Creamy, flavorful, easy and delicious this Peppermint Cheesecake is the perfect holiday recipe that you’ll want on your dessert table year after year.
Peppermint Cheesecake is such a fun and easy festive dessert that you’ll want to whip up this holiday season. Not only is it a really easy recipe to whip up, it’s just the perfect combination of flavors that tie together so well.
Peppermint is one of those desserts that signify Christmas. Some of my favorite peppermint flavor desserts that we regularly whip up are these Chocolate Peppermint Donut Holes, Peppermint Pretzel Rods and Winter Cocoa Cake!
We are in the midst of all the holiday recipes, so I had to share this Peppermint Cheesecake Recipe with you guys today, because it’s absolutely one of our favorites.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- Using a basic cheesecake recipe and adding a different crust and just a little extract and flavors completely change one recipe into another.
- The use of chocolate graham cracker crumbs really bring a contrast to the peppermint that plays off the flavor making it irresistible.
- With easy toppings such as whipped cream, white chocolate shavings and crushed candy canes make it easy to decorate and turn it into quite the centerpiece.
This Peppermint Cheesecake recipe is one of our family favorites that we have been making year after year for the holidays since cheesecake is one of those recipes that is always requested.
It is a creamy, thick and delicious cheesecake that you can easily whip together. Although cheesecakes can sometimes be daunting, its more or less the time it just takes to cook and cool the cheesecake itself.
So please if anything, don’t think that making cheesecake is such a hassle, it can seem like it but usually in the end it is totally worth it, guaranteed 100%
HOW TO MAKE PEPPERMINT CHEESECAKE, STEP BY STEP:
- Preheat oven to 350. In bowl add your graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter and mix until combined.
- Line a 10″ springform pan with parchment paper, spray with non-stick cooking spray, set aside.
- In bowl of stand mixer add your cream cheese and beat well until smooth and creamy and no lumps remain.
- Add in your sugar and beat again until combined.
- Next add in your eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Then add in your vanilla extract, peppermint extract and sour cream and beat again until everything is smooth and combined.
- Measure out about 1/2 cup crushed candy canes (more or less depending on your preference) and add it to your cheesecake mixture.
- Fold your crushed candy canes until evenly combined, this will also turn your cheesecake a nice pink color, you can add in some red food coloring if you want it darker.
- Wrap your springform pan in heavy duty tinfoil, place in a large baking dish and fill with about 1″ of water and bake.
When baked the crushed candy canes literally melt into the batter and aren’t crunchy like a normal candy cane would be. You can also use peppermint bark pieces chopped up as well for a different texture.
HOW TO KEEP A CHEESECAKE FROM CRACKING:
I 100% believe in baking cheesecakes in a water bath, this releases moisture into the oven that helps your cheesecake not dry out on top in the baking process.
Also reducing the cooking temperature and then leaving in the oven after turning off the heat and letting it site for an additional hour helps it slowly finish cooking without jeprodizing the top of the cheesecake.
HOW TO STORE PEPPERMINT CHEESECAKE:
- REFRIGERATOR: This cheesecake should last in the refrigerator for about 3-4 days when properly wrapped in plastic wrap or tinfoil.
- FREEZER: Bake and cool as directed, once cooled in the refrigerator, remove your springform pan sides and place uncovered in freezer for about one hour, then remove and remove from the bottom of the springform pan.Wrap tightly in plastic wrap or tin foil and place in an airtight container or a large ziplock bag, this should keep for about 3-4 months.
TIPS AND TRICKS FOR MAKING PEPPERMINT CHEESECAKE:
- Adding in eggs one by one ensures that they are evenly distributed.
- Make sure your cream cheese is beaten really well before adding any other ingredients.
- Make sure you scrape down the sides when mixing, this will also help with keeping lumps out of your cheesecake.
- DO NOT SKIP the water bath! If you cannot find a pan large enough to fit your springform pan in, place a pan filled with water on the rack underneath your cheesecake instead.
- Let your cheesecake cool in the oven for the hour after turning off the heat and then make sure to cool to room temperature before refrigerating.
- Want the perfect cut slice of cheesecake? Warm up a knife with hot water, wipe off and then slice cheesecake.
- We buy prepackaged crushed candy canes to use in this recipe.
If you want the perfect holiday dessert than this Peppermint Cheesecake Recipe is all you’ll ever need! Flavorful, colorful, tasty and fun.
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried this PEPPERMINT CHEESECAKE or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Peppermint Cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust:
- 2 cups chocolate graham crackers crushed
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter
Cheesecake:
- 4 8 oz pkgs cream cheese softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 tsp peppermint extract
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup crushed candy canes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. In bowl add your graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter and mix until combined.
- Line a 9” springform pan with parchment paper, spray with non-stick cooking spray, set aside.
- In bowl of stand mixer add your cream cheese and beat well until smooth and creamy and no lumps remain.
- Add in your sugar and beat again until combined.
- Next add in your eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Then add in your vanilla extract, peppermint extract and sour cream and beat again until everything is smooth and combined.
- Measure out about 1/2 cup crushed candy canes (more or less depending on your preference) and add it to your cheesecake mixture.
- Fold your crushed candy canes until evenly combined, this will also turn your cheesecake a nice pink color, you can add in some red food coloring if you want it darker.
- Wrap your springform pan in heavy duty tinfoil, place in a large baking dish and fill with about 1" of water.
- Decrease your oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake your cheesecake for 1 1/2 hours, turn off heat and keep in oven for another hour.
- Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
- Decorate with whipped topping, white chocolate shavings and crushed candy canes if desired.
Notes
- Adding in eggs one by one ensures that they are evenly distributed.
- Make sure your cream cheese is beaten really well before adding any other ingredients.
- Make sure you scrape down the sides when mixing, this will also help with keeping lumps out of your cheesecake.
- DO NOT SKIP the water bath! If you cannot find a pan large enough to fit your springform pan in, place a pan filled with water on the rack underneath your cheesecake instead.
- Let your cheesecake cool in the oven for the hour after turning off the heat and then make sure to cool to room temperature before refrigerating.
- Want the perfect cut slice of cheesecake? Warm up a knife with hot water, wipe off and then slice cheesecake.
- We buy prepackaged crushed candy canes to use in this recipe.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
Leave a Reply