Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cheesecake

I was bored at work (hard to believe) and was poking around on Recipezaar. I somehow stumbled across the cheesecake section. Bad idea. I found three or four recipes that I have to try now. The recipes were:

• Cookie Dough Cheesecake
• Peanut Butter Cheesecake
• Turtle Cheesecake

I decided to start with the Peanut Butter Cheesecake. I had a hard time choosing between this recipe and this one. I ended up choosing the latter; the first simply looks too sinfully decadent. Maybe another time... Anyway, keeping with my quest for making recipe's more healthy, I substituted lower fat cream cheese and lower fat sour cream. The taste difference is negligible and I'm sure my stomach will appreciate any decrease in calories, however small.

Ingredients:
Crust:

• 1 cup Graham Cracker, crushed (I used Kinnikinnick S'moreables)
• 1/2 cup Oreo Cookie, crushed (I used Kinninkinnick Kinnitoos)
• 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
• 6 tbsp Butter, melted
• 3/4 cup Creamy Peanut Butter

Filling:

• 3 8oz packages Cream Cheese, softened (low fat works great)
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Sour Cream (low fat works great)
• 3 large Eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
• 1 cup Chocolate Fudge Topping
• 6 Reese Peanut Butter Cups

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine cracker crumbs, cookie crumbs, sugar and butter
2. Press on the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a greased 9 inch springform pan.
3. Bake at 350º for 7-9 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
4. In a microwave safe bowl, heat peanut butter on HIGH for 30 seconds or until softened. Spread carefully over crust to within 1 inch of edges.
5. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and sour cream until smooth. Add eggs and beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in vanilla. Pour one cup of cream cheese batter into a bowl and set aside. Pour remaining filling over peanut butter in crust.
6. In a microwave safe bowl, heat 1/4 cup hot fudge topping on HIGH for 30 seconds or until thin. Fold into reserved cream cheese batter. Carefully spoon over filling and cut through filling with a knife to swirl being careful not to disturb peanut butter layer or the crust.
7. Bake at 350º for 55-65 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen but do not remove sides. Cool 1 hour longer on wire rack.
8. Microwave remaining hot fudge topping for 30 seconds or until warmed. Spread over cheesecake. Garnish with peanut butter cups.
9. Refrigerate overnight. Remove sides of pan and serve.

I spread some chunky peanut butter around the perimeter of the top. The design is up to you, but I arranged my peanut butter cups in a spiral pattern on the top. Enjoy!


Nutritional information:
12 Servings @ 2.35" each