Combine the Oreos, melted butter, and salt into a food processor and blend until the Oreos are pulverized. If you don’t have a food processor, or just don’t want to dirty one up, you can get a similar effect with combining all the ingredients into a gallon bag and smashing it with a rolling pin. You just won’t get as small of pieces, and you’ll want to make sure the shards of Oreo aren’t making holes in your bag. (Tip: Just dirty the food processor.)
If you’re planning on removing the cake from the springform completely (including the bottom sheet), you should cut out a 9-inch circle of parchment paper to line the bottom of the pan with for a clean an easy removal.
Dump the pulverized Oreo mixture into a 9-inch springform pan and pack them down. I like a thick crust on the bottom, so I don’t hedge up the sides of my crust too much, but you can pack the crust up the sides of the spring form if you’d like, Just be careful transferring it to the oven because the edges will be fragile.
Bake for 10-12 minutes and set the crust aside to cool.
In a medium-large bowl, beat the cream cheese until it’s smooth. Then add the eggs own at a time, making sure they’re well incorporated. After the eggs you can add the brown sugar, peanut butter, cream, and vanilla, beating the mixture until it’s silky smooth.
Chop up one of the pouches of miniature Reeses cups and fold them ALL (minus the couple that already found their way into your mouth) into the mixture. Pour the mixture into your cooled and prepared crust.
Wrap the springform pan tightly with foil. It’s best to use three layers to make sure it’s sealed. Place the spring form in a larger pan (I use my 11 inch cast iron skillet) and fill the bottom with about an inch of water to form water-bath. (If you don’t have a larger pan, just bake it without the water-bath. Your cheesecake is more likely to be slightly under-baked in the middle and cracked, but you can solve both of those problems by cooking the cake a few minutes longer and covering the finished cake with a layer of ganache.)
Bake for an hour and check the cake. When you shake the springform there should be a slight jiggle to the center but not the edges! (The jiggle should only span about 3 inches). When you’ve reached the right amount of jiggle, turn off the oven, but don’t remove the cake. I let it sit in the cooling oven for about an hour before I remove it from the water bath and foil and transfer it to the fridge to let it cool completely.
Once the cake is cooled, you can take the cake out of the spring form. (It helps to run a knife around the edges to loosen the cake for a clean separation.) If you’re also removing the bottom sheet to put the cheesecake on a stand or platter, slide a spatula under the parchment paper that’s below the crust. You should be able to use the spatula to slide and maneuver the cake into place.
Now make the ganache. Heat the cream to a boil and then remove it from the heat. Add in the chocolate chips and stir until they’re all melted and the ganache is smooth. Immediately pour the ganache over the cake.
Optional Toppings:
Open the second pouch of miniature Reeses cups and dump it straight in the middle of the cake. Decorating has never been easier.
Heat the two tablespoons of peanut butter up in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds and pour as much of it as you can into a plastic baggie. Snip off a small corner of the plastic bag and drizzle your desired amount of peanut butter over the cake.
You can serve immediately or keep it refrigerated for up to a week. You can also cut up single serving pieces, wrap them in plastic wrap, then foil, and freeze them. They will last this way for up to 8 months!
