Get your chocolate and coffee fix in this Mocha Chocolate Cheesecake! With a silky mousse like texture and drizzled with ganache, it’s sublime!
Chocolate cheesecake is big on chocolate flavor, balanced with a sweet, creamy, tangy cream cheese filling, which sits on top of a cookie crust. Drizzled with chocolate ganache is the finishing touch. It looks ultra fancy, but is quite easy to make.
Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe
Here are the ingredients you’ll need:
(Scroll down to the printable recipe card for details and measurements)
- Oreos: We have an oreo cookie obsession, so that’s what we use for the crust. You can use chocolate Graham Cracker crumbs, if preferred.
- Unsalted butter: This gets mixed with the cookie crumbs. Unsalted butter gives us better control of the sodium content, but you can use salted butter if that’s all you have.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar for sweetness.
- Chocolate chips: We use semi-sweet, but milk or dark chocolate are great, too.
- Heavy Cream: This is mixed with the chocolate chips and melted together.
- Cream cheese: Make sure it’s softened or room temperature for more thorough blending.
- Sour cream: For flavor and moisture. These two ingredients make the texture less dense and more creamy. Almost mousse like.
- Eggs: For extra smooth and rich texture.
- Kahlúa and Cooled Espresso: These two ingredients give the cheesecake a mocha flavor – so good!
- Vanilla extract: For added flavor.
- Kosher salt: Just a little elevates all the other flavors.
Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake Notes
- Melted chocolate with cream: Melting the chocolate with the cream renders more of a paste. Once you blend it with other ingredients, your batter will be smooth. Worst case, you have little specs of chocolate throughout the cheesecake, which I loved. OR you can omit the cream and just melt the chocolate on its own, which will be more of a drizzling consistency.
- Coffee flavor: Espresso gives this cheesecake a stronger coffee flavor. If you want it more subtle, you can use regular coffee instead.
- Does this need a water bath? Traditional cheesecakes are cooked in a water bath to avoid cracking. Mine had a few tiny cracks from not doing this, but I didn’t care. The chocolate ganache covers it pretty well, anyway. Your choice!
- Let cool and chill completely: This needs to cool completely before it chills and then requires at least 8 hours in the fridge. It’s even better after a full day. Don’t get impatient and skip any of the cooling steps, even though I know waiting is hard!
Storing Chocolate Cheesecake
How long does it last in the fridge? This cheesecake will last about a week in the fridge if kept well covered in plastic wrap and also foil to help prevent it from drying out.
Can you freeze cheesecake? Yes! Cheesecake is a great dessert to make ahead and freeze, and this chocolate cheesecake recipe is no exception. Cool and chill as directed in the recipe, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and again in foil. Freeze for up to 1 month for best flavor (2 months max.) Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. (I recommend freezing without the chocolate ganache.)
Chocolate Cheesecake Video
How to Make Chocolate Cheesecake
To make this chocolate cheesecake recipe, follow the steps below included in the printable recipe card. Make sure to refer back to the article for all the helpful tips.
Other Cheesecake Recipes To Try!
- Oreo Cheesecake
- Sopapilla Cheesecake
- Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake
- Mini Cheesecakes
- Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Parfait
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Chocolate Cheesecake
Ingredients
- 20 whole double stuffed Oreo cookies
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup Kahlúa
- 1/4 cup cooled espresso
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- Melted chocolate, for drizzling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Coat a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick spray; set aside.
- Places Oreos in a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs form. Drizzle in butter and pulse again until combined. Press mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Place chocolate chips and heavy cream in a microwave safe bowl; microwave for 45 seconds, stir, and microwave again in 15 second intervals until melted, if necessary. Stir until combined.
- In a large bowl with a handheld or stand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Wipe down the sides of the bowl. Add in the sugar and beat until well blended. Add in eggs, one at a time, blending in between each one. Add in the melted chocolate, blend. Add in the sour cream, Kahlua, coffee, vanilla, and salt; beat until smooth. Pour mixture on top of the Oreo crust.
- Bake on middle oven rack for about 55 minutes, until set, but still soft in the center (do not overtake.)
- Turn off heat, prop door open, and let cheesecake rest in the oven for 25 minutes.
- Transfer cheesecake to a wire rack, run a dull knife around the edge to loosen, then cool for 30 minutes.
- Remove pan rim and let cool completely.
- Chill in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours, ideally for a full day.
- Melt some chocolate and drizzle over the top. Let set, slice, and serve!
Video
Nutrition
Other Notes
Made for my mocha loving granddaughter for her birthday.
She loved every bite!! Only thing I changed were the Oreos. Used
The thin ones instead. They were perfect! Definitely a keeper and recipe card worthy. Thank you for the recipe.
I have tried a number of recipes and this is my new favorite. The cake came out beautifully and tastes like heaven (coffee-choc heaven)
I’m so gonna make this!? hope it turns out as beautiful as yours! Question though, are you able to skip the kahlua, or would it totally mess it up. What could be a substitute?
Hi Mandy – you can simply omit it if you are trying to avoid the alcohol component. Or substitute with 2 tablespoons cooled brewed coffee and a splash of rum.
Ok, thanks! I have a mocha flavored whiskey on hand would that work? I don’t bake much with alcohol and liquor so I’m not sure what’s a good substitute. If not though I’ll just use the advice you gave. Thanks so much for responding??
1/4 cup Kahlúa is this alcohol? Can it be left out??
Thanks,
I laughed out loud….37 things! Hee hee. This is one of my favorites! Maybe I’ll even make it for our next dinner.
I think your mocha cheesecake is perfect to my morning coffee, black coffee…I’ll give it a try for sure!
This was truly outstanding, and we look forward to another dinner when you make it again!