Description
This decadent Nutter Butter Cheesecake combines the rich creaminess of peanut butter and cream cheese with the crunchy sweetness of Nutter Butter cookies and Heath toffee bars. Featuring a buttery cookie crust, a smooth peanut butter cheesecake filling, and a luscious sour cream topping, this dessert is baked in a water bath to ensure a velvety texture, then decorated with peanut butter cream and mini cookies for an impressive finish.
Ingredients
Scale
Crust
- Cooking spray
- 18 Nutter Butter cookies
- 2 Heath bars (2.8 oz total)
- 6 tbsp. melted butter
- Pinch kosher salt
Cheesecake Filling
- 3 (8-oz.) blocks cream cheese, softened
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
Sour Cream Topping
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Peanut Butter Decoration
- 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 tbsp. heavy cream
- 8 mini Nutter Butter cookies (or 4 crushed Nutter Butter cookies)
- 2 Heath bars (2.8 oz total), chopped into small pieces
Instructions
- Preheat and Prepare Pan: Preheat your oven to 325ºF and spray an 8” or 9” springform pan with cooking spray to prevent sticking.
- Make Crust: Crush the Nutter Butter cookies until fine crumbs form using a resealable bag and rolling pin, or a food processor. Transfer the crumbs into a bowl. Next, place the Heath bars into a resealable bag and crush them into pea-sized pieces using a rolling pin or skillet. Combine the toffee pieces with the cookie crumbs, melted butter, and a pinch of kosher salt, stirring until fully incorporated.
- Prepare Cheesecake Filling: Using a hand mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat softened cream cheese until smooth. Add the peanut butter and granulated sugar and blend thoroughly. Beat in the eggs one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Mix in sour cream, vanilla extract, and kosher salt, being careful not to overmix.
- Assemble Cheesecake: Press the prepared cookie-toffee crust firmly into the bottom and about one-third up the sides of the springform pan. Pour the cheesecake filling over the crust evenly. Wrap the bottom of the pan with aluminum foil to prevent water leakage during baking.
- Bake in Water Bath: Place the wrapped springform pan into a large roasting pan. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until the center of the cheesecake slightly jiggles when gently shaken.
- Add Sour Cream Topping and Finish Baking: While the cheesecake bakes, mix sour cream, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl. After the initial bake, spread this topping evenly over the cheesecake surface. Return the cake to the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes.
- Cool Cheesecake: Turn off the oven and prop the door open. Let the cheesecake cool inside the oven for 1 hour, then transfer it to the refrigerator to chill for at least 5 hours or overnight for best results.
- Prepare Peanut Butter Decoration: Blend peanut butter and heavy cream with a hand mixer until smooth and creamy. Fill a pastry bag with the mixture, snip off the tip, and pipe the peanut butter cream onto the chilled cheesecake in a diamond lattice pattern by piping lines in one direction, slightly rotating the cake, and piping intersecting lines.
- Decorate and Serve: Top the decorated cheesecake with mini Nutter Butter cookies or crushed Nutter Butters, and sprinkle with chopped toffee pieces from the Heath bars. Slice and serve chilled.
Notes
- Chilling the cheesecake overnight improves texture and flavor.
- Wrapping the springform pan in foil prevents water from leaking into the cheesecake during the water bath bake.
- You can crush Nutter Butter cookies and Heath bars by hand with a rolling pin if you don’t have a food processor.
- Do not overmix the batter after adding eggs to prevent cracking in the cheesecake.
- Use full-fat cream cheese and peanut butter for the best creamy texture.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Nutter Butter cheesecake, peanut butter cheesecake, toffee cheesecake, creamy dessert, baked cheesecake, peanut butter dessert, Heath bar dessert
