Adult Treats: Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Cheesecake Pops

I'd say these pops were kid pleasers, but -- frankly -- I don't know many kids who are cheesecake lovers. In fact, I've learned that there really are -- I shudder to think! -- people in the world who don't like cheesecake! And I've met quite a few people who don't like peanut butter.

I have, however,  met very few people who don't like love chocolate. Milk, dark, Dutch, semi-sweet, double, white -- doesn't matter. It's one of the reasons we can pack on the pounds around the holidays, why we love to be treated at Valentine's Day (did someone say aphrodisiac?), why we cram Easter baskets with chocolate everything.

But I've never, ever, ever met anyone who didn't think eating something on a stick was just plain fun. Instant party!

So when I was wandering around looking for something new to do with peanut butter and chocolate  these pops immediately caught my attention. When I read through the recipe and saw that they were square pops, not round, I thought my clumsy self just might be able to dip those babies in chocolate without flubbing them up too badly.

(Why I was looking for something new to do with peanut butter and chocolate in the first place, I don't know. Not when I already have this recipe, and this. And probably tons more in my cookbook collections. Must be a disease.)

I was right . . . . a success on all fronts. Great combination of peanut butter and chocolate, cream cheese, portion control.

Couple cautions: As I read the recipe, I also read some reviews. Because of them, I used a larger pan than the 8 x 8 originally called for. That made smaller pieces; this is very rich. I will make them again, and next time I will roll the pops in nuts. A minor decadent touch.

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Cheesecake Pops
from Food Network Kitchens

Cheesecake:

1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar

1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 large egg yolks

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups creamy peanut butter

Chocolate:

5 tablespoons vegetable shortening

12 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

Special Equipment:

Wooden pop sticks

For the cheesecake: Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Line a 13 x 9 pan with parchment paper letting long flaps overlap on each side. Spritz with nonstick spray.

Break up the brown sugar to remove all lumps. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until very smooth. Add the cream and beat slowly; then add the yolks and vanilla mixing until just combined. Gently stir in peanut butter. 

Pour and evenly spread the batter in the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Open the oven to release some heat, then lower the temperature to 200 degrees F. Continue to bake the cheesecake until the outside is set but the center is still loose, for about 45 minutes. Turn off the oven, and cool cheesecake in the oven for 45 more minutes. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.

Lift cheesecake from the pan by lifting up thepaper. Transfer to a cutting board. Cut into squares, about 1-1/2 inches. Stick a wooden pop stick halfway into each bar and freeze for one hour.

Meanwhile, put the shortening and chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with an inch or so of warm water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl over, but not toughing, the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth

Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. (Or put the chocolate and shortening in a microwave safe bowl and melt at 50 percent power in the microwave until soft, about one minute. Stir, and continue to heat until completely melted, about 1 minute more.

Dip the pops in the chocolate mixture and stand on waxed paper to set, about 5 minutes. Chill before serving.

If you really want to be decadent, you could, as The Food Network Kitchens suggest, coat the pops in nuts or candies, too. Peanuts would be great, I think, but I was already feeling way decadent.

The Loneliest Cookie | Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bar

Who leaves just one cookie on the plate? What difference is that little bitty piece of sweetness going to make to your waistline when you've already had more than your share? Who leaves just one cookie!?!

Mr. Rosemary does.

An incurable late night snacker with a sweet tooth, he is. He's mindful of what he eats all the rest of the day, but late at night, catching up on whatever golf, tennis, football or hockey event he'd DVR'd, he'll go on the prowl for something sweet. Sometimes it's something salty he goes after. Sometimes it's sweet before the salt.

Sweet or salty, listen to my story:

I had made these chocolate peanut butter cheesecake bars for my brother-in-law's birthday party. My SIL was making a cake, but to make sure there were plenty of sweets all around, I volunteered to bring something extra: these cookies.

I didn't leave myself enough time to photograph any before we left the house, so I sneakily held a few back, and put them in the fridge.

The next day, when I went to get the cookies out for their photograph, I found one lonely cookie, left in the container and put back in the fridge, snugly lidded and all.

He wasn't in the house when I found them. Had he been, he swould have heard me scream -- just a little.

Yikes, how can I take a picture and post it? One little bitty cookie. And I have nothing else ready to post!  And it's been over a week since I put up anything new!

Guess I'll just have to tell the truth.

And the truth is he was saving the last piece for me.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars

from The Brown Eyed Baker

Makes 24 Bars

For the Crust:
2½ cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, melted

For the Peanut Butter Cheesecake:
16 ounces cream cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 eggs
½ cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Glaze:
6 ounces milk or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1½ teaspoons vegetable shortening 

1. Make the Crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk together the graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Add the melted butter and toss together with a fork until the crumbs are all evenly moistened. Press the crumbs into the bottom of an ungreased 9×13-inch baking pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes; remove to a wire rack and cool.

2. Make the Cheesecake Layer: Beat together the cream cheese, sugar, peanut butter and flour on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well and scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Slowly pour in the milk and then the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

Pour the cheesecake batter over the crust and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the cheesecake layer is set around the edges and still appears slightly soft Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars

when the pan is wiggled. Allow the cheesecake to cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack.

3. Make the Chocolate Glaze: Combine the chopped chocolate and vegetable shortening in a small bowl and microwave on 50% power in 30-second increments, stirring after each, until completely melted. Spread the melted chocolate evenly over the cheesecake layer. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, then cut into squares and serve. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cheesecake

There are few things that go together as naturally as peanut butter and chocolate. (Okay, maybe peanut butter and jelly.) When I Googled the words peanut butter and chocolate I got 5.3 million results in less than 22 seconds. That’s simply amazing!

And at the top of the search list? Even more amazing – a blog dedicated to nothing but peanut butter and chocolate recipes!! Kristina from Hoboken, NJ, has been writing about peanut butter and chocolate for over two years and hasn’t run out of steam. (Can you imagine chili with peanut butter? Must try it.)

So when a friend requested “something peanut butter and chocolate” for her birthday celebration, I was secretly delighted because that meant if I was making the treat I got to lick the bowl. And the spoon. And the beaters. And my fingers.

I made a cheesecake, but it’s not a classic cheesecake at all. In fact the texture was more like a soft candy bar. Dense with rich chocolate and creamy peanut butter. I confess I didn’t get the recipe from the cpb gallery. (It was from Better Homes and Gardens.) But I’m definitely going back for the chili recipe!

You won’t be tempted to cut this into any sizes much bigger. The recipe says 16 slices and that’s exactly what it means. To make it easier to slice use a serrated knife dipped in water.

Decadent Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cheesecake
from www.bhg.com

18 chocolate covered graham crackers
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
2 8 ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
¼ cup sugar
3 eggs
1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate pieces
2 tablespoons milk
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Optional peanuts for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine crackers, melted butter and 2 tablespoons sugar. Press into bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan; set aside. In bowl beat 1 package cream cheese with electric mixer until smooth. Beat in peanut butter and ¼ cup sugar until combined. Fold in 1 lightly beaten egg. Set aside.

In saucepan, stir chocolate over low heat until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Cube remaining cheese and add to chocolate. Stir to combine. Stir in milk and vanilla until smooth. Fold in two lightly beaten eggs. Spread half the chocolate mixture into the pan. Carefully spread all the peanut butter mixture over the chocolate layer. Then evenly spread the rest of the chocolate over the peanut butter layer.

Bake 45 minutes until top is set when slightly shaken. The outer two inches of the top will be slightly puffed and dry-looking; center will look darker and wet. Cool in pan on rack 15 minutes. Gently loosen the crust from sides and cool completely on rack. Cover and chill at least 4 hours. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes before serving, to ease cutting. Sprinkle with peanuts if you want. Makes 16 servings. (About 400 calories each, but worth it!)

This is how beautiful the ice we had this week looked!