For weeks, I test out pie recipe after pie recipe, putting my very favorites right here on JAB for all to enjoy. But when the big day comes, I have to decide which pies to put on the table. So far, I’m committed to a Dutch apple pie with oat crust and some kind of cookie pie, as well as my pumpkin ganache pie. But that leaves two pies up in the air, plus a non-pie dessert. I’m thinking Kahlua cake.

These little guys are certainly a serious contender. They’re small enough to be portion-controlled (though who wants that on Thanksgiving?), and they have just the right amount of both chocolate and pumpkin. Plus, they’re elegant. I’m quite a fan.

I was busy watching an episode of Next Great Baker this morning while I whipped up some ganache. First of all, I love that show, but I love baking while I watch that show even more. If you’re not familiar, a posse of bakers vie for the grand prize from Cake Boss star Buddy Valastro, which usually includes a whole lotta cash as well as a chance to work at Carlo’s Bakery. The bakers have to be smart and talented, but they also have to move very fast.

The show really should be called Next Great Cake Decorator, because that’s the focus. I’ve seen many a clearly talented baker get booted because a cake failed. Sometimes the flaws are structural, but often, it’s that the decorating just doesn’t go that well. I have a lot of faith in my baking skills, but I’d never do that well on the show because my fondant skills just…aren’t.  I don’t even like fondant.

What Buddy should totally do is a Next Great Baking Blogger show. I’d watch that, and I bet some of you would, too. We could all vie for some awesome prize, like Queen of the Baking World. I’ve always wanted a crown. Or heck, we could also compete for cold hard cash. I like that, too.

While I was watching this morning, I saw these two huge, jacked-up bakers from New Jersey flexing their various muscle groups and looking so proud of their ability to lift gigantic cakes. And all I could think about was how proud they were of their hugeness. I’ve always been petite, and I’m cool with that. So I guess we love what we relate to. They love their giant cake, and I love my little pies.

These are so cute, and of course, they aren’t just pumpkin. They’re chocolate pumpkin. To make the filling, you literally melt chocolate and add it to all the standard pumpkin pie ingredients. The result is pretty noteworthy. The pie tastes a lot like pumpkin pie, but there’s that added richness of the chocolate. If you’ve never tried it, I urge you to give it a shot.

I used refrigerated dough, rolling out little circles and placing them in a muffin tin. In went the filling, and after baking and a night of chilling, I piped a lattice design on top with hot fudge. If you never use hot fudge for decorating, you should. It comes out more slowly than melted chocolate, giving you more control over the final look.

Even as I write this, I’m itching to get back to Next Great Baker. I’m so much more productive in the kitchen when I can bake right along with a whole slew of hyper-competitive dessert chefs. Or cake decorators. Whatever they are, they’re fun. And so are these little tiny pies! Try to work both into your life, if you possibly can.

This one is special, folks. While I say I don’t like to play favorites with my desserts, this one is too good for me to lie about. It’s ridiculous. If you’re a peanut butter and chocolate addict, making this cheesepake is not even optional. Get into your kitchen. Now!

So I have a little confession: the cheesecake base is skinny. But honestly, you won’t even notice. The filling is nice and thick and tastes completely sinful. You see, I have this philosophy about dessert. Whenever I go to one of those self-serve frozen yogurt shops (okay, I go all the time), I always get fat-free or low fat frozen yogurt and then I cover it with peanut butter cups, chocolate chips, Snickers pieces, and brownie bites. See? Balance. And the same philosophy applies to this cheesepake.

Because, dear partners in crime, mixed into this healthier base is joy. I mean, peanut butter cups. Lots of them. And then the cheesepake is topped with more peanut butter cups and hot fduge sauce. Mmm. And the best sneaky part is the graham cracker crust, into which I melted peanut butter chips to give the base an extra peanut butter kick. To make things even crazier, I always use brown sugar in the crust. It gives the base a caramelized edge. I have been known to eat the crust by itself because it’s kind of like an awesome cookie bonus. Woohoo!

Sorry. Ahem. I’m just so worked up about this. I love cheesecake. I love pie. I love peanut butter cups. It’s like magic has just exploded onto my plate. How could I not be excited?

I’m not going to say anything else about this. I’m a woman of action, and I need to act right now and eat this thing before someone else gets to it. So pardon me and enjoy the recipe!

Crust:

• 1/3 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup peanut butter chips (I used Reese’s)
• 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1  cup graham cracker crumbs

Filling:

• 16 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese (you can use regular, but not fat-free)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup fat-free vanilla Greek yogurt
• 2 egg whites
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 cup peanut butter chips
• 1 package mini Reese’s (the unwrapped kind)

Topping:

• hot fudge sauce
• 8 snack-sized Reese’s, cut into trianges of varying shapes/sizes

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a pie pan with cooking spray.

Melt the butter and peanut butter chips in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir until smooth, and then mix in the brown sugar and graham cracker crumbs until the mixture is moist and crumbly. Press the crust firmly into the pie pan, working the crust up the sides.

Bake the crust for 5-10 minutes until set.

While the crust is baking, prepare the cheesecake filling. Beat the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth. Add the egg whites, egg, yogurt, vanilla and lemon juice and beat once more until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Fold in the mini peanut butter cups and peanut butter chips.

Pour the cheesecake filling into the pie crust and bake for 45 minutes. Do not open the oven while baking or cracks will appear on the surface.

Remove the cheesepake from the oven and allow to cool. Sprinkle the chopped peanut butter cups evenly over the surface and then drizzle with hot fudge sauce.

Chill for three hours (or preferably overnight). Slice into wedges and serve!