If you love the combination of sweet and salty, crunchy and creamy then this amazing dessert recipe was made just for you!
Jump to:
❤️ Why you'll love it
- Can be made ahead of time
- Freezes well
- Looks fancy but it's really so easy to do
This Reese's Peanut Butter Cheesecake recipe has to be one of our favorites! Smooth and creamy... salty and sweet... crispy crust and silky chocolate ganache topping -- it's all right here!
And I like to pile a ton of chopped Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Reese's Pieces on top of the cheesecake.
🧾 Ingredients
The following are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
I will link to what is available at Amazon. If I use a different brand I'll add a note to the side.
- cream cheese (I use Philadelphia)
- peanut butter
- sour cream
- eggs
- butter
- Ritz crackers
- heavy cream
- vanilla
- sugar
- bittersweet chocolate chips
- milk chocolate chips
- Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, fun size
🔪 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.
Step one
- Cover the springform pan with a double layer of aluminum foil.
- Blend Ritz crackers to crumbs. Melt the butter until it is a golden brown.
- Stir butter into crumbs.
- Press into springform pan and halfway up the sides.
Step two
- Blend cream cheese & peanut butter on low speed. Add sugar and mix in well.
- Add the eggs to the cream cheese mixture one at a time. Mix until stirred in before adding the next; still mixing on low speed.
- Stir in the vanilla & sour cream by hand.
- Fold in all but about ½ cup of the chopped Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Pour the cheesecake filling into the prepared pan.
Step three
Baking this Reese's Cheesecake in a water bath is very important to the success of this recipe. Read here to learn more about how to make a water bath (bain marie).
- Place the cheesecake in a roasting pan with high sides.
- Put on the center rack in the preheated oven.
- Pour hot water until it comes just under halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
- Bake cheesecake as directed in recipe card below.
Part four
- Mix the chocolate chips, butter, and cream in a microwave safe bowl.
- Heat in the microwave until melted, whisking until smooth.
- Cover top of chilled cake with the rich, chocolate ganache. Let it drip down the sides if you want... YUM!
- Add the remaining peanut butter cups and Reese's Pieces for color if desired.
🥄 Equipment
A lot of people ask about my springform pans. I use a 9 or 10-inch springform that's good and heavy for cheesecakes.
Make sure it's got nice high sides, which is important.
If you'd like your springform pan to stay pretty keep it out of the dishwasher. Actually, most baking and cooking utensils need to be hand-washed anyway.
The following are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
You'll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
🥫 Storage
Cheesecakes don't last long around here because we eat them up! Here are some tips for storing them if you have leftovers or if you want to make your peanut butter cheesecake ahead of time.
Refrigerator
Let come to room temperature before putting the the refrigerator.
Cover with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated up to 5 days total. So if you are making it 2 days ahead of time then you can keep leftovers for 3 days.
Freezer
You can freeze the Reese's peanut butter cup cheesecake for up to a month - this is best done before the ganache is added because ganache doesn't always do well in the freezer.
Cover with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil or put in an airtight container. It will be fine for a month or so.
💭 Tips
Expert Tip: Be sure to use the water bath! It's essential to the luxuriously creamy texture and perfect results of my baked cheesecake recipes!!!!
- Do NOT make substitutions! Use regular bricks of full fat cream cheese and regular full fat sour cream. Low fat cream cheese won't work.
- All ingredients MUST be at room temperature.
- Do NOT whip the batter. This entire cake should be made on the lowest speed of your mixer.
- Wrap the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil that goes high enough on the sides that water won't seep in.
- Do not open the oven door at ALL during the hour the cheesecake is cooling in it. JUST DON'T DO IT.
- When the Reese's cheesecake is finished it may not look completely set - it's fine. If you've not opened the oven (you didn't did you?) then it will finish setting up during the 8 or so hours of chilling time.
- Be sure to let the cheesecake come to room temperature before you put it in the fridge.
- Laying a paper towel over the top and cover with plastic wrap once it has cooled - this will soak up any remaining condensation that might collect on top. Just be sure to remove the paper towel before you add the ganache when you finish the cake.
- Let the cheesecake chill overnight or longer. Do NOT try to serve it the same day you make it.
- Cheesecake picks up refrigerator and freezer odors pretty easily so be sure that your refrigerator is clean and free musty smells.
- If you have leftover ganache you can warm it up and use it for hot fudge sauce. SO good.
👩🍳 FAQs
Usually because it cooled too fast. Use my method of baking cheesecake and you will rarely have cracks on top. Even if you do the topping covers it!
Always use full fat, regular cream cheese for cheesecake unless the recipe calls for something else.
Use a commercial brand creamy style. Don't use a homeade or "natural" peanut butter in this - it will have a weird texture.
📖 Variations
Some of the Reese's cheesecakes I've seen use a brownie crust but I think that takes away from the balance that true peanut butter lovers are looking for. If you want more chocolate flavor I'd use an Oreo crust.
Here are some of the variations I've used with this recipe.
- use an Oreo cookies crust or graham cracker crust
- a Nutter Butter peanut butter cookie crust would be yummy, too
- for lots of peanut butter flavor substitute ½ cup of peanut butter chips for half the chocolate chips in the topping
- try miniature peanut butter cups and leave them whole.
- use chopped Butterfingers bars instead of peanut butter cups
- for darker chocolate flavor use semi-sweet chocolate chips in place of the milk chocolate.
📚 Related recipes
We love cheesecakes around here!
🍽️ Serve with...
This is my grandson's favorite birthday cake - in fact it was his 18th birthday when I updated these pictures.
Don't wait for a holiday to make one of these peanut butter cup cheesecakes! Keep the rest of the meal simple and not too rich and let the cheesecake be the star of the show.
I used a Ritz crust on this because I like the sweet and salty combination but a chocolate Oreo cookie crust is delicious, too.
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Reeses Peanut Butter Cheesecake
Print Pin Recipe SaveEquipment Needed
Ingredients
Crust
- 3 cups Ritz cracker crumbs, about 3 sleeves ground to crumbs in the blender or food processor.
- ⅓ cup butter, melted and allowed to turn golden brown.
Cheesecake
- 32 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- ¾ cup peanut butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 6 eggs, room temperature
- 16 oz sour cream
- 12 ounce package Reeses peanut butter cups, unwrapped and chopped into fourths. Divided use.
Topping
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup bittersweet and milk chocolate chips, mixed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F.
Crust
- Melt butter and allow it to turn a golden brown color. Don't let it get too dark - it will just taste burnt.
- Cover the outside bottom and sides of a 9 - 10 inch springform pan (high sides) with aluminum foil.
- Mix the butter and the crumbs and press mixture into the pan.
- Press the crumbs about half way up the sides.
- Set aside.
Cheesecake
- Mix the cream cheese on low speed until creamy.
- Add the peanut butter and mix on lowest speed until blended.
- Add sugar and continue to beat on low.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating 2-3 minutes after each, ON LOW SPEED.
- Fold in the sour cream and vanilla on low speed or by hand until it is all mixed in and no streaks remain.
- Fold in all but ½ cup of the Reese's candy by hand.
- Spoon the of the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Make sure the batter is at least ¼-inch below the lip of the pan.
- Place the springform in a large roasting pan, place it in the oven, and fill the bigger pan with hot water until it comes halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan.
- Bake for 50 minutes and then turn the oven off. Leave the oven door closed and the cheesecake in the turned off oven for 1 hour. DO NOT PEEK.
- Remove the pan from water bath, remove the aluminum foil, and allow the cake to come to room temperature on the countertop.
- Cover the top of the cake with a folded paper towel, the cover with plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate for 8 hours or more. DO NOT SKIP.
Topping
- Heat the cream to a simmer.
- Whisk in chocolate and butter until it is melted and creamy.
- Spread over the cooled cake.
- Garnish with reserved candy, chill for 30 minutes, and serve.
Notes
- Do NOT make substitutions! Use regular bricks of full fat cream cheese and regular full fat sour cream.
- All ingredients MUST be at room temperature.
- Do NOT whip the batter. This entire cake should be made on the lowest speed of your mixer.
- Wrap the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil that goes high enough on the sides that water won't seep in.
- Do not open the oven door at ALL during the hour the cheesecake is cooling in it. JUST DON'T DO IT.
- When the cheesecake is finished it may not look completely set - it's fine. If you've not opened the oven (you didn't did you?) then it will finish setting up during the 8 or so hours of chilling time.
- Be sure to let the cheesecake come to room temperature before you put it in the fridge.
- Laying a paper towel over the top and cover with plastic wrap once it has cooled - this will soak up any remaining condensation that might collect on top. Just be sure to remove the paper towel before you add the ganache when you finish the cake.
- Let the cheesecake chill overnight or longer. Do NOT try to serve it the same day you make it.
- Cheesecake picks up refrigerator and freezer odors pretty easily so be sure that your refrigerator is clean and free musty smells.
- If you have leftover ganache you can warm it up and use it for hot fudge sauce. SO good.
Nutrition Facts
Sign up for the emails and never miss another recipe!!
We'll never share your email or send you spam. Pinkie swear.📞 The last word
Oh, I know y'all don't always want all of my ramblings... but I wanted to save this part of the original blog post so I just pulled it down here out of the way...
April 2015
My 23 year old son has been home on leave from Okinawa for the month so I have been trying to make all kinds of stuff that I know he likes.
It's funny, you know. I am going through that weird, they don't need me to do anything for them stage.
The three sons that I don't see, all military, are responsible, well adjusted, talented men. They rarely need to come to me for advice anymore, although once in awhile they do.
They are all making good incomes and handling their money wisely so I am not slipping extra into their accounts as I have done in the past at times. I look at them and I think that maybe I got it right.
But that comes with sort of a lump to the throat, too. I want them to need me... just a little.
I still have four at home and the other one lives close enough for visits so I am not experiencing true empty nest syndrome.
Yet. Until that time comes I intend to enjoy every minute I get to spend with them, whether that's on a daily basis, a weekly basis, or a couple of times a decade.
My son loved this cheesecake -- we all did. The Ritz cracker crust was kind of a cool addition -- I plan on using them more.
How do you spoil your kids (in a good way?)
First published April 1, 2015. Last updated November 1, 2021 to update the images, give more tips, add faqs, and all around better reader experience. Recipe is unchanged.
Joe
It looks so f'n good! I will pay $100 for a slice.
kita
Seriously, peanut butter cheesecake... swoon!
Susan@LunaCafe
What a fun cheesecake! I LOVE peanut butter cups, so this has got my name all over it. 🙂