Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Jars

My Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Jars are the perfect dessert for two! These layers of flavor and texture will certainly remind you of Reese’s Eggs…but better! Because cheesecake makes everything better. A lack of a real crust makes this recipe gluten-free!

Having an infant in the house and a two year old is mind torture. Yes, I’m slowly yet quickly losing my marbles. Cheers Toodles.

I’m up several times in a night. I’d say 3-5 times, depending on how unlucky I am.

In those times, I’m generally half asleep. But I can’t help but have my mind racing. I’m writing posts. Thinking of things to tell YOU. Things I don’t want to forget to share with you and to write down for my own sake.

And then, I sit down to type and…wait, what was I going to say?

Yeah. That.

So, I’ll just share with you TWO things: my weekend plans that I am SO crazy excited slash nervous about and this AHmazing Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Jars recipe. Just start that crazy scroll downwards if you have to have dessert first.

This weekend I’m attending the International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago! Um…I know!

So, I’m going to geek out over appliances, water bottles, utensils and all the cool peeps that stand in the booths. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll be seeing a lot of it in my Stories! Promise!

I’m also super nervous about it though. I’ll be bringing Easton as a little nursling, stuck to my front in a wrap. I’ll be tending to him while trying to meet all of these people (hello, makers of my appliances and bakeware!) and trying to seem somewhat professional. I don’t own clothes that I’d be comfortable walking around ALL day in with a baby strapped to me that would be considered “business casual” so they’re totally going to look at me like I’m nutters… Yup, totally wearing my yoga tights and tennis shoes.

I also tend to worry about starving to death whenever I leave the house. SO I’ll be frantically looking for free snacks and will be toting a diaper bag full of Larabars. Hashtag fear of starvation.

But, excited will be my primary emotion I’m sure. I love any opportunity to dive deeper into kitchen trends and possibly work with companies that inspire me. Yay!

Now, cheesecake. Specifically Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Jars. Drool.

Lately my love of Reese’s is just amplified. I think it’s each holiday coming out with their own shape of Reese’s “eggs” and I truly just can’t get enough of those. But in my zero-self-control, I also then just want everything to be drizzled and filled with peanut butter and chocolate. Gimme!

And, because my love of no-bake cheesecake in jars isn’t going to die anytime soon…

You know.

So, this one is super simple, but it has a few steps. You want a bottom layer, full of texture, a middle creamy cheesecake layer and a chocolate ganache topping…and more texture on top too.

I stuffed the bottoms originally with peanuts, chopped peanut butter cups (I prefer the Trader Joe’s dark chocolate cups here) and gluten-free pretzels. As much as I loved the idea, it was terrible. The pretzels became soft and chewy because of the moisture from the cheesecake. Nope. No. Gross.

So in the bottom, just stick to salted peanuts and peanut butter cups. Trust me.

The cheesecake layer is SO easy. You just whisk together a few ingredients until it’s super smooth and somewhat fluffy. Done.

The ganache is actually easy too. Ganache only sounds complicated and fancy. It’s really just melted chocolate and a cream, by which I have chosen coconut milk cream. This makes it silky and beautiful and ensures it’s not rock solid when it’s refrigerated. That thick rich layer of ganache is perfection on top of a fluffy layer of peanut butter cheesecake.

Then, you can top it just like the bottom layer or sprinkle on a few more peanuts, totally up to you. It really is that easy!

Grab a spoon. Let’s do this!

Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Jars
Recipe by Melissa @ Treats With A Twist
Makes 2 portions

INGREDIENTS
4oz cream cheese (full fat), room temperature
3 Tbs. creamy peanut butter (I used Smuckers natural)
2 Tbs. maple syrup or honey
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup + 1 Tbs. chocolate chips
1 ½ Tbs. full fat coconut milk/cream
¼ cup salted peanuts
2-4 mini peanut butter cups (I used Trader Joe’s dark chocolate ones)

METHOD
Chop up 3 Tbs. of salted peanuts and 2 mini peanut butter cups and divide those between the two jars. This is your bottom layer.
Next, in a bowl, combine the cream cheese, peanut butter, maple syrup (or honey) and vanilla and whisk until completely combined. Divide the cheesecake mixture between the two jars and smooth the tops.

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate. I did increments of 45sec, stirring between, until the chocolate was melted. Add the coconut milk or cream and whisk until glossy and smooth (I opened an organic coconut milk can and just took some thick coconut cream from the top without mixing the can). Divide the ganache between the two jars then gently tap the jars on your table to ensure the chocolate is even and smooth on top. Refrigerate until the chocolate is firmed up (30 min).

Finally, chop up the rest of your peanuts and another couple peanut butter cups (optional) to top it all off! Grab a spoon and enjoy!

NOTES
You can prepare these jars and keep them in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Yes, you can use any nut/seed butter for this. It’d be amazing with almond butter, right?

To Print this recipe, copy and paste the text into a new window on your computer and hit print. Sorry for the lack of “click to print” but we’re just making due now, aren’t we? Xoxo

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Anybody catch the Hook reference? Ok, we can be besties now.

My other favorite cheesecakes in jars are THIS ONE…this one…oh and this one!!