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For National Peanut Butter Day (January 24th), we baked a peanut butter cheesecake. We’d always relied on this Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake from Philadelphia Cream Cheese, but today’s cheesecake took a different route.
The recipe below is a frozen cheesecake.
It’s a lighter recipe than the Philadelphia version, which uses 24 ounces of cream cheese (as do most rich cheesecakes).
Instead, it uses half as much cream cheese and substitutes ricotta for the rest.
See below for more peanut butter holidays. You can bake both cheesecakes and decide which you prefer.
> The history of peanut butter.
> The history of cheesecake.
RECIPE: PEANUT BUTTER CARAMEL CORN CHEESECAKE
The recipe was created for Frigo Cheese by Emily Ellyn, Retro Rad Chef.
We are not typically keen on frozen whipped topping, but for peanut butter cheesecake, we’ll make an exception.
Ingredients For The Crust
2 cups peanut butter puff cereal (Cap’n Crunch Peanut Butter, Reese’s Puffs, Panda Puffs)
1 cup caramel popcorn
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Ingredients For The Cheesecake
1½ cups cream cheese, room temperature
1½ cups whole milk ricotta cheese
1½ cups creamy peanut butter
1 cup dulce de leche, or substitute caramel sauce
1 cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup frozen whipped topping, room temperature
1 cup caramel popcorn, roughly chopped
Optional Garnishes
Brownie cubes (especially PB brownies or these Peanut Butter Pretzel Brownies)
Caramel popcorn
Dulce de leche
Honey-roasted peanuts
Mini peanut butter cups
Preparation
1. SPRAY a 9-inch springform cake pan with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper. Set it aside.
2. FIT a food processor with the blade and pulse the crust ingredients until the mixture is pulverized into a thick, coarse, and sandy mixture. Then, press the mixture onto the bottom of the lined springform cake pan.
3. MIX together in a large bowl with a hand mixer on high speed (or a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), the cream cheese and ricotta cheese, until the mixture is soft and smooth, about 3 minutes.
4. ADD the peanut butter, dulce de leche, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract and whip until they’re thoroughly incorporated and the mixture is smooth in texture, about 3–5 minutes. Finally, on low speed…
5. GENTLY MIX in the whipped topping until just incorporated. Scrape this mixture on top of the crust, smooth the top with a pastry knife or the back of a spoon, and place it in the freezer.
6. FREEZE for at least 3 hours and then top as desired with the remaining dulce de leche, caramel popcorn, peanut butter cereal and/or peanut butter candies, and honey-roasted peanuts. To serve…
7. ALLOW the cake to slightly defrost, slice it, and serve it.
MORE PEANUT & PEANUT BUTTER HOLIDAYS
January 24: National Peanut Butter Day
March 1: NatNational Peanut Month
March 8: National Peanut Cluster Day
April 2: National Peanut Butter And Jelly Day
May 18: I Love Reese’s Day
June 12: National Peanut Butter Cookie Day
September 13: National Peanut Day
November: National Peanut Butter Lover’s Month
November 20: National Peanut Butter Fudge Day
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[1] Whether this recipe or any other cheesecake recipe, you can generate excitement with garnishes from caramel corn to peanut butter cups (photos #1 and #2 © Frigo Cheese).
[2] Today’s recipe is half cream cheese, half whole milk ricotta cheese.
[3] This chocolate peanut butter cheesecake is all cream cheese. Here’s the recipe (photo © Philadelphia Cream Cheese).
[4] There are three peanut butter puff breakfast cereals that you can use for the crust. First up: Cap’n Crunch (photo © Quaker Oats | Pepsico).
[5] The big brand name in peanut butter cereal: Reese’s (photo © General Mills).
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