cheesecake…. but this recipe totally blows theirs out of the water!

Be warned, if you are a sugar addict, this will NOT help the addiction.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients

2 cups Oreo crumbs

2 tablespoons butter, melted

4x 8 ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature

5 eggs, room temperature

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 bag mini peanut butter cups

Topping:

1/2 cup peanut butter

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

3/4 cup heavy cream

15-20 mini peanut butter cups (saved from the cheesecake ingredients)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. Stir together Oreo crumbs and 2 tablespoons melted butter. Press into the bottom of a 9″ springform pan and bake for 15 minutes. Cool.

Beat cream cheese with a mixer until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well between each. Add sugar, peanut butter, and cream; mix thoroughly. Stir in vanilla. Pour half of the mixture into the cooled crust, layer with 2 cups of mini peanut butter cups, then top with remaining cheesecake mixture.

Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. The sides of the cheesecake should be set but the middle will be a little jiggly. (it should not be runny) Cool slightly then put it into the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. 

Chop up the chocolate and melt it in a double boiler (or microwave). Cool slightly then add all but 1 tablespoon of cream. Stir and then pour over the cool cheesecake (while still in the springform pan). Refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Place peanut butter and 1 tablespoon of whipping cream in a bowl and microwave until it’s a runny consistency. Either place the mixture in a piping bag or using a spoon, top the cheesecake with a peanut butter swirl. Before the swirl sets, surround the outer edge of the cheesecake with the remaining mini peanut butter cups. 

Recipe adapted from Baking With Ramen.

African Peanut Soup

Our impromptu trip to visit the newest member of the family has come to an end. I said my sad goodbyes and we drove the 2 days home…through a snow storm. The kids did exceptionally well with the drive and the night in the hotel. Maybe the waterslides had a little bit to do with their great behaviour? 2 days later and my nerves have finally recovered from the drive. 

Today’s post is a bit of a tribute to our trip..mainly since it was my Mom that actually made the soup. The recipe comes from Prairie Ink, a restaurant in McNally Robinson’s bookstores. The food there is to die for…warm, comforting, absolutely delicious… I was a little iffy on the idea of sweet potatoes AND peanut butter in a soup but if my Mom likes it, it had to be good. 

And good is an understatement. Even having added too much cayenne pepper, it was an amazing soup! My Mom claims to not enjoy cooking but this same woman can make almost anything..including a batch of unbaked cookies while we packed so that the kids would have fresh goodies for the drive. The day before she whipped up some stuffed jalapenos and 2 lemon meringue pies. Doesn’t enjoy cooking she says… Phhhft! 

African Peanut Soup

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3/4 cup diced carrots

3/4 cup diced celery, with leaves

2 medium onions, diced

3 cups sweet potatoes, chopped

12 cups water

2 cups smooth peanut butter

14 ounce can whole tomatoes

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)

Directions

In a large pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Saute carrots, celery, and onion in oil for 3-5 minutes, until softened but not browned. Add sweet potatoes and cover with water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer until sweet potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Add tomatoes and peanut butter. Puree until desired consistency (smooth or a little bit chunky). Return to pot and add salt and cayenne pepper. Serve hot, topped with a dollop of sour cream, chopped peanuts, and (or) parsley. 

Recipe from Prairie Ink

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Waffles

Mornings in my house go one of two ways… Either I get hot coffee or cold coffee. Hot coffee means I got a hot shower and all of my little angels are still in bed. Cold coffee means the baby got up 1 minute before my alarm was set to go off and in an effort to get him back to sleep, I am 15 minutes behind in my shower. But he still wakes up so I have to change his diaper and entertain him while shampooing my hair. Then I have to grab a cup of coffee from the newly turned off coffee pot but before I even get a sip another child wakes up and whines about having no clean pants/shirts/socks so I have to race around the house to find something for them. By the time I get back to my coffee, it is cold. 

This morning is cold coffee. And it’s Monday. And I have called 2 kids in sick to school. Thankfully it is only a 3 day school week and by the end of the week we will have both sets of grandparents visiting. I will have an extra set of arms (or 3 or 4) to hold babies and pour cereal so I can get a hot coffee. 

On to our Sunday waffles…peanut butter chocolate chip! They received rave reviews “Delicious” “Awesome” “Scrumptious”. The texture was great..the perfect mix of peanut butter and whole wheat flour. And it doesn’t hurt that there were chocolate chips in there either. 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Waffes
Makes 6

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs, fork beaten
2 1/4 cups whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions
In a large bowl, stir together both flours, baking powder, and sugar. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, and vegetable oil. Pour into flour mixture along with the peanut butter and beat until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips.

Turn on your waffle maker, to desired setting, and spray with cooking spray. Scoop batter into the center of the waffle iron in 3/4 cup scoops. Spread with a rubber spatula and cook until browned.

TDF Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

TDF stands for ‘to die for’, in case you were wondering. I’ve been promising the kids we would make these for a couple of weeks now and I finally had to make good on that promise. The unwrapped the kisses for me and squashed them onto the cookies when they came out of the oven.

Peanut butter cookies can be kind of fussy.. they can be too hard or so soft that they crumble while you eat them. These cookies were definitely the best I’ve had! Soft, chewy, tasted like they were sent straight from heaven.

Peanut Butter Kisses

Makes 48 cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter

1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1/3 cup white sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup white sugar, for rolling cookies in

48 Hershey Kisses, unwrapped

Directions

In a large bowl, beat butter and peanut butter together. Add 1/3 cup white sugar and brown sugar; beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla; beat to combine. 

In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the peanut butter mixture and beat until incorporated. Cover and refrigerate the batter for an hour, or until firm enough to roll into balls.

Preheat oven to 375°. Roll the batter into 1 inch balls. Roll in remaining 1/3 cup white sugar and place on baking sheet; spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes until lightly browned. Remove cookies from oven and immediately place a Hershey Kiss in the middle of each cookie, pressing down slightly. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Recipe from Joy Of Baking.

Breakfast 01/11 ~ Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pancakes

I could not let this recipe go another day without being made. I crawled out of bed 5 minutes earlier to ensure I had enough time to get these made. I woke the kids up as the first batch cooked and the 3 boys leaped out of bed like it was Christmas morning…excited for pancakes. And why wouldn’t they be? These pancakes were so good!

Adam was pretty adamant that they weren’t very healthy but we used a whole wheat pancake mix and peanut butter is protein. Definitely better than their usual bowl of Mini Wheats. I would love to make these again with some bananas to make it a perfect breakfast. Logan ate almost 3 whole pancakes before he looked like he might explode. I ate only 2 and was full for almost 3 hours.

A batch made about 10 pancakes and since I made a batch and a half, we had a few left over. I put them in the fridge for Billy since he is a professional fridge raider when he gets home from work. He is in agreement that these are great pancakes. Maybe next time he’ll get a couple of warm ones.

Ingredients

1 cup multigrain pancake mix

1 large egg

1/2 cups all-natural peanut butter

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 tbsp butter

Directions

Heat oven to 200 degrees F. Stir the pancake mix, egg, peanut butter, milk, vanilla, and chocolate chips together in a large bowl. Melt about 1 teaspoon butter in large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Pour three to four 1/4-cupfuls of batter on the heated skillet to form pancakes and cook until the tops bubble and the edges begin to crisp. Turn and continue to cook for about 2 more minutes, until both sides are golden brown. Transfer pancakes to a baking pan and keep warm in the oven until ready to serve. Repeat with remaining batter.

Peanut Butter Balls

This recipe is from a friend and I thought I would give it a try. My intention was to bring half to friends at Christmas and freeze the other half for when my parents are here. This was before we ate a dozen of them. Oops!

Peanut Butter Balls

2 cups creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 cups crisp rice cereal
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1.Melt peanut butter and butter in saucepan, over low heat. In large bowl, mix crispy rice cereal and confectioners’ sugar well. Pour melted peanut butter and butter over cereal and sugar and blend together thoroughly.
2.Form into 1 inch or smaller balls, spread on cookie sheets, chill till firm in refrigerator (over night is okay).
3.Melt chocolate in double boiler and keep melted while working with balls. A teaspoon is best to use in dipping the balls in chocolate. Dip good and place on cookie sheet. As you dip them place them back on cookie sheet and keep chilled till firm.

When you pour the butter/peanut butter mixture into the rice krispies/sugar mixture, use your hands to blend it all. I think next time I will make these about half the size. The recipe says it makes 4 dozen but it could make at least 5 dozen easily. The balls at the suggested size are about 3 bites so you end up with melted chocolate on your fingers. I used some milk chocolate dipping wafers I had on hand to dip them.

Anya kept stealing the undipped balls when I would turn my back.
The boys all loved them..for breakfast! Yes, I gave them peanut butter balls before breakfast but at least they have cereal in them!
I definitely give these an A+! Easy to make, easy to eat.