Chocolate Peanut Cheesecakes

For Graham Cracker and Peanut Crust:

Preheat oven 350°F / 180º C. Coat the mini-cheesecake pans with cooking spray.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the graham cracker crumbs and peanuts and pulse several times or until thoroughly incorporated. Add melted butter, sugar and cinnamon. Pulse a few more times to combine. Divide the crust mixture among the wells of the prepared pan. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom of the well (the bottom of a small glass works well for this).

Bake for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 300ºF / 150º C.

For Cream Cheese Filling:

In a large bowl beat cream cheese. sugar and vanilla together with an electric mixer until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Sprinkle with flour and add eggs one at a time, mixing until creamy. Divide the filling into two equal portions. Add the peanut butter to one and the cocoa powder to the other; mix each until smooth and creamy.

Spoon a layer of the chocolate cream cheese filling over the graham cracker crusts and smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Repeat the process with the peanut butter cream cheese filling.

Bake until just set, about 20 to 22 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through baking process to promote even baking. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. Remove from pan.

For Ganache Topping:

Place the chopped chocolate in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let stand for about 2 minutes. Whisk gently until a smooth ganache has formed. Whisk in the butter until completely blended. Let ganache rest at room temperature until slightly thickened.