Chocolate Peanut Butter {Birthday} Cheesecake

 What is a birthday without cake?

If you have been reading for a while, you know, I don't really like cake.

So I have birthday cheesecake. 

#bestcakeever

  

This was for my birthday party and was icing chocolate chips on the cake cheesecake to the day.  Smooth, creamy, sweet, chocolatey decadence.  So crazy good.

There is a great story behind this cutting board. My friend Abby asked me what I wanted and I listed some stuff. But then, I said, if you want to get something really specific, I would love a wooden cutting board.

Yeah. 

So while she is shopping for me, she gets a text from a friend asking what she was doing. She replied back that she was shopping for birthday presents. The other friend who and what and Abby replied, "Mary Frances; makeup and ... a wooden cutting board."

Yeah. 

Isn't she the sweetest?  If someone had asked me for a wooden cutting board, I'm not sure what I would do. 

Laugh?

I sure did when I saw she had gotten me it. Like I said, true friends get you the crazy stuff you want. Like wooden cutting boards. 

I just had to use it in these pictures. I received so many amazing gifts from friends, many of them food blogging related, so be prepared, they will be talked about in upcoming posts!

I was going to do a totally different cheesecake, but I was pressed for time and so I used the same base for Nathan's Snickers Cheesecake, but added peanut butter and chocolate chips. If it ain't broke, don't change it. This is a softer cheesecake, thanks to the peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk and when I made it, I only used a 1/3 cup peanut butter and the flavor was hardly there. So for real peanut butter flavor, I would add another 1/3 cup. It is extremely delicious and decadent either way!

Chocolate Peanut Butter {Birthday} Cheesecake
Recipe Source: The Sweet {Tooth} Life.  Adapted from Taste of Home.
Yield: 16 servings

Crust:

1-3/4 cups Oreos (about 28 wafers)

1/4 cup butter, melted

Filling:

3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened (I used low fat)

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

3/4 cup chocolate syrup

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup peanut butter (add another 1/3 cup for peanut butter flavor)

1 cup chocolate chips

In a small bowl, combine wafer crumbs and butter. Press onto the bottom and 1-1/2 in. up the sides of a greased 9-in. springform pan. Place pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 18 in. square); securely wrap foil around pan. Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 325° for 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, milk, chocolate syrup and vanilla until smooth. Add eggs; beat just until combined.  Stir in salt and peanut butter.  Pour into crust. Sprinkle chocolate chips over top.  Place springform pan in a large baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan.

Bake at 325° for 75-80 minutes or until center is just set and top appears dull. Remove springform pan from water bath. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight.