Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cheesecake Squares

The name says it all. These are the best cheesecake bites you'll ever taste! The combination of chocolate, peanut butter, and pretzels is a perfect sweet and salty flavor.  Here's how to make them:

Ingredients:
For the base/crust:

1 stick of butter
4 cups pretzels
2 tbsp. Brown sugar
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

For the cheesecake:

2 8 oz. Packages of cream cheese
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/8 tsp. Salt
1/2 cup peanut butter

For the drizzled chocolate sauce:

1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chocolate chips


A few hours before you make these, take the eggs and cream cheese out and leave on counter so they get to room temp.

Now, take 4 cups of pretzels and crush until they are finely ground crumbs. Use a food processor or, if you don't have one (like me) you can put them into a large ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to crush them.  Microwave the butter until melted. In a bowl, add butter and brown sugar to pretzel crumbs, and stir until well mixed.

In a nonstick square pan, evenly spread the mixture. Press down firmly into pan, using the bottom of a cup so that it is really packed down.

Bake at 350 degrees for ten minutes. Take out, pour the chocolate chips onto the crust, and bake for three more minutes. Take this out, spread chocolate around evenly, and let this sit on counter while you mix the cheesecake.

For the cheesecake, mix the cream cheese and brown sugar using an electric mixer. My trusty Kitchenaid worked like a charm for this. You want this to be really creamy.  I mixed it on medium speed for about 5 minutes. Now, add the eggs one at a time. Mix, and then add the peanut butter, salt, and vanilla. Make sure this is nicely mixed as well.

Pour this on top of the crust base, and spread evenly. Bake for 30 minutes. The edges should look brown, and the middle may look a bit jiggly when it is done.

Put this in the fridge for 3 hours.

For the topping, microwave the heavy cream for about 30 seconds. Add the chocolate chips into it. Let it sit for a few minutes, and then stir until it is all melted together. Pour into a plastic bag, cut one of the corners off,  and squeeze this onto the cheesecake in zig zagged lines. When done, carefully cut the cheesecake into squares.

Enjoy!