Ruggles Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

I made this for the "alternative" Thanksgiving dessert selection , for those craving something beyond the expected. To say it went over well is an understatement. One person that managed to put in a bid for a slice the Sunday following just sat there and sorta moaned while eating. Upon inquiry with our normally rather formal and gracious guest, she stated she was great and having a "cheesecake orgasm." Very difficult to reply to your guest when they say that, lol. A couple of points about preparing this, one, I used honey roasted peanuts in the crust. I found the peanut butter cups were best not cut too small but leaving some chunks worked well, about 1/8 of a full size cup or 1/4 of a mini. Adding the brown sugar is a bit of an issue though, as it tends to have small lumps or forms them when you blend it in. It is important you do not overmix the cheesecake batter, so as not to incorporate too much air, which could result in a nasty and unattractive crack in the cake. Next time I think I will blend the peanut butter, cream and brown sugar together seperately, and then add to the cheese mixture. Allow the batter to sit in it's mixing bowl for a few minutes and then sharply rap it against a counter to release some of those trapped air bubbles, which helps prevent cracking issues later. Once added to the pan, lightly shake and tap the pan to help release any last bubbles, but use care to not disturb the crust with rough handling. I am rather paranoid that water from the Bain Marie will seep into springform pans, so what I do is wrap the pan in several overlapping layers of aluminum foil and then place in a very heavy plastic bag, such as the heavy duty duty ones you get at some grocery stores, securing it to the side of the pan with a bit of handy duct tape. Don't worry, the bag will not burn nor melt at this baking temp, comes out good as new, scary thought, lol. When adding the hot water to the Bain Marie, try using very hot water that is nearly boiling, as this will help speed things along a bit, as I encountered a very prolonged cooking time with just hot tap water. Don't open the oven at all until it is truly getting close to the minimum baking time, as opening the oven provokes those dreaded cracks and slows down the baking as well. Allow for just a slight jiggle in the very center of the cake to let you know it's done with baking. Make at least a quantity and a half of the sour cream topping to make sure the top is smooth and evenly covered. Once the sour cream topping has set, DON'T REMOVE THE CHEESECAKE FROM THE OVEN. Turn off the oven and prop the oven door open slightly and leave it in there for at least an hour to allow it to very slowly cool down. Remove from oven and very gently loosen the crust from the side of the pan with a long and thin knife blade, using care not to disturb it too much. Doing this helps the crust to pull away from the pan as the cake contracts in cooling, putting less stress on the cheesecake, lessening the chance of a crack developing. Allow to cool thoroughly on a rack and then refrigerate, preferably wrapped in a kitchen towel to insulate it, so that it chills slowly. Feel free to make your cheesecake a couple of days ahead, it really does improve with a little age. When slicing your cheesecake, using a thin blade that you clean with a cool, wet towel in between EVERY slice, leaving a little moisture on the blade. This method gives you a cleaner slice of this almost heaven. I guilded the lily and plated this with homemade caramel and ganache sauces, along with some pb cup pieces and chopped honey roasted peanuts. All this sounds complicated, but in reality it takes very little actual active work, it's all pretty easy in the end and will convince people you are the Queen of Cheesecake. Btw, if you are just not able to go through the anti-crack steps, don't worry, heck with it, it will still taste awesome, even if a crack does develop. If this happens, just strategically cover any oops with pb cups, nuts and sauces, likely no one will notice and definitely won't care after they wrap their mouth around this lucious little number. Thank You Peggy for sharing :)

6 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

This cheesecake turned out beautifully! I didn't have a deep enough pan to do a true water bath (the water only came up about 3/4" on the side), so I baked it until the internal temp was 160 degrees. It was gorgeous! No cracks or unsightly browning. We easily got 20 slices from this cheesecake. My husband said it was better than the peanut butter cheesecake he always gets at The Cheesecake Factory! I love how it looks like a restaurant cheesecake. Thanks for this delicious recipe!
What I did: I read that it is best not to over beat the batter after the eggs are added, so I added the eggs last - just before stirring in the peanut butter cup pieces. Also, I opted for a hot fudge drizzle instead of the sour cream topping. Once cheesecake reached internal temp of 160 degrees, I removed it from the water bath and placed it on the stovetop burner to cool. I read to invert a plate over the top of the cheesecake to trap in moisture and slow down the cooling process as that is supposed to help prevent cracking. I let it cool for 4 hours at room temp, and then overnight in the fridge. I did loosen the crust from edge of pan before putting it in the fridge, and before removing the pan. I also put parchment paper (cut to fit pan) in the bottom to aid in removal from bottom of springform pan. Some wrote that they had too much oreo crumbs for the crust . . . I loved the large quantity of crust ingredients. It allowed me to extend the crumbs all of the way up the side of the pan. Beautiful!

5 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

I created a food.com profile just so I could review this recipe. That is how good this cheesecake is. It is amazing, decadent, delicious. Think of the most delicious food adjectives available, and the apply them at your will to this recipe. Sooooo good. I made the cheesecake exactly according to the recipe's ingedients, and it turned out perfectly. If I make it again, I will probably chop up fewer oreos because I found that after patting in the crust for my 10-inch cheesecake, I still had about 3/4 cup of leftover oreo crumbs. Also, like others, I had to bake the cheesecake for a longer period of time--closer to 2 hours--to make sure that it set correctly. After 2 hours, the middle was still a little jiggly and it looked perfect. I thought the topping listed looked so-so, so I decided against that. Instead, I spead some room-temperature store-bought hot fudge topping over the top, then topped that with about 8 chopped up reese's PB cups. I also sprinkled some chopped peanuts on the top. Then, to finish, I heated up some additional hot fudge in the microwave and drizzled it over the top and down the sides. Doing all this was an extra step, but I made this cheesecake for the holidays so it turned out looking really festive and beautiful. My husband thought he died and went to heaven. Just a quick note: Do NOT attempt to make this cheesecake in a 9-inch pan. You really need a 10-inch, or the 9-inch will overflow because there will be too much batter. Enjoy!

4 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

I've made this twice and both times, it is THE hit of the party and I now get requests for this... here were some notes that I gave my friends who wanted the recipe...

Notes from the cook: you have to use a 10-inch Springform pan (I actually used a 10 3/4). Most cheesecake recipes usu...ally call for a 9-inch. Also, I would use less Oreos for the crust next time and make sure it sits for 24 hours bc 4 was definitely not enough time. I used fat-free and reduced fat wherever possible and it was still AMAZING. Other than that, the only things I added were about 4 PB cups chopped on the top with drizzled chocolate for looks :-) Last but not least, it says 10 servings but I swear we got about 20 out of it!

2 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

Gosh, how did I miss writing a review on this great cheesecake! I've made this twice now, once for DSS's 16th b-day in 2007 and once for a co-worker's b-day in 2008. In each case it was received with raves. I found this to be about average as far as ease of preparation and way above average in taste. I always wrap my springform pan with some foil and put a casserole of boiling water on the rack below. Both times I made this it baked perfectly, smelled looked and tasted great.

2 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

This is dessert at its BEST!!!! Five stars all the way!!! Other than the baking time (mine baked for 1 hr, 45 mins before adding sour cream mixture to the top), I followed the directions given. I made this for a dessert auction at church. I put each slice in a rectangular, deep styrofoam "to go" box and left the lids open. I garnished each slice with chocolate syrup as pictured and then put one quarter of a peanutbutter cup on top of each slice. The auctioneer sold them by the slice. EACH SLICE sold for $15 - $25!!!!!! In total, this cheesecake (12 servings) brought in $220!!! Unbelievable! Talk about a show-stopper! Thank you, Peggy Lynn!!!

2 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

YUMMMMMMY! This was delicious. It is soo rich, i could only handle a sliver. I think you could easily serve 20 people with this cheesecake. I cooked mine for about 20 minutes longer. I used a kitchenaid blender and noticed when i poured it into the crust it didn't quite mix all the cream cheese into the batter. i scraped the sides several times-next time i'll make sure to scrape right down to the very bottom. i also melted some chocolate and drizzled it in top of the cake with extra reese pieces on the top. it looked great. but what i found was that once the drizzled chocolate hardened, it was really hard to cut. once i started cutting the hard chocolate top sort of "mushed" down into the desert. it didn't look quite as good then; although, no one cared-it tasted sooo good. for the next time i'll either drizzle chocolate on each individual piece or sprinkle some extra crushed oreo cookies on the top along with a few reese pieces. A truly incredible recipe! With incredible results! Thanks for this recipe!

2 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

This was one of the best cheesecakes I have ever had! My regular cheesecake is what started my catering business, due to the demand, but wow, this blew my socks off! My teenage son said that it was better than my original cheesecake, and I never thought anything could be that good, but IT IS! WOW! The perfect match of PB and Chocolate for the perfect, show stopper PB cheesecake!

1 person found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

Best cheesecake ever! I made this for my fiance's birthday and he loved it, he also said it was just as good if not better the Cheesecake Factory cheesecake. I chose not to use the sour cream topping, but made homemade whipped cream and topped it with that. It turned out beautifully! I will definitely be making this again.

1 person found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

Congrats ! Your yummy cheesecake was on our homepage Saturday as "The recipe of the Day" (06/20/2011)

1 person found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

The recipe says it is 10 servings. I defy anyone to be able to eat 1/10 of this cake. It is really wonderful and really rich. Definately need a cup of coffee or a glass of milk.

Like a number of others, I did bake it longer than instructed. Thanks for the great recipe!

1 person found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

Loved it! It was very easy to make and verrrrry good. Rich though! So cut your slices thin. Is the nutritional information correct?? I was quite happy the reeses in the batter didn't all sink to the bottom. I used only four eggs instead of five and it was fine. I also didn't do the sour cream topping b/c I don't like sour cream. So for aesthetics, I dusted the top with confection sugar. And arranged reeses "mini's" cut in half. and arranged around the outer edge. They also created a nice even slice guide. I thought the oreo crust would have been a little too much for me so I've been substituting the golden oreos for my cheescakes of various flavors. I also like to add some crushed nuts, like almonds or walnuts to the crust. Definitely worth trying!

1 person found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

i made this cheesecake twice in a week and had alot of praise on being the best cheesecake my friends had ever ate... to be honest, it was my first cheesecake ever! one tip... the peanut butter you use makes a world of difference! i used reeses peanut butter and found it to make the cheesecake alot richer! my friend made it a few weeks later and used a different peanut butter and said it was still good but he could tell there was a slightly different taste.

1 person found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

This really is sinful.I expected it to be very sweet but it is just right.And not too peanut-y either.Everything about this cheesecake is perfect.I left it in the oven an extra 15 mintues after the 1 1/2 hours that the recipe stated.It wasn't quite set in the middle after 1 1/2 hours.Delicious! I just made this cheesecake again on Jan 4 2010.It is the best I have ever had.This time I used a brownie base(#32204) and it is even more delicious!

1 person found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

i've also read on a similar recipe that for the topping, you can use 5 oz of semi-sweet chocolate and 1/4 c of sour cream melted in the microwave and stirred in 20 second intervals. Mm! can't wait to try this!

1 person found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

We all loved this so much we can't wait to have it again. Might make to bring to a cookout we are going to next weekend! This recipe is a great recipe for someone who likes peanut butter and chocolate, which just so happens to be 2 of my favorite things :) I was in sweety heaven eating this! Becky

1 person found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

very delicious! I was unsure of the cook time, a bit short, but otherwise it turned out great. I also migbt omit the sour cream topping because it was a bit runny (not sure if that is how it was supposed to be). Everyone enjoyed it, even people that don't normally like cheesecake!

1 person found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

All I can say is YUM! I left off the sour cream topping and made the crust gluten free by substituting some chocolate gluten free animal crackers that I had lying around. I'm not a big fan of cheesecake in general, but this was delicious! I would advise others to watch that the center will be seriously jiggly even after cooking was done (I think I cooked mine an extra 45 minutes and it was still jiggly in the center). And the cheesecake will need to set preferably overnight before the center is solid when slicing. Divine! Thanks for posting this! I thought it could feed 10 people easily. We had fewer guests than that so we sliced up the rest and gave it to my husband's bosses (great for brown-nosing).

0 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

This is one of the most decadent desserts I have ever made. We love cheesecake and DH's favorite candy bar is a reese's so the kids thought this was the perfect dessert for fathers day. They were right, DH LOVED THIS CHEESECAKE! It baked up beautifully, although I was a little nervous about how jiggly it was in the center before cooling. No worries, it set up wonderful. We will most definately make this again, I'm thinking when my brother and sister in law come to town. Thank you so much for sharing this awesome recipe with us.

0 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account