These Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars are like three desserts in one! A creamy cheesecake filling is layered with cookie dough and Reese’s cups on a homemade graham cracker crust.
If this cheesecake sounds like your idea of a perfect dessert, you’ll love this Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Dip too. Or blow everyone away with these Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Cake!
Why this Recipe is Best
Never made cheesecake before?
Cheesecake bar recipes like this one are the perfect place to start. The cheesecake layer is covered with cookie dough and filled with real peanut butter cups for a decadent sweet treat no one can resist.
- Cookies, peanut butter cups and cheesecake: three of life’s bet things in one dessert!
- Packed with mini Reese’s cups.
- Perfect graham cracker crust.
- Cut into bars for easy serving.
If you love today’s chocolate and peanut butter combo, you’ve got to try our favorite no bake peanut butter pie!
Ingredient Notes
- Graham cracker crumbs – Make your own by pulsing whole graham crackers in a food processor until they form fine crumbs. Swap them out for Nutter Butters instead!
- Cream cheese – Use the blocks of cream cheese (not cream cheese “spread” that comes in a tub) for your cheesecake filling.
- Peanut butter morsels – I like the Reese’s peanut butter chips best in these peanut butter cheesecake bars. They taste just like the center of a Reese’s cup.
- Mini peanut butter cups – These are baked in with the cheesecake so you get the irresistible combo of chocolate and peanut butter plus smooth vanilla cheesecake all in one bite. You can make our homemade peanut butter cups and cut into pieces if you like.
PRO TIP- We love making our own homemade vanilla extract, but if using store bought, be sure it’s pure extract, not imitation (for best flavor).
Easy Instructions
How to make the graham cracker crust:
Combine graham cracker crumbs with melted butter and sugar. Press the mixture firmly into the bottom of a rimmed baking dish. Evenly distribute few mini peanut butter cups on top of the unbaked crust.
For the cheesecake filling:
Beat together all the filling ingredients with an electric mixer. Pour over the crust.
For the peanut butter cookie layer:
Combine the butter and sugar first, then stir in the remaining dough ingredients until combined. Fold peanut butter chips into the dough. Drop the dough by large scoops on top of the cheesecake.
Press the rest of your peanut butter cups into the top of the dough. Bake the cheesecake bars until the cookie layer is golden brown.
Tips and Tricks
- Chill for at least 3 hours. The bars need several hours to get nice and cold. I recommend making these the day before so they can chill in the fridge overnight.
- More chocolate: You can make this crust with Oreo cookie crumbs or chocolate graham crackers for even more chocolatey flavor.
- How to store: Keep them tightly covered in the fridge. These peanut butter cheesecake bars stay good for several days in the refrigerator. You can freeze them for longer storage too!
- Use our favorite peanut butter cookie dough for the topping instead!
Recipe FAQs
I make these cheesecake bars in a standard 13 x 9 inch baking dish with raised sides (like a sheet cake pan or brownie pan).
To freeze peanut butter cheesecake bars, place the cut bars on a sheet pan in a single layer. Freeze for 1 -2 hours or until solid. Then transfer the frozen bars to freezer bags with a sheet of wax paper between layers. Let frozen bars thaw overnight in the fridge before serving.
When the cookie layer looks lightly browned, the bars are ready to come out of the oven. The filling will continue firming up as the bars cool.
More Peanut Butter Desserts
- Peanut Butter Mousse Pie with chocolate ganache. You will want to make this recipe. SOON.
- The name says it all: Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bars. No bake bites of deliciousness!
- Peanut Butter Buckeyes: an Ohio favorite
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Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 2 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs about 18 crackers
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
For the cheesecake:
- 2 packages cream cheese, softened 8 ounce each
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Cookie dough:
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 large egg
- 2 Tablespoon milk
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 package Reese's peanut butter chips (morsels) 10 ounce
- 1 pouch Reese's minis peanut butter cups 8 ounce
Instructions
- Line a 13×9 baking dish with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- For the crust, place graham crackers and sugar in food processor. Pulse until fine crumbs. Add melted butter and process. Pour into bottom of baking dish. Using the bottom of a cup (or hands), press crumbs down firmly until they cover the bottom of the dish evenly.
- Top with 1/2 the package of Reese’s minis pb cups.
- For the cheesecake, beat cream cheese with sugar, eggs and vanilla for about 3-4 minutes until creamy and well blended. Pour over crust layer.
- For the cookie dough, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg, milk and vanilla, beating until well combined. Beat in flour, salt and baking soda. Fold in Reese’s peanut butter chips. Drop by large scoops over cheesecake layer, using fingers to spread evenly. Top with remaining peanut butter cups.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, until cookie layer is lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool completely. Once cooled, refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.
- Cut into bars and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Can’t decide between peanut butter cookies and cheesecake? Make them BOTH with this easy Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bar recipe.
I’m addicted to peanut butter and these bars look incredible!
My PB Loving family would go ga-ga over these.
These look so good! But I mean, how can you go wrong with reese’s?!
I haven’t had a good cheesecake in so long, and definitely don’t even remember the last time I had one laced with peanut butter. Now I’m craving it. Must make these with a ll those delicious Peanut Butter & Co. samples from BlogHer Food! Pinned!!!
Oh I love that PB&Co. stuff, delicious!!!
You just took ALL my favorite things and made it into one bar. I can’t even think straight right now due to the NOM factor of these babies!!
These look awesome!
These peanut butter cheesecake bars are making me dance with happiness!!
That is a lot of people over! I’m sure everyone enjoyed the food 🙂
Can’t wait for banana split week!
Love everything about these bars! Can’t go wrong combining peanut butter and cheesecake!
Your get together sounds like it had great food. I think these bars would be my favorite too, they look fantastic!
Anything with all those PB cups and layers of PB and cream cheese has gotta be terrific! pinned
Thanks for pinning!!
Peanut Butter and Cheesecake. Enough said. These look amazing!!
If I’d been at your picnic, I would have eaten all of these. Shamelessly. Because they are that awesome.
I’d tell you to stop it, but I don’t want you to!
Haha, this cracks me up! Thanks Mir 🙂
I love random get-togethers like that! And these bars look absolutely perfect for gatherings with friends… Or sitting alone at my desk trying to work 🙂
Yes, these bars don’t discriminate. I can vouch that they are good with friends, or alone! Ha!
Oh these need to happen in my life!!
I wanna be your neighbor and drink your beer and eat your sweets.
I want you to be my neighbor 🙂
I’d totally show up at your house if you had these bars too 🙂 They look so yummy! And banana split week sounds right up my alley – can’t wait!
I can’t wait for Banana Split week either!! I’ve already got 3 recipes made and ready to go, and I’m dying to share them!!
Yes, that’s totally the way it works! When I go all out planning, only a few people show. When I decide to do something casual, oh so many people come!
Also, will you be my neighbor? And bring these cheesecake bars to my house every Sunday for Sunday supper? Please? 🙂
Oh I would love to be your neighbor. I’d totally be eating YOUR food 🙂
I always love an excuse to get together with neighbors and enjoy some good food! I’m pretty sure I could eat a few of these bars for breakfast too!
Woah now that is one over-the-top delicious-looking dessert. Everything tastes better with cheesecake, even a cookie bar! 🙂
I agree 🙂