Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

This triple chocolate cheesecake has an oreo cookie crust, and rich, creamy chocolate cheesecake filling, and that is then topped with an easy chocolate ganache poured over the top. This chocolate cheesecake recipe is easy to make and doesn’t require a water bath!

I love a good slice of cheesecake. And when it’s basically a death by chocolate cheesecake situation with triple the chocolate going on I’m a sucker for it.

But making a cheesecake of any variety can be kind of a pain in the neck. That whole water bath situation. But I’m so excited to share this chocolate cheesecake recipe with you because it doesn’t need one. Rejoice! Hallelujah, the cheesecake gods have spoken.

I had found this cheesecake recipe over on King Arthur Flour, but as always I love putting my twist on things. I decided to up the chocolate intensity and stir in some cocoa powder, which would give it a real chocolate-y intense flavor. I used my own version of an oreo cookie crust of 2 ingredients, and then I figured why stop there? Let’s make a simple ganache and pour it over the top and create a triple chocolate cheesecake instead.

Ingredients Needed

For The Chocolate Cheesecake Filling:

For The Crust: For The Topping:

Ingredient Notes

Besides the ingredients above, here’s a few notes on some of the ingredients:

• Heavy Cream – You need to use heavy cream to make a rich ganache, for the cheesecake and for the topping. Do not use half and half or milk as it won’t create the right consistency.
• Chocolate – I used semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips but chocolate bars would also work. I would not recommend anything sweeter as it might make the cheesecake too sweet.
• Cream Cheese – I recommend using full-fat cream cheese so it gives the cheesecake the right consistency. Light cream cheese would probably still work, but I don’t recommend using fat-free. And do not use the whipped, tub varieties.
• Cocoa Powder– You can use either natural unsweetened cocoa powder, or Dutch processed cocoa powder.

How To Make Chocolate Cheesecake

Make the Oreo cookie crust

Make the crust. In your food processor pulse the cookies together until they are fine crumbs. You can also do this in your stand mixer, or place cookies in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. If doing this by hand with a rolling pin, transfer the crumbs to a mixing bowl.

Add butter and bake. Add butter and mix until combined. Press the crust mixture into the bottom and about halfway up the sides of the pan. Place the pan on a baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Make the cheesecake filling

Combine the heavy cream and chocolate chips in a small saucepan or in a microwave-safe bowl.

Heat, stirring frequently, until the chips melt and the mixture is smooth. If doing this in the microwave, heat for 30 seconds at 50% power, stirring in between. 

In a large mixing bowl (I like to use my stand mixer with my paddle attachment) beat together the cream cheese and sugar at low speed, until thoroughly combined. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a spatula and beat until smooth. You don’t want to continue to mix the cream cheese at this point or it will incorporate too much air and cause your cheesecake to crack so mix briefly.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating to combine. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Make sure they are at room temperature so the incorporate easily and create a smooth batter.

I place my eggs in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes before using them and they come to room temperature quickly.

Stir in the vanilla and cocoa powder. I prefer to use quality, pure vanilla extract for best flavor.

Then beat to combine.

Add chocolate and bake

Add the chocolate/cream mixture, beating on low speed until thoroughly combined. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bow with a spatula; and beat to combine briefly, just until smooth.

Place the pan on a baking sheet. Bake the cake (at 350^oF) for 45 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean and the internal temperature (if testing with a thermometer reads 175^oF). Insert a toothpick, about an inch from the edge, not directly in the middle. The center may not look set quite yet but will continue to bake up as it cools. 

Cooling The Cheesecake

 Cooling your triple chocolate cheesecake is super important to achieve a perfect cheesecake consistency and no cracks on top. You want to leave the cheesecake in your oven, but turn the oven off. You want to crack the oven door open several inches, and allow the cheesecake to cool in the oven for 1 hour.

The triple chocolate cheesecake will continue to set up as it sits in the oven with the residual heat. The top of the cheesecake will begin to settle and firm up. Basically cheesecake perfection.

Remove the cheesecake from the oven, and set it on a rack to finish cooling. You can refrigerate it to cool as well, just cover with a paper towel to prevent condensation then cover with another layer of plastic wrap or tinfoil. Once it’s cooled prepare the ganache and pour over it.

Make The Ganache

Once the chocolate cheesecake has cooled it’s time to add that luscious third layer of chocolate. The rich ganache on top. Now ganache is basically just the combination of heavy cream and chocolate melted and stirred together.

You can use chocolate chips (I recommend Ghiradelli) but I prefer using either semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate bar finely chopped.

You want to chop the chocolate finely so it melts into the heavy cream easily. Then heat the heavy cream in a saucepan until hot and steaming, but not boiling. Then add the chocolate to a bowl and pour hot (but not boiling) heavy cream over the top. Let it sit for 5 minutes and then stir until it smooth. Then pour it over the cheesecake. I let it firm up in the fridge until you’re ready to serve it up.

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe FAQ’s

More Recipes To Try

• Easy No Bake Cheesecake
• Cheesecake Brownies
• Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes
• Key Lime Cheesecake Recipe