This is the BEST Chocolate Cheesecake! It’s perfectly rich, creamy, and bakes up with no cracking and no water bath needed. This is the easy way to perfect baked cheesecake! Includes step by step recipe video
I know it sounds a little crazy.
Overly self-confident maybe.
But this here is my blog, and I really believe this is the best chocolate cheesecake!
Ever since I stole some tips from Canadian Living to make The Best Vanilla Cheesecake, I knew there were going to be many, many more variations of this cheesecake!
And you better believe this will not be the last one.
Because based on the popularity of The Best Vanilla Cheesecake, you guys love cheesecake just as much as I do!
I can’t blame you though… that rich, creamy, tangy filling with a dollop of whipped cream? Pretty much the best combination!
For this cheesecake, I wanted to go all out chocolate: we’ve got an Oreo crust, topped with a silky smooth chocolate cheesecake, and homemade whipped cream!
One thing I love about this cheesecake is everything you can do with it! You can dress it up for the holidays with some crushed candy canes, or some mint extract and mint leaves, you could add some instant coffee, you could add some orange zest — you can do almost anything to take it up a notch, or just leave it chocolate on chocolate on chocolate (<– not a bad thing either!).
It took me two tries. The first cheesecake had way too much batter for the pan, and it was firmer and denser and less….. luscious. The first one was okay (I served it at a family gathering! I always feel a little guilty about serving those Round #1’s though, you know? Like, “here, would you like to eat my work in progress?”), but this one is perfect.
And I really believe that. It is so soft and creamy and not dense, and it bakes perfectly smooth with no water bath.
With the second version, I went with vanilla whipped cream instead of chocolate because I like the contrast. The whole chocolate on chocolate on chocolate on chocolate was a little much for me the first time, but if that’s your thing, then go all out with the chocolate whipped cream!
Tips for making the Best Chocolate Cheesecake:
- I always place a piece of parchment paper in between the outside ring and the bottom piece to ensure easy removal from the pan, and wrap the bottom with tin foil to prevent any leakage!
- Use good quality milk or dark chocolate in this recipe — a plain, solid chocolate bar is good enough! Avoid using chocolate chips if possible.
- Don’t rush the baking or the chilling — a good low oven temperature (and a long bake), as well as a long, slow cooling process are the best ways to ensure you get a perfect chocolate cheesecake with no cracks.
Watch the recipe video in the recipe card and see how easy it is to make!
The Best Chocolate Cheesecake
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
Crust:
- ½ cup butter melted
- 2 ½ cups chocolate baking crumbs
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Cheesecake:
- 100 grams chopped chocolate (about ¾ cup)
- ½ cup heavy cream 35%
- 2 packages cream cheese (500 grams or 16 oz) room temperature
- 1½ cup sugar (300 grams)
- 2½ cups plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream)
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- a pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and line a 9" Springform pan with parchment (place it in between the top and bottom sections and close around it -- this will make it easier to remove). Lightly grease the inside of the pan and wrap the bottom in tin foil.
- Combine butter, chocolate crumbs and sugar and press into the bottom of the pan and 1" up the sides.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes until dry. Set aside. Reduce oven temperature to 275 degrees F.
- In a small bowl, combine chocolate and cream and microwave on high in 20-30 second intervals, stirring each time, until smooth. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and beat until smooth.
- Add yogurt, eggs, vanilla, salt and cocoa and beat until smooth and combined, scraping down sides of the bowl if necessary.
- Add melted chocolate and beat until combined.
- Pour onto crust and bake at 275 degrees F for 1.75-2 hours (I bake mine 2 hours exactly), until top appears dry but cheesecake still jiggles when moved. Turn the oven off and let sit in warm oven with the door closed for 20 minutes.
- Remove to a wire rack on the counter, gently run a knife around the inside of the pan and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until completely chilled (I like to chill overnight). Carefully remove the outside ring. Slice and serve.
Notes
Nutrition Information
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Emily says
Tasted too much like Greek yogurt.
Will try again using more cream cheese and less gree yogurt.
Ashley Fehr says
We don’t find that it does, but you are free to swap some out. Using additional cream cheese will result in a heavier cheesecake, so just be prepared. If you’d like to counteract the flavor of the yogurt more, you could use a touch more sugar or milk chocolate.
kathleen gray says
made this last week for church it got rave reviews, I used sour cream as suggested rather than the yogurt. The cheesecake came out perfect. Everyone just loved it and asked if I could make it again. Thank you
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Kathleen! I’m so happy to hear everyone enjoyed it!
Steph says
The cakes looks and sounds amazing *.*
Would you be able to share the metric measurements as well?
I know from other recipes that converting from US cups can always be a bit tricky.
Muchly appreciated.
Thanks,
Steph
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Steph! Sorry, I don’t have the metric measurements available for this recipe
Jackie Jones says
What type of chocolate do you use? Semi-sweet, bittersweet?? Please let me know
Ashley Fehr says
Usually semisweet — milk chocolate is too sweet for me!
John Alvarez says
Ashley I followed the recipe but my cake collapsed. Any idea why? What can I do so this doesn’t happen again.
Thank you.
John
Ashley Fehr says
Is it pretty soft in the center? My only guess would be that it was not quite done, but it could have something to do with elevation as well.
Judy says
For years I’ve suffered from a serious chocolate addiction I inherited from my mom. (She would love that I use her as my excuse to eat chocolate)!!
When using whipped cream to garnish your cheesecake add cocoa powder with a little powdered sugar to the cream and a teaspoon of chocolate extract for an even more decadent dessert.
Ashley Fehr says
That’s a fun idea! I like the balance of a little vanilla with my chocolate, but you can definitely make this the cheesecake for chocolate lovers with chocolate whipped cream 🙂
Jamie Clairmont says
Do I spread the Oreo crust on top of the bottom lined with parchment paper? I just can’t picture it.
Ashley Fehr says
Yes, sorry! Parchment under the crust helps you to remove from the pan later
Sana says
Hi,
I was wondering if adding a tablespoon or two of cornflour or plain flour would help in the binding of the cake, as a reviewer was mentioning about the cracking or wouldn’t it make much difference? Recipe looks really nice and I cant wait to try but since I don’t have much experience in baking cheese cakes just wanted to check with you on this.
Thanks
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Sana! You can definitely try that if you want. I think the cracking is likely due to other things, and I have honestly never had any cracks with this cheesecake
Sana says
Thanks for your swift reply Ashley. i will follow the recipe for now . Just one more question- I can half the recipe if I want to (for a small cheese cake) and the results should be the same ?
Ashley Fehr says
No problem! I have never halved the recipe. I imagine the results would be the same if the depth of the cheesecake is the same (too shallow and it will be dry), and the bake time will likely be less.
Barbara Schieber says
Dear Ashley, I have a convexion oven, how much bake time and what temperature would I need to use. I am having this problem with all baking recepies, because I don´t know the conversion factor for convection oven. Thanks a lot.
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Barbara! Sorry, I’ve never used this using my convection setting, but I find that things usually cook faster so I would definitely keep an eye on it
Sana says
Hi
i was wondering if adding a table spoon or two of cornflour or plain flour would help in the binding of the recipe, since a reviewer was complaining about cracking of the cake. The recipe looks very nice and would love to try but since I am not into baking cheese cakes so just wanted check with you before trying it out.
Thanks
Makuna says
Hello i am making chocolate cheescake and i want to know after its baked , i must wait until its almost cold and then place it in refrigerator ?
Ashley Fehr says
I would wait until it is room temperature, and then refrigerate
Jessica says
Just baked this for 2 hours and cooled for 20 minutes, and its still raw in the middle and cracked. 🙁 followed recipe Exactly. But then I’m not used to making baked cheesecakes. Going to have another crack at it again. (The raw batter tasted extremely sweet, is it meant to that sugary??)
Ashley Fehr says
It is sweet but also tangy, it’s not overly sweet for a cheesecake, no. The important thing when baking is to look at the bake time but also the visual signs of doneness — don’t just remove the cheesecake when the time is up. Look to see that it is set on top but with only a slight jiggle. I’m wondering if the oven temperature might be off?
Linting says
I had this problem too but I think it’s because I didn’t know when I should remove the sides of the springform pan and it must have been too soon. I removed it after taking it out of the oven. Perhaps I should have waited until it had chilled overnight in the fridge? It completely fell apart.
Ashley Fehr says
Sorry! I will update the recipe to be more clear. You definitely want it to chill completely before you remove the outer ring
Mike says
Added a little creme de menthe and what a great result.
Ashley Fehr says
Oh I love that idea!
Jonathan says
I’m baking this today for tomorrow’s Christmas lunch with the boyfriends family. Cheesecake is always a favourite!! I’m looking forward to presenting your chocolate cheesecake as the first thing I’ve baked/cooked for the in-law family!!
Jonathan says
Also, merry Christmas
Ashley Fehr says
Thank you so much! I’d love if you came back to let us know how it turned out!
Beth Hastings says
Ashley, as this is a creamier cheesecake filling, do you think it will support the weight of me flooding the top with cranberry sauce? I’d like to serve it for Christmas.
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Beth! I think that will be totally fine! I’d just make sure you refrigerate the cheesecake for a full day so it is completely set and ready 🙂
Candace Fisher says
I was wondering if I cld use vanilla Greek yogurt instead of plain Greek yogurt. I want to try this recipe but I dnt have all of the ingredients and all I have on hand is Vanilla Greek yogurt
Beth Hastings says
Candace, I certainly would! As long as you reduce your sugar and vanilla measurements, you should be fine. 🙂
Ashley Fehr says
Absolutely, vanilla yogurt works perfectly!
Julie says
This was amazing. Made for the first time for my 15 year olds birthday. I knew I could trust your recipe to turn out without a practice run. Loved by the birthday girl and everyone else!
Ashley Fehr says
Yay! So happy it turned out for you and was enjoyed by everyone!
Julie says
And making it again for #16! In the oven now … I dropped some Rolo pieces onto the top of the batter – and plan to drizzle some caramel sauce on before serving. Hopefully it turns out as well as it did last year!
Ashley Fehr says
That sounds delicious! I hope it turns out well for you guys!
Donna says
I have to admit that I was skeptical about mailing this without a water bath, but I went for it anyway and I’m so glad I did ! It is truly scrumptious. I used sour cream instead of the Greek yogurt because that’s what I had. I also only had 2 cups instead of the 2 & 1/2 cups it called for but it came out fine. Did not have any cracks at all. just make sure you cook it the whole 2 hours. I took it out a little early and started to cut around the edges and noticed it started to crumble so I put it back in. You can tell when it’s done because it pulls away from the sides of the pan. Just the right amount of tang and just the right amount of chocolate ! I highly recommend this recipe !
Donna says
I meant to say “making this” not nailing this !
Ashley Fehr says
I’m so, so glad to hear that! It’s one of our favorites!
Suzanne says
I just pulled this cheesecake out of the oven and it has H shaped crack in the center. I followed the recipe to a T. May have to cover it in a white chocolate ganache. I am so disappointed….hopefully it will taste good.
Carmen says
Wow! Me too….it’s still cooling on the counter as I type. I’ll check back in on tomorrow to let everyone know how it turned out (taste wise)
Ashley Fehr says
Did you run a knife around the edge as it cooled? I’ve made it several times and have never had any issues with cracking. Sorry to hear that!
Danielle says
This looks amazing I’m going to try this tomorrow . Did u blend the whole Oreo for the crust or take out the filling ?
Carmen says
I just made this tonight….had a hard time finding chocolate crumbs at the grocery. Removed most of the vanilla center from some chocolate sandwich cookies and blended them in the Ninja….
Ashley Fehr says
I used chocolate baking crumbs as the recipe states. Just crumbs, no filling.
Bobbie says
I can’t find the baking crumbs. When you say to use chocolate cookies in their place, do you mean like Oreo’s? If so, do I need to remove the white filling before crushing them?
Ashley Fehr says
If you can’t find the baking crumbs I would recommend finding a plain chocolate cookie and crushing them.
Vanessa A. says
Do you think a chocolate graham crust such as Keebler would be okay?
Ashley Fehr says
It should be, although the whole filling recipe will not likely fit and you’ll have to adjust your baking time significantly.
Beverley says
How much is two & half cups in ounces?
Marcia says
I find at the dollar store of all places the chocolate animal crackers. Grind them up in the food processor.
Tonia says
I used the entire Oreo in the food processor. And used the entire package til completely dusted. I used the 1/3 cup melted butter as recommended. This made enough crust to go up the sides of my 9 inch springform and it was beautiful when I removed the ring. I did not add the sugar to the crust as the recipe stated. I figured the crime in the middle replaced the sugar. It was perfect. I couldn’t find baking crumbs either.
Ashley Fehr says
So happy to hear you liked it!
Bernice Knight says
When I make this I am going to put a little orange extract in the crust and garnish the whipped cream with candied orange rind. Maybe peppermint extract in the crust and crushed peppermint garnish. Oh my at the possibilities! Thanks for the odeas.
Ashley Fehr says
Oh I love those ideas!