Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

To prepare the crust, place the cookies in a large Ziploc bag and roll a rolling pin over the bag until the cookies are crushed. You can also blend the cookies to form crumbs in a food processor, but I found this method easier. Add the Peanut Butter Bites by crumbling them with your fingers to join the crumbs. Melt butter in the microwave or over a low flame and add to the crumbs.

Butter a square springform pan by rubbing a stick of butter around the edges and bottom of the pan. Press the crumb mixture firmly into the bottom of the pan.

Bake crust for ten minutes, until firm. Set aside while you prepare the cheesecake batter.

Melt white chocolate and set aside.

Beat cream cheese on high speed for three minutes (using a mixer fitted with beaters or immersion blender). Add sugar, vanilla sugar, almond extract (if using) and beat well. Add eggs and mix until combined. Add melted chocolate.

Pour over cooled crust.

Wrap the pan securely in foil and place in a roaster pan. Fill roaster pan with one and a half inches of boiling water. Bake for one hour and 20 minutes until the top is golden brown and dry to touch. Allow to cool at room temperature for two hours.

You can prepare this ganache and pour it over the cheesecake before frosting the cake if you want an extra burst of peanut butter flavor.

Heat heavy cream in microwave or over flame until boiling. Combine peanut butter and white chocolate in a bowl and pour the boiling heavy cream over it. Let it sit for a minute and then stir to form a ganache. Allow it to cool in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes before using. Pour over cheesecake before frosting.

Prepare the Peanut Butter Frosting. Beat butter and cream cheese for three to five minutes on high speed until light and fluffy. Add confectioner’s sugar and vanilla sugar and beat well.

Divide mixture in half.

Add peanut butter to one half and leave the other half white.

Prepare three piping bags. Fit two of the piping bags with a large round tip and one with a large star tip.

Fill the bag with the large star tip with peanut butter frosting. Fill one bag with the large round tip with additional peanut butter frosting and the other with white frosting.

Pipe stars and dots using all three piping bags in a random pattern around the surface of the cake, covering the surface completely.

Crumble Peanut Butter Bites between your fingers and fill each crevice (spaces formed in between dots and stars) with Peanut Butter Bite crumbs.

Slice Peanut Butter Bites in half with a sharp knife and place the halves randomly throughout the piped dots and stars.

Add chocolate square garnish (see below).

Melt one 3.5-ounce bar of white dairy chocolate (or, for chocolate variation, use brown milk chocolate). Spread melted chocolate on a sheet of parchment paper using a knife and then tap the parchment on a flat surface to even out the chocolate.

Sprinkle Peanut Butter Bite crumbs (crumble it between your fingers) over chocolate and place in refrigerator for one minute.

Remove from refrigerator and use a square shaped cookie cutter or a knife to cut squares. Place in the freezer for a few minutes and carefully remove the squares.