My husband's birthday was yesterday and for his birthday cake I decided to make something involving cheesecake (his favorite...or wait, is it my favorite?!?!?), peanut butter (ok, that's his favorite!) and chocolate. I initially was thinking of making a regular size chocolate peanut butter cheesecake, but since he's been watching what he eats and exercising regularly (and asking me to not keep sweets in the house because they tempt him!) I decided to look for something different. Imagine my surprise when I found a recipe for chocolate peanut butter cheesecake LOLLIPOPS! The great thing about these is that they can be freezed, so we won't feel the need to polish off an entire cheesecake before it goes bad in a week...but who am I kidding - this pregnant lady may still polish them off in a week ;)
Let me tell you, this recipe did not disappoint! I will definitely keep this one around to make again in the future!
These were relatively easy to make and the best part was that I already had all the ingredients (including the lollipop sticks - leftover from last years hot cocoa on a stick!).
Here's the yummy recipe!
The only thing I have to say about the recipe, is that the dipping chocolate wasn't enough for my 36 lollipops. So I ended up only dipping about half of them in chocolate before I ran out (maybe mine wasn't thin enough?) and then froze the rest without chocolate. I figure I can easily pull them out of the freezer and dip them in chocolate as needed :)
Ingredients:
Cheesecake-
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups creamy peanut butter
Chocolate-
5 tablespoons butter
12 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Line a 8 by 8-inch baking pan with foil letting long flaps overlap on each side. Spray foil with nonstick spray.
2. In a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until very smooth. Add the cream and beat slowly; then add the yolks and vanilla mixing until just combined. Gently stir in peanut butter. Take care not to over beat the mixture; this incorporates too much air and causes the cheesecake to crack.
3. Pour and evenly spread the batter in the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Open the oven to release some heat, then lower the temperature to 200 degrees F. Continue to bake the cheesecake until the outside is set but the center is still loose, for about 45 minutes. Turn off the oven, and cool cheesecake in the oven for 45 more minutes. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
4. Lift cheesecake from the pan by lifting up the foil. Transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes. Stick a wooden pop stick halfway into each bar and freeze for 1 hour.
5. Meanwhile, put the butter and chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with an inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching, the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.
6. Dip the pops into the chocolate mixture, and stand on waxed paper to set, about 5 minutes. Serve cold (straight from the fridge), or freeze up to 2 weeks.
