Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Smooth, rich, thick, and creamy, this homemade peanut butter cheesecake recipe is an absolute dessert dream come true!

The best peanut butter dessert

Just one bite, and you will never go back to store bought cheesecake again.

Blend the ingredients together, pour into a pie crust if desired, and sit back while the oven does the rest of the work for you.

Bring this melt-in-your-mouth peanut butter cheesecake to share with friends, and prepare to be the most popular guest at your next party.

Everyone will be asking you for the recipe!

Readers also love these Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars

Watch the peanut butter cheese cake recipe video above

Peanut butter cheesecake ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need for the recipe: peanut butter, cream cheese, yogurt, pure vanilla extract, sweetener of choice, and cornstarch. There’s also a keto option included below.

You can use creamy or crunchy peanut butter. And either conventional brands, like Skippy or Jif, or natural peanut butter will work in this New York style cheesecake.

If you prefer almond butter, cashew butter, macadamia nut butter, or a flavored peanut butter spread, these are all fine choices as well.

For a vegan peanut butter cheesecake, simply use dairy free yogurt and packaged plant based cream cheese, which is often sold in the same section as the Philadelphia cream cheese. Or you can make homemade vegan cream cheese.

Cheesecake topping ideas

Turn the kitchen into your very own Cheesecake Factory by trying out different toppings to decorate your cheesecake. Here are just a few simple ideas:

Homemade Nutella

Peanut butter cups – Reese’s peanut butter cheesecake? Yes please!

Coconut Ice Cream

Crushed Oreos, mini marshmallows, or white chocolate chips

Dark chocolate ganache

Chocolate Truffles

Sliced bananas and chopped peanuts

Caramel sauce

Birthday candles and chocolate sprinkles

How to make the cheese cake

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line the bottom of an eight or nine inch springform pan with parchment paper. Prepare the optional crust.

Fill a baking pan about halfway up with water, and pace it on the oven’s lower rack.

Bring cream cheese and peanut butter to room temperature so they will be easier to blend. Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor. Blend just until smooth.

Spread the filling over your prepared crust. Or spread it directly into the pan for a crustless peanut butter cheesecake.

Place the springform pan on the oven’s center rack, above the rack with the water pan. Bake 30 minutes for a nine inch pan or 38 minutes for an eight inch pie.

Without opening the oven door even a tiny crack, turn off the heat and let the baked pie sit in the closed oven for an additional five minutes. Now remove the soft and jiggly cake from the oven and cool on the counter for around twenty minutes.

Refrigerate for at least five hours or overnight, either uncovered or very loosely covered with cloth or paper towels to allow moisture to escape. The peanut butter cheese pie will firm up considerably as it cools.

Garnish as desired, and serve. Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to four days. Or slice and freeze in an airtight container for up to three months. Thaw frozen cheesecake before serving.

**For a no bake peanut butter cheesecake, use this No Bake Cheesecake.

Baking tips and tricks

With any classic cheesecake recipe, it’s important to not overbeat the batter, which introduces air bubbles that might burst while baking and thus cause cracking.

Let the peanut butter cake cool gradually to avoid sudden temperature changes that could also cause the recipe to crack.

While the water bath is not required, I recommend including it to add moisture to the oven so your cheesecake does not dry out.

If your cake does crack for any reason, just cover up the imperfections with a layer of fresh strawberries, chocolate fudge sauce, or Coconut Whipped Cream.

Mini cheesecakes or bars

To turn the recipe into mini peanut butter cheesecakes or cheesecake bars, divide the filling into two muffin tins or a rectangular nine by thirteen inch baking pan lined with parchment paper or graham cracker crust.

Bake twenty minutes for cheesecake cupcakes or twenty five minutes for peanut butter bars. The easy recipe yields around twenty four mini peanut butter pies or bars.

Let cool gradually, first in a turned off oven and then on the counter top, so the peanut butter cheese cakes do not crack while cooling.

Leftover cheesecake bars or bites can be refrigerated for three or four days or frozen for up to three months.

Peanut butter cheesecake crust

Feel free to use your favorite store bought or homemade cheesecake crust, graham cracker crust, or chocolate brownie crust. You can also omit the crust completely if you prefer a crustless peanut cheesecake.

I like to make a chocolate cookie crust by finely crushing twenty four chocolate sandwich cookies (such as Oreos, with the filling) in a food processor. If you do not have a food processor, you can crush the cookies in a Ziploc bag with a lot of patience.

Add the crushed cookie crumbs to a large bowl along with four tablespoons of melted butter or coconut oil. Stir everything together.

Press the crust into an eight or nine inch springform pan or lined pie plate, then refrigerate for at least a half hour before pouring the cheesecake filling on top.

The recipe was adapted from my Vegan Cheesecake and Peanut Butter Dip.

More Fancy Party Desserts

Crustless Pumpkin Pie

Snowball Cookies

Deep Dish Cookie Pie

Chocolate Banana Bread

Oreo Cupcakes

Peanut Butter Brownies

Chocolate Truffles

Red Wine Chocolate Cake

Keto Brownies

Chocolate Covered Strawberries