Cheesecake

A photograph of cheesecake

One of our favorite cheesecake recipes is Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheescake. I made this for Dad's birthday.


Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Begin first with the crust.

Crust

9 Graham crackers
1/4 c. of confectioners' sugar
4-5 tbsp. of melted margarine or butter

Put three graham crackers into a sealable bag. Crush them with a rolling pin or have your sister walk all over them. When they are sufficiently crunched, pour the crumbs into a medium-sized bowl.
Stir in the sugar.
Pour the melted butter all over the crumbs. Mix all the butter into the crumbs. Grab a handful of crumbs from the bowl. If they stick together, the crust is done; if they don't stick together, add more butter.
When the crust is ready, press it into a 9-inch springform pan. Press the bottom flat and push the crust up the sides. Don't expect it to reach the top of the pan.

Now you can move on to the filling.

Filling

2 8oz. packages of cream cheese or nufchatel cheese
1 14oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
4 eggs
2 tsp. of vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until it is soft and fluffy. Slowly pour in the condensed milk while still beating the cream cheese. Add the eggs one by one. Add the vanilla last.
When the batter is smooth and completely mixed, pour a little less than half of it into a medium-sized bowl.
Now melt:

1 c. chocolate chips or 2 1oz. baking squares
1/2 c. peanut butter

Pour the chocolate into the large bowl of batter and stir immediately. Then pour the peanut butter into the smaller bowl of batter and stir.
Pour the chocolate batter into the springform pan. Fold the peanut butter batter in the middle. Swirl the top with a knife.
Bake in a preheated oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 65 minutes or until it is set. Cool the cake.
Store in the refrigerator if you are going to eat it soon, if not wrap in aluminum foil and freeze. Thaw it by taking it out and leaving it in the refrigerator for a couple hours.

Please feel free to experiment with this recipe and come up with your own variations.