Cheesecake is kind of a magical food. It’s hard to not love a good cheesecake. It’s sweet and tangy and rich and creamy all at the same time; it’s pretty much the perfect dessert.

I don’t think I’ve ever had Chubby Hubby ice cream(Phish Food is by far my favorite Ben & Jerry’s flavor), but anything with peanut butter, pretzels, and chocolate has to be good. And that’s exactly what this cheesecake is: A slightly salty pretzel crust with a rich peanut butter cheesecake filling and a sweet chocolate ganache. Ben and Jerry would definitely be proud.

The best thing about this recipe is that it’s no-bake(because, really, who wants to bake at all mid-Summer?). Because of that, the filling isn’t as light and airy as a cheesecake with eggs would be. You could use full-fat cream cheese in this recipe but it gets more than enough richness from the peanut butter.

Chubby Hubby Cheesecake

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 6oz pretzels(about 2 cups)*
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 6 Tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup liquid sweetener(agave, maple syrup, or corn syrup)
• 1-3 Tablespoons water

For the filling:

• 2 8oz blocks Neufchatel or low-fat cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup no-stir peanut butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the ganache:

• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 2 Tablespoons cream or milk
• 1 Tablespoon liquid sweetener(agave, maple syrup, or corn syrup)

*To make this cheesecake gluten-free, use gluten-free pretzels. I like Snyder’s of Hanover’s pretzel sticks.

Method:

1. Pulse the pretzels in a food processor until the crumbs form a coarse flour.
2. Add in the melted butter, powdered sugar, and sweetener and mix.
3. Slowly add in water until the dough starts to stick to itself. You may not need any water or you may need up to a few tablespoons.
4. Press the pretzel dough into the bottom of a cake pan firmly and work it into an even layer.
5. In a separate bowl, mix together all of the filling ingredients on high until the filling is uniform in color and texture.
6. Pour the filling on top of the pretzel crust and spread it out in an even layer. Put the cheesecake in the refrigerator until the center sets.
7. While the cheesecake is chilling, melt the chocolate for the ganache in a microwave or over a double boiler.
8. Whisk in the cream and sweetener.
9. Let the ganache cool slightly until it’s about the same consistency as a buttercream frosting. Scoop the chocolate into a frosting bag or Ziploc bag with a corner cut out and drizzle it on top of the chilled cheesecake.
10. Store in a refrigerator. Let the cheesecake sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving.

Next time I make this I might double the filling so that it’d be about as thick as the Cheesecake Factory cheesecakes that have about enough calories to feed a small family for a week. Gluten-free or not, everyone deserves that in their life from time to time.

I doubt there’s any way you could reinvent s’mores and have it not be delicious. Food bloggers test this theory every Summer and it always holds true. Here’s one more delicious s’mores recipe to throw into the mix.

By the beaches in Maine there are candy shops that sell just about everything covered in chocolate. Graham crackers covered in chocolate? Sure. Marshmallows covered in chocolate? Mhmm. But no s’mores covered in chocolate. Why not? Beats me. Thankfully, you don’t need to travel farther than your kitchen for something as delicious as this.

Instead of melted marshmallows which would get stale in a refrigerator, this recipe uses marshmallow crème which is soft at room temperature just like a melted marshmallow. My favorite part about this is that Fluff is a naturally vegetarian marshmallow option, so you don’t have to go out and buy a $5 bag of marshmallows to get your s’mores fix.

Chocolate Covered S’mores

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 6 squares):

• 12 graham cracker squares
• 1/4 cup marshmallow Fluff
• 6oz chocolate(about 3/4 cup chocolate chips)

Method:

1. On half of the graham crackers, spread roughly 2 teaspoons of Fluff.
2. Sandwich each covered graham cracker with an uncovered one and put these aside.
3. Melt the chocolate in a microwave or over a double boiler until it is smooth and liquid.
4. One by one, lower the s’mores into the melted chocolate. Flip once and use a utensil to make sure the sides are covered as well as the top and bottom.
5. Take the s’mores out of the melted chocolate and put it on a non-stick surface to dry. You can quicken the process by moving them to the refrigerator once you’re done.
6. Repeat with all the s’mores.
7. Store in the refrigerator until ready to eat.

A fun thing to do might be to decorate the outside while the chocolate is melting with graham cracker crumbs and mini-marshmallows. These are the things I think of after I’ve eaten the whole batch. Shame.

This is one of my favorite recipes. I’ve blogged about it several times before and now I’m blogging about it again. It’s worth it though; I promise.

A friend mentioned how much he likes s’mores made with Reese’s peanut butter cups. In the back of my mind popped up my recipe for peanut butter s’mores bars and I promised to make them for July 4th.

After I made them I took fresh-looking photos and updated the recipe page. A few of the commenters who have made this said that their crusts didn’t stick together the way mine has. I think some of the confusion might come from how many graham crackers to use. I use Kinnikinnick 16 graham crackers(3 are pictured above), which would be the same as 4 sheets of graham crackers. It’s also relevant to mention the peanut butter I use for this recipe is always the kind without added oil so it generally mixes easier.

These have all the goodness of s’mores with added peanut butter and put into a portable form. They really are the ultimate Summer dessert. If gluten-free graham crackers didn’t cost an arm and vegetarian marshmallows a leg, I’d probably make these every month. For now they can just be a once in a long-while treat.