Easy No-Bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake

This sounded easy and so good.  It's the last dessert from Back of the Box.  They want you to buy the peanut butter chips, but I buy those almost all the time, so I didn't do it because they told me to.

Easy No-Bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake
Chocolate crumb crust:
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
Cheesecake:
1 8-oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 10 oz pkg Reese's peanut butter chips
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup cold whipping cream, whipped
Sliced fresh fruit for garnish, optional (I did not add this--peanut butter and fruit doesn't sound good to me at all)

For the crust:  Stir together crust ingredients in medium bowl until blended.  Press firmly onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan (which I now have because my mom got me one for Christmas last year).
For the cheesecake: Beat cream cheese with lemon juice in a large bowl until fluffy.  Combine peanut butter chips and sweetened condensed milk in medium saucepan.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly (I confess I did NOT stir constantly), until chips are melted and mixture is smooth; add to cream cheese mixture, beating until well blended.  Beat whipping cream in small bowl until stiff.  Fold into cream cheese mixture.  Pour over crust.  Cover and freeze 4-6 hours or until firm.  Remove sides of pan.  Garnish with fruit if desired.

I only have 1 mixing bowl, so first I whipped the cream and transferred it to a different bowl, then washed my mixing bowl so I could do the cream cheese mixture.  I made this last night after supper, so it was in the freezer for 24 hours.  When I got to Lisa's house, I put it in her fridge; it was there for about an hour and a half before we cut into it, and with a sharp knife it cut with no problems.  My springform pan sprang apart perfectly.  Some crumbs escaped onto the counter but probably because I didn't "press firmly" enough during that step.

This came out incredibly good.  Even all the kids liked it.  A few of them said it more than once.  And then all 3 of my kids said this is the kind of birthday cake they want when it's their birthday.  So I guess you could say it's pretty good.  Some grown ups (Nick and Steve) had 2 pieces.  It was rich, but not too rich.  Not too sweet, but not like some cheesecakes I've had that are SO rich and thick and not very sweet at all.  It was a very nice balance. I have a friend and blog reader who makes incredible cheesecakes, the real kind, not the no-bake kind.  She might give us some tips.  Stay tuned for that  =o)