Creamy peanut butter cheesecake on an oreo crust topped with melted chocolate – these Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars are rich and delicious, but are actually skinnier than the real thing!
My blogger friends and I are celebrating our love for cheesecake today since it is NATIONAL CHEESECAKE DAY! At the bottom of this post are links for 64 different cheesecake recipes. Whoa. That’s a lot of cream cheese right there! The brilliant idea of getting all of us together to celebrate came from the lovely Roxana of Roxana’s Home Baking! If you’ve never seen her blog, definitely check it out! She is constantly posting amazing food that is also easy to make!
My recipe for our cheesecake celebration is Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars – and as an added bonus, they are skinny! Ok kind of skinny. I will explain…
I’m so happy that Roxana invited me to her cheesecake party because, well, I’ve never actually made cheesecake! I dabbled with it when I made these brownies and these muffins. But the real deal? Never attempted it. So I decided to take baby steps for my first cheesecake and make chocolate peanut butter cheesecake bars. And you probably won’t believe these from looking at these creamy delicious bars, but they are actually SKINNY! I didn’t feel right putting skinny in the title because they aren’t totally low calorie. I mean there are still oreos in the crust, peanut butter in the cheesecake, and chocolate on top.
But instead of full fat cream cheese and tons of eggs and sugar like most cheesecakes have, I used 1/3 less fat cream cheese and Greek yogurt, plus 1 egg and only 1/3 cup sugar.
So compared to what they could be, they are skinny. Can we call them partially skinny cheesecake bars? Half skinny? Medium skinny? Well whatever we call them, they are lighter than a standard cheesecake bar, but they still taste incredibly rich, creamy, and delicious!
The crust is made of crushed oreos mixed with a little butter and peanut butter, so right off the bat you know these are going to be good!
Next is the cheesecake layer. It is so creamy thanks to the greek yogurt and the 1/3 less fat cream cheese, and a half cup of peanut butter makes it rich and nutty. I like to use crunchy for the texture, but you can definitely use creamy.
Then I topped the bars with a very thin layer of chocolate and then a little swirl made from melted peanut butter chips.
So we have peanut butter in the crust. Peanut butter in the filling. And peanut butter in the topping. I would say we have a peanut butter lovers dream cheesecake bars right here!
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars
Creamy peanut butter cheesecake on an oreo crust topped with melted chocolate - these Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars are rich and delicious, but are actually skinnier than the real thing!
Ingredients
For the Crust
20 oreos
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 Tablespoon peanut butter, melted
For the Cheesecake
1 8 oz brick of 1/3 less fat cream cheese, at room temperature
1 5.3 oz container Greek yogurt, at room temperature (I used Chobani 0%)
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter, at room temperature (I used JIF)
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
For the Topping
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter chips
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8"x8" pan with a long, thick strip of foil, letting the ends hang over the edges. This will create a sling to remove the cooked bars. Spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.
For the Crust
Process the oreos in a food processor until they become fine crumbs. Mix the oreo crumbs with the butter and peanut butter. Press the mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 6 minutes.
For the Cheesecake
In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and yogurt until well combined. Add the peanut butter and egg and beat until thoroughly combined. Beat in the sugar until smooth. Mix in the flour and the vanilla. Pour the cheesecake filling on top of the oreo crust. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, until the cheesecake is set. Let the cheesecake cool for an hour.
For the Topping
Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl (heat for 30 seconds, then stir. heat for 10 seconds then stir. continue this process until fully melted). Spread the melted chocolate on top of the cheesecake. Place the pan in the refrigerator for about an hour, until the chocolate is set. Then melt the peanut butter chips (same method as the chocolate chips) and drizzle the melted peanut butter chips on top of the chocolate.
Return the bars to the refrigerator until the topping is firm. Remove bars from the pan using the foil sling. Cut into pieces and serve.
2.5
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And now for all of my fellow cheesecake lovers out there, I present 64 different cheesecake recipes! Prepare to drool…
Pear cheesecake with gingersnap crust from Roxana’s Home Baking
Strawberry Chocolate Ganache Cheesecake Bars from A Kitchen Addiction
No-Bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake from Crunchy Creamy Sweet
Frozen Peanut Butter Cheesecake with Nutter Butter Crust from Crazy for Crust
Caramel Overload Cheesecake Bars from Crumbs and Chaos
Blackberry Goat Cheese Cheesecake from Baking a Moment
Healthier Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownie Bars from Texanerin Baking
White Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake from Will Cook For Smiles
Coconut Cheesecake with Macadamia Crust from All Day I Dream About Food
Lemon Cheesecake from Shugary Sweets
No Bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake from Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts
Oreo Cheesecake (vegan) from Namely Marly
Blueberry Ricotta Cream Cheesecake from Hungry Couple
Lemon Ginger Panna Cotta Cheesecake with Blueberry Sauce from Girl Versus Dough
Mini Mascarpone Cheesecakes with Strawberry Balsamic Topping from Boulder Locavore
S’mores Cheesecake from The Gunny Sack
Raspberry Cheesecake with Oreo Crust from Hip Foodie Mom
Black Raspberry Cheesecake Milkshake from Blahnik Baker
No Bake Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake from White Lights on Wednesday
Blackberry Cheesecake Popsicles from The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
Chocolate Nutella Cheesecake Cake from gotta get baked
White Chocolate Frangelico Cheesecake from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
Cherry and Pistachio No Bake Cheesecake with Animal Cracker Crust from Cravings of a Lunatic
Triple Brigadeiro Cheesecake Tart from From Brazil To You
White Chocolate Cheesecake with Macadamia Nuts and Caramel from Taste and Tell
Snickers Cheesecake from Life, Love and Sugar
Cherry Cheesecake Brownies from Inside BruCrew Life
Lilikoi Cheesecake with Macadamia Nut Shortbread Crust from Dieter’s Downfall
Strawberry Cheesecake Pots from Barbara Bakes
Mom’s Cheesecake from Magnolia Days
Very Berry Cheesecake with Chocolate Oreo Crust from JavaCupcake
Vanilla Bean Cheesecake from Wine & Glue
New York Style Cheesecake from URBAN BAKES
Rainbow Cheesecake from In Katrina’s Kitchen
Chocolate Cheesecake w/ Whisky Toffee Shards from girlichef
No Bake Coconut Lime Cheesecake Bars from Beyond Frosting
Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars from Cooking In Stilettos
Ricotta Cheesecake from French Press
Peanut Butter Cheesecake with Nutella Ganache Topping from The Redhead Baker
Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Cheesecake from Savvy Eats
Caramel Macchiato Cheesecake from Wishes and Dishes
Key Lime Pie Cheesecake from Love and Confections
Apricot-Swirl Cheesecake from Take A Bite Out of Boca
Hawaiian Mini Cheesecakes from Pint Sized Baker
Butter Pecan Caramel No-Bake Mini Cheesecakes from Simply Southern Baking
Pumpkin Cheesecake from Lady Behind The Curtain
Mini cheesecakes with a toasted coconut crust (gluten free) from Quarter Life (Crisis) Cuisine
No Bake Blackberry Cheesecake from You Made That?
Mini No Bake Lime Cheesecakes from Miss in the Kitchen
No-Bake Limoncello Cheesecake from Cake Duchess
No-Bake Berry Cheesecake from Food Lust People Love
Key Lime Trifles from Hoosier Homemade
Hawaiian Chantilly Layer Cheesecake from Wallflour Girl
No Bake Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Bars from Garnish with Lemon
Mango Cheesecake (vegan) from Jessiker Bakes
Salted Caramel Apple Cheesecake from Jane’s Adventures in Dinner
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars from Chez CateyLou
Oreo Ripple Cheesecake from Overtime Cook
No Bake Dulce de Leche Cheesecake with Caramelized Peaches from The Food Charlatan
Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake Ice Cream from Chocolate Moosey
Sugar Cookie Cheesecake from Munchkin Munchies
Caramel cheesecake martini from Happy Food, Healthy Life
Frozen PB&C Cheesecake from Noshing With The Nolands
Chocolate Brownie Cheesecake Cookies from Lemons for Lulu
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