Wholesome Wednesday: Black Bottom Peanut Butter Cheesecakes

Recently, I saw these Individual Peanut Butter Cheesecakes and thought they'd be so much better with a chocolate crust.  I always want to pair peanut butter up with chocolate.  In my mind they always go together.  :)

So the only difference in this recipe is the crust.  I also halved the recipe.  Twelve cheesecakes seemed like a lot to me, when I only wanted a simple quick dessert.  Although next time I'm thinking less sugar and some honey in the cheesecake part too.  Another great addition would be either a chocolate ganache or a thick caramel on top of the crust.

Black Bottom Peanut Butter Cheesecakes

Crust:
3/4 cup Oreo cookie crumbs (or your fave chocolate cookie)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
1 (8oz) package 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 12 count muffin tin with 6 liners.

In a medium bowl, mix together crust ingredients till combined.  Using a tablespoon, scoop a heaping tablespoon into the bottom of each cup.  Use the back of a spoon to press the crust down and also up the sides.  Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar till smooth.  Add vanilla and peanut butter.  Beat again until smooth.  Add flour; mix till smooth.  Then add egg and beat till smooth.

Scoop filling into cups, lightly smoothing tops.  Bake for 20 minutes or until centers are set.  If worried about cracking, add another pan with water to a lower oven shelf.  Cool to room temperature.  Refrigerate or serve warm.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal

I really love baked oatmeal.  Pretty much any kind or flavor.  So much so that I thought this Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal would be fantastic.  :)

I love the way these turned out.  Baking for just 20 minutes gives you a custardy like oatmeal that is firm but not dry.  And the melty chocolate chips are just amazing.  :)

I normally make a recipe for 2 people but this recipe is easy to cut in half.  You'll need some ramekins.  I use 1/2 cup ones.  So if you do it that way you'll need 4.  The other great thing about this recipe is you can make it in advance and put it in the fridge for the next morning.  About a minute in the microwave and its just as great as if it were straight out of the oven.  I haven't tried to freeze them yet but I bet that would work too.  

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal

1 c oats (either quick or regular)
1/2 t vanilla
1 T sugar (I've been using Madhava Coconut sugar)
1/2 c unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 c Mocha coffee mate (you could also use milk if you wanted less chocolate flavor)
1 T creamy peanut butter
1 T salted butter, melted (if you use unsalted, add a dash of salt)
handful of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease all ramekins either with oil or cooking spray.  Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl, then mix in the wet.  Spoon into ramekins.  Bake for 20 minutes.  (If you like your oatmeal really firm you can add a few more minutes).  Broil on high 3-5 minutes till it gets a nice crust.

Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

All I have to say is YUM!!

Saveur Smith Island Cake

This is the newest fancy dessert we've tried at my house.  Saveur's Smith Island Cake is definitely worth the work to make.  I was a little worried that the frosting wouldn't set up because it was incredibly liquid when I was spreading it on the cake.  But it did after it had been in the fridge overnight. 

The other important instruction in the directions was to make sure to make the batter thicker towards the edge of the pan.  This gave each layer a little lip which helped keep the frosting in place between layers.  The layers also cooked extremely quickly.  Mine took 12 minutes for each set of 4 pans.  Depending on your oven you'll definitely want to keep an eye on them though.  Next time I'd definitely use more peanut butter cups between the layers.  Probably double.  The recipe did make a tasty cake though.  I'd recommend it.  :)