Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake {Egg-Free}
Merry Christmas! Today I would like to share a brand new recipe for 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 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!
If you loved Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake, then check out these other recipes!
- Gluten-Free Medjool Cheesecake
- Gluten-Free Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake
- Caramel Apple Cheesecake
- Cappuccino Cheesecake
- Eggless Merlot Chocolate Cheesecake
- Coffee Glazed Mocha Cheesecake
- Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Egg-Free Lemon Curd Cheesecake
Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 ½ cups Andes Candies Cookies crumbled in food processor
- ¼ cup coconut oil or butter melted
Filling
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil or butter melted
- 16 oz Organic Valley Neufchatel cheese
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 Tbsp raw, local 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 coconut oil or butter melted
- ¼ tsp peppermint extract
- Crushed candy canes
Instructions
Crust
- Grease the bottom and sides of an 8 inch spring-form pan with melted coconut oil or butter.
- In a small bowl, mix the cookie crumbs with the melted coconut oil or 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 heat. Stir every few minutes and be sure not to get any water in the chocolate.
- When the chocolate chips are melted, remove from heat and stir in 2 Tbs. of melted butter or coconut oil. Allow the mixture to cool for 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the somewhat-cooled chocolate mixture, Neufchatel cheese, sugar, honey, cocoa, vanilla, and salt. Mix all the ingredients until smooth and creamy. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl every so often. Do not over-mix.
- Put the filling in the spring form pan and using a small offset spatula, smooth out the filling until it is even across the pan.
- Bake for 30 minutes, making sure to not open the oven! Any rapid change in temperature or humidity can lead to cracking.
- Turn the oven off and let the cheesecake rest in the oven for another 30minutes, still not opening the door. When the time is up, let the cheesecake cool for approximately 30 more minutes before letting it chill and set up in the refrigerator for at least three hours and up to overnight.
Chocolate Peppermint Ganache
- Put ½ cup of dark chocolate chips in a heat safe bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the whipping cream and oil or butter to a boil on medium heat.
- Pour the cream mixture onto the chocolate chips and let sit for five minutes. When the time is up, whisk the mixture until it all comes together.
- Stir in the peppermint extract.
- Pour the ganache on the cheesecake and smooth it out with a small offset spatula. Sprinkle crushed candy canes over the 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! ☺