Can’t decide between peppermint, coffee, and chocolate? Well I have good news. You can have it all! This cheesecake recipe combines all your favorite flavors into a rich and impossible to resist dessert.
It even has a chocolate graham cracker crust. So let’s get to making this gorgeous chocolate, coffee, & peppermint cheesecake. Scroll to the bottom if you want to get straight to the recipe, or read on if you want to learn tons of helpful tips and tricks along the way!
Getting Started with Cheesecakes
Cheesecakes come in a million variations from a Southern Classic Cream Cheese Pie – think of that as a homemade version of a no bake cheesecake. It’s light, fluffy, and delicious. Your traditional cheesecakes will be much more smooth and dense. These are often called New York Style. Cheesecake lovers are often purists and think it’s best to not cover the cheesecake in fruit or add anything to the center.
Cheesecakes can also be made with ricotta in place of the cream cheese and other incredible additions.
For this recipe, we are creating a New York style with some gorgeous additions!
About Springform Pans
Springform pans are used for cheesecake for 2 reasons. 1. It’s easy to wrap the springform pan in foil and to block out any water from the water bath (we’ll talk about that later.) 2. It’s the easiest way to prevent the cheesecake from sticking to the pan.
However, you do not need to use a springform. Lots of people prefer to use a parchment lined pie pan with tall sides that don’t slope. If you aren’t using a springform, be prepared to line everything with parchment.
About a Water Bath
Water baths are used with many different types of souffles, custards, and creme brulees. A water bath is what prevents the surface from cracking and breaking. I have seen traditional cheesecake recipes that skip the water bath – but I wouldn’t trust them!
Making a water bath is easy. Just be sure that your pan is covered with aluminum foil to prevent in water from leaking in. And when you take your cheesecake in and out of the oven, work slowly to prevent water from splashing.
How Long Until You Can Serve a Cheesecake
A Cheesecake needs to be completely cool before you serve it. I would recommend waiting many hours or even a full day. The good news is that cheesecakes keep quite well in the fridge! I would say they keep longer than cakes or cupcakes, closer to a week like a pie.
Peppermint Mocha Cheesecake Recipe
Ingredients
Crust:
- 3/4 Cup crushed Chocolate Graham Crackers
- 1/3 Cup Melted Butter
Filling:
- 1 1/4 Cup White Sugar
- 3 x Eight oz. Bricks Cream Cheese room temperature
- 1 Cup Sour Cream
- 1/3 Cup Cocoa Powder
- 2 Teaspoons of Vanilla Extract
- 2 Teaspoons of Peppermint Extract
- 3 Tablespoons of Instant Coffee
- 3 Eggs beaten
- 1/2 Dark Chocolate Bar grated
Garnish:
- Grated Chocolate
- Crushed Peppermint
- Whipped Cream
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Spray a springform pan with non-stick spray and add parchment to bottom of pan.
- In medium bowl, mix together crushed graham crackers and melted butter. When graham crackers are
- wet through, press them gently into bottom of springform pan. Refrigerate the crust while you make the filling.
- For filling: In a Kitchen-Aid Mixer add cream cheese and beat until smooth (no lumps left). With the mixer on low,
- add the sugar and beat until creamy. Next, add in the cocoa powder, then the sour
- cream, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract. Last, sprinkle in the instant coffee. Mix the filling until smooth
- (cheesecakes should have no lumps).
- Remove the crust from refrigerator. Gently poor the cheesecake mixture into the springform pan.
- Line the outside of the pan with aluminum foil and place inside a container with 2-4 inches of water - lower than the top of the springform pan.
- Carefully place the cheesecake and water bath in oven. Bake for around 40 minutes.
- Your cheesecake should still be slightly jiggly in middle (think pecan pie or frittata.)
- Remove the cheesecake refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Once it's cool, garnish cheesecake with grated chocolate, crushed peppermint, and whipped cream.
- Serve cold and store your Peppermint Mocha Cheesecake in the fridge for around 1 week!
Totally delicious, right?! Now there are just a few additional things you should know about to make this recipe truly special. First of all, I used regular whipped cream here. But it will be so much better with a gorgeous homemade whipped cream.
If you want to add crushed peppermint like I did, it’s so gorgeous and fun! Just add a couple of starlight mints to a plastic bag and crush with a hammer. Then sprinkle them across the top of the cheesecake.
If you aren’t obsessed with peppermint, that’s okay! You can actually use less peppermint extract in this recipe. Peppermint extract is quite strong, so even 1/2 teaspoon will give you a touch of minty flavor but it will make the coffee and chocolate flavors come through more thoroughly.
Viola! Peppermint Mocha Cheesecake. So where and when are you going to serve this gorgeous dessert? Tell us in the comments!
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