peanut butter cheesecake

i... don't like cheesecake. 

i know, i'm weird. i'm not big on processed cheese, nor am i particularly interested in desserts... i DO love peanut butter, and i DID taste the batter from this cake, and it was better than any other cheesecake batter i have tried. but still... cheesecake!

i'm not selling this very well, am i? shit.

so, matt REALLY loves cheesecake. many years ago, i worked at a call center for kraft foods. i really loved the job (mostly talking to old ladies about canning and how their grandkids never visit), but i am not a big fan of most of kraft's products. 

regardless, i ended up spending a lot of time looking at kraft recipes (you gotta know your product!!) and the cheesecakes always LOOKED and SOUNDED so good... so i started making them for matt! he loves them, and swears i make the best cheesecake ever. i have made them for other people, and always gotten similar feedback.

anyway, this was a shot-in-the-dark cheesecake that turned out amazingly. he wanted a treat. he wanted it to be peanut butter. i offered chocolate chips, he accepted. anyway, matt promises this is a fantastic cheesecake! 


ingredients:

2 packages of cream cheese
1/2 c brown sugar
1 t vanilla
1/2 c peanut butter (i used natural smooth)
2 eggs
1/3 c mini chocolate chips (optional) 
1 chocolate crumb pie crust 

to make:

you want your cream cheese room temperature. achieve this by either leaving it on the counter for 4ish hours, or microwave it for 30 seconds at a time (unwrapped!) until it's soft.

plop your soft cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and peanut butter in a food processor.

  

process on low for 2-3 minutes, stopping when you need to to scrape down the sides. you want it to be very well mixed, and creamy with no lumps!

 

next, with the food processor running, crack in your eggs, one at a time, and give it about 30 seconds to mix. 

if you are adding chocolate chips, now is the time. you can throw them in the food processor,  but just mix them in with a spoon or spatula, not the blades!!

 

put your pie crust on a rimmed cookie sheet (in case of spillage), and pour the batter in!

 

use a spoon or spatula to smooth out the top of the batter, so it's nice and even!

bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. you'll know it's done when it puffs all up, even the middle.

pull it out of the oven, and allow to cool to room temperature. the puffiness will recede. 

put in the fridge for at least a few hours, preferably overnight, to cool. dig in.