Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake
Merry Christmas! Today I would like to share a brand new recipe for Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake that I must admit is not totally clean. However, it is completely from scratch which is the most important part. Plus this is a Christmas Special Edition post, so we can indulge a little. 🙂
For my family’s Thanksgiving this year, I tried my hand at my first ever cheesecake. It had a double chocolate chip cookie crust, pumpkin spice filling, chocolate ganache topping, and some buttercream piped around the border to clean up the edges. I know, it was probably the least healthy thing I’ve ever made, but in my defense it was 100% from scratch–even the cookies for the crust. (My favorite cookies to use are Andes Candies Cookies!)
Although traditional cream cheese would work in to make this Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake, if you’d like to knock off a few calories, go with Neufchatel cheese instead. It has a third of the fat as regular. It’s also important to make sure that aren’t too many added gums and stabilizers added to the cheese. That’s why I prefer using Organic Valley’s which only contains organic locust bean gum in addition to the milk and enzymes.
Anyway, this whole endeavor inspired me to take a standard chocolate cheesecake recipe and make a Christmas edition by making a peppermint chocolate ganache and topping it off with some crushed candy canes.
Now this is a pretty involved recipes, so be sure to read through the whole thing before you start and make sure you have plenty of time to spend in the kitchen. Enjoy and merry Christmas!
More Recipes to Try
- Chocolate Drizzled Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Chocolate Cappuccino Cheesecake
- Coffee Glazed Mocha Cheesecake
- Lemon Curd Cheesecake
- Gluten Free Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake
- Gluten-Free Medjool Cheesecake
Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake
Equipment
- 8 inch springform pan
- Food processor
- Double boiler
- Stand mixer
Ingredients
Crust
- 1½ cups Andes Candies Cookies crumbled in food processor
- ¼ cup Irish butter melted
Filling
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- 2 Tbsp Irish butter melted
- 16 oz Organic Valley Neufchatel cheese room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 Tbsp raw honey
- 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder sifted
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp Celtic sea salt
Chocolate Peppermint Ganache
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips
- ⅓ cup Organic Valley whipping cream
- 1 tsp Irish butter melted
- ¼ tsp peppermint extract
- Crushed candy canes
Instructions
Crust
- Line the bottom of an 8 inch springform pan with parchment paper and grease the sides with melted butter.
- In a small bowl, whisk the cookie crumbs with the melted butter. Then press the mixture firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Set aside.
Filling
- Add approximately an inch of water to the bottom of a double boiler and melt one cup of dark chocolate chips on medium-low heat. Stir every few minutes and be sure not to get any water or steam in the chocolate.
- When the chocolate is smooth, remove from heat and stir in 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Preheat oven to 325°F.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the Neufchatel cheese, chocolate mixture, sugar, honey, cocoa, vanilla, and sea salt.
- Turn the mixer to low and mix until all the ingredients are smooth and creamy. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl every so often to make sure all the ingredients are being incorporated. Do not overmix.
- Transfer the filling to the springform pan and use a small offset spatula to smooth it out evenly in the pan.
- Place the springform pan on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Do not open the oven at all during this time!
- Turn off the oven and let the cheesecake rest in the oven for another 30 minutes. Do not open the oven until it is time to take the cheesecake out.
- Remove cheesecake from oven and allow it to cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before refrigerating for at least 3 hours.
Chocolate Peppermint Ganache
- Place ½ cup of dark chocolate chips in a heat safe bowl.
- In a small saucepan, bring the whipping cream to a boil on medium-low heat. Stir in the melted butter.
- Remove from heat and pour the cream mixture onto the chocolate chips and let stand for 5 minutes.
- When the time is up, whisk the mixture until smooth and creamy. Then stir in the peppermint extract.
- Pour the ganache on the cheesecake and smooth it out with a small offset spatula. Sprinkle crushed candy canes on top for a finishing touch. Be sure to do this right away before the ganache cools and hardens. Serve with homemade whipped cream.
Great idea! Looks amazing!
Thank you! Happy blogging!
Oh my gosh this looks so amazing!! I love peppermint so much (to the point that I eat it all year round and take endless crap from my friends about it), and I love cheesecake and this looks like the perfect combination of the two!! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Thank you so much! I’d love to hear how it is if you give it a try! Happy blogging!
This sounds and looks delicious!
Thank you! 😊
Called by to leave my thanks for your recent decision to follow Learning from Dogs. Thank you!
You’re very welcome! Thanks for stopping by!☺
This is absolutely mouthwatering…
Thank you so much!! Happy blogging!
And same to you!
Wow, this looks SOOOOO tasty! And, using gluten-free graham crackers for the crust, I could actually eat it! I am definitely going to whip this up for Christmas dinner this year! 😋
That’s a great idea to make it safe for those who can’t have gluten! I’d love to hear how it is when you give it a try. Thanks for stopping by! ☺