White Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cheesecake
Peppermint cheesecake swirled with peppermint bark pieces, topped off with a layer of white chocolate mousse, bits of chocolate and crushed peppermint candies.
You might think I love cheesecake. I don’t. I love making it though and my family loves eating it. Really, I’ll make just about anything even if I don’t personally like eating it. I know *ugh* I don’t like cheesecake. I’m sorry! I save that portion of my belly for things like apple crisp and apple pie.
I’ve had this cheesecake on my mind since Thanksgiving when my brother mentioned it. I couldn’t get it out of my head! I’ve stared at the image of The Cheesecake Factory’s peppermint bark cheesecake a ton while contemplating how to make this. I had my fingers crossed tight that this experiment would work out.
And since I’m sharing it… that means it worked! A total success. A white chocolate peppermint cheesecake sits on top of a chocolate cookie crust. It’s swirled with peppermint bark pieces, topped off with a layer of white chocolate mousse, chocolate shavings and crushed peppermint candies.
I’ll give you a minute.
Go ahead and wipe the drool away.
This takes more time to make than the average cheesecake but it’s absolutely worth it for something extra special.
White Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust Ingredients:
- 2 C chocolate cookie crumbs, or 22 regular oreos with filling
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Filling Ingredients:
- 24 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 C granulated sugar
- 4 oz white chocolate, melted
- 1 1/2 Tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 Tbsp heavy cream
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp peppermint extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 batch peppermint bark, made thin (peppermint bark recipe) or roughly 1 1/2C chunks
Mousse Ingredients:
- 1/2 C cool whip, softened
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 2 oz white chocolate, melted
- 1 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Plus chocolate shavings, peppermint pieces and whipped cream for topping
Instructions
Peppermint bark
- Prepare peppermint bark at least 1 day ahead. Melt 4oz dark chocolate with 1/2 tsp vegetable oil. Mix in 1/8 tsp peppermint extract. Spread thin over a sheet of wax paper on a baking sheet. Chill for 15 minutes.
- Melt 4oz white chocolate with 1/2 tsp vegetable oil. Mix in 1/8 tsp peppermint extract. Spread over chilled dark chocolate. Sprinkle immediately with crushed peppermint candies. Chill for at least 15 minutes. (*when melting chocolate, if using a microwave be sure to use the 30 second 50% power method stirring well after each 30 seconds).
Cheesecake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F degrees. Prepare a 9" spring-form pan by wrapping the outside with two sheets of heavy duty tin foil around the bottom and up the sides. In a food processor, blend cookies until only fine crumbs remain. Add melted butter. Give a quick blend. Transfer crumb mixture to spring-form pan. Shake to disperse crumbs. Using a flat bottom cup, press down to create an even crust. Bake crust for 10 minutes. Set aside.
- Reduce oven temperature to 325°F degrees.
- Chop peppermint bark into small pieces. Set aside.
- Begin melting 4oz white chocolate. Using a double boiler or heat safe bowl, melt over simmering water. Stir until fully melted. Using the microwave, in a heat safe bowl microwave for 30 seconds at 50% power until fully melted. Stir well after each interval.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar. Mix well. Scrape bowl well prior to each new addition and as needed. Add melted chocolate, flour, heavy cream, salt and peppermint extract. Mix well. On medium/low speed, add one egg at a time. Mix until smooth and blended well.
- Add peppermint bark pieces, stir by hand.
- Transfer spring-form pan and cooked crust to a larger pan, such as a large roasting pan. Pour filling into crust. Add enough hot water to reach half way up the sides of your spring-form pan. Carefully place in center of oven. Bake at 325°F degrees for 1 hour. Turn off the oven. Keeping the door shut, leave the cheesecake in the oven for an additional 45 minutes. Remove cheesecake and allow to sit for at least 1 hour before chilling.
- Chill 4 hours or overnight before adding the mousse.
- In a medium bowl beat softened cream cheese, melted white chocolate, cool whip, sugar and vanilla until smooth and slightly thickened.
- Carefully remove side of spring-form pan. Spread mousse mixture evenly over cheesecake. Chill for 4 hours or overnight before serving.
- Serve slices with chocolate shavings, crushed peppermint candies and whipped cream.
- Store covered in the refrigerator.
Notes
***Giveaway is closed***
One reader will win one Calphalon non-stick springform pan.
The nitty gritty: You must have a US shipping address to enter. Giveaway will run from Dec 14, 2011 – Dec 17, 2011. One winner will be randomly chosen and contacted via e-mail Dec 18, 2011. Winner has 24 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. Main entry must be done or bonus entries will not count. Duplicate entries will be deleted.
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Tweeted the giveaway on twitter!
ahh i wish i didn’t like cheesecake ;) this sounds incredible-great creation!
fave holiday movie? prob elf or love actually, which we’re watching right now!
My favorite holiday movie is Elf and I love the scene when he eats the cotton balls in the doctors office!
I love the Grinch! Christmas Classic!
Haha I love how everyone’s favorite holiday movie is Elf! It’s the best! One of my favorite parts is when he answers the phone saying, “Buddy the elf, what’s your favorite color?!”
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My favorite holiday film is “While You Were Sleeping.” It’s what I’d call a ‘new classic’ and one which you can watch any time of year, but with the holiday theme in the movie, is even more special this time of year.
I ‘like’ Baked by Rachel on Facebook.
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favorite movie: it’s a wonderful life!
Blazing Saddles. Love the whole thing. You must forgive me….
my favorite movie is Mickeys Christmas Carol
Oh – my favourite holiday movie is A Christmas Story. I have it playing in the background all Christmas Day and for as long as I can stand it afterwards. No matter what’s going on, I’ll always stop to watch Ralphie beat up Scut Farkus.
All I want is a Red Ryder carbine-action, 200-shot, range model air rifle with a compass in the stock!
My absolute favourite holiday movie is ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’, the live action version! I’ve watched it every year since it came out. My mom used to be really into Jim Carrey, so of course it was family tradition that we watched any film with him in it! My favourite scene from the movie is where all the Whos are recollecting the Grinch from when he used to live in Whoville. We watch it every year as part of our 12 days of Christmas movie showing tradition!
I’m not a huge cheesecake person either, but wow, this is so stunning I really want to try it!
Hi, this might be a dumb question but what is cool whip. We dont have that in New Zealand and I would like to find a substitute. thanks.
Cool whip is a brand of frozen whipped topping or whipped cream that is often used as a topping to desserts. You could potentially use whipped cream instead, homemade or store bought. It would need to be kept in the freezer until thick but not frozen. I hope that helps. I’ve never tried that method though so you might have to experiment first to see if it works. Perhaps you have a similar product that would work? Good luck! :)
Just saw this beauty on FPD!! WOW!!! I do like cheesecake as does my whole family. This one is a keeper!!
Love the bark topping….anything white chocolate & peppermint.
Merry Christmas!!
Hey just a quick question – I was wanting to half the measurements of this recipe, and make 2 mini cheesecakes instead. Would that be possible and if so, how long would the cooking time be?
You should defintiely be able to make smaller versions. I’d suggest halving the ingredients and dividing between your two smaller pans. Bake in a water bath per instructions at 325 but halve the time as well (baking with oven on for at least 30-40 min and oven off for additional 30 minutes or until center of cheesecakes are just slightly jiggly). Good luck!
I have a question about the white chocolate mousse. I have mine made but it doesn’t seem too thick. It’s like pancake batter consistency. Is this normal? If not, how do I thicken it? The cheesecake part has turned out perfect so far!
It should be similar to frosting consistency. Try chilling it for 15 minutes (or more) to see if that helps before spreading it on the cheesecake.
Thank you very much for this recipe. Everyone enjoyed it, and one even called it the most sophisticated food of our Christmas meal. Perfect recipe and directions!
Oh my goodness. There are no words for how wonderful this is!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! This recipe will be a family Christmas tradition from now on! :)
You’re most welcome Whitney. I’m glad you and your family enjoyed it so much! :)
Best Cheesecake ever!!! my family loved it – I loved it – I want to make it again!!
I used Ghiradelli peppermint bark chocolate and it was amazing.
So glad you enjoyed it Sarah! :) I only recently spotted the peppermint back chocolate and thought how awesome it would be as an easier alternative. Thanks for stopping back in to share.
I love the kids classics, like Frosty The Snowman!
I’ve never baked cheesecake in a water bath so I’m not sure how to use the pieces of foil. Does it go just around the spring form pan or do you need to cover the bottom (underneath) the pan as well? Thank you.
And I can’t wait to make this for Christmas!
I am going to make this for a baking contest at my job- I would like to use something other than coolwhip though, would regular whipping cream work?
I love Elf!
Thank you for the recipe. My whole family loved this cheesecake. It was the perfect dessert for our holiday celebration.
I also wanted to share that I made half the recipe in a 6 inch spring-form and it turned out great. It took the regular amount of time to bake, not half.
Made this for a white elephant party we had with a large group of friends. Everyone went on and on about how wonderful it was. It was the most envolved cheesecake I’ve ever made but it was SO worth it! I’m eating the last piece right now. Thank you!
So glad to hear everyone enjoyed it!
Just wondering, did you use peppermint extract or peppermint oil. I could hardly taste the peppermint, however I am just now baking it so we will see when it is finished baking and cooled if the addition of the peppermint bark added more peppermint flavor.
I love the fact that this is a picture of your actual recipe and not just a picture of Cheesecake Factory’s cheesecake.
I was debating between this recipe and another one. Glad I read the comments on both sites because way down at the bottom of the comments on the other site the person admitted that her recipe was a mess and didn’t turn out. What’s up with that???
I love your photos, and the recipes I tried so far.
Keep up the good work
As noted in the recipe, it is peppermint extract and should definitely have been plenty to both smell and tasty as such. You definitely don’t want it to be too overpowering either. And thank you, I’m glad you found my site and recipe. So far everyone has loved it so I hope you do as well. :)
I am like you, I really don’t care for cheesecakes, but I am the cheesecake master, lol. I hate water baths and have found a sure fire way to bake the perfect cheesecake: 350 for 15 minutes, 200 for 2 hours and in the oven with oven off for another 2 hours then straight to fridge, perfect every time!
Do we need to bake it in a water bath??
I am guessing that the water will go into my spring form pan & get the crust all soggy!!! (as usually it drips butter out into the oven when we make cheesecake!)
Please advise!
The answers to your questions are within the recipe instructions.
Sorry Rachel – I don’t see an option for baking without the water bath in the recipe…. I do see this new comment from Danielle above.
Also—could we use dark or milk chocolate instead of WHITE chocolate?
THanks again! My daughter, RACHEL, loves to make cheesecakes and really wants to make this!
That’s completely up to you, but then it would be a different recipe and would also taste very different.
I made this cheesecake this weekend–since I didn’t have the time to make your peppermint bark, I used Andes peppermint crunch chips and mini chocolate chips in the filling. It got rave reviews! And thank you for the perfect way to cook it!
I made this cheesecake for Christmas. It was fabulous! Not a crumb lefriver. Thanks.
I made this recipe exactly how the recipe says. The majority of the people eating it said it was the best dessert they had ever eaten. There was also not a single bit left. The kids snuck another piece of the cake and most kids arent huge cheesecake fans. :) Before the night was over everyone was saying this is a new tradition for me to bring this exact cheesecake. So thanks Rachel for making our holiday that much better!
So glad everyone enjoyed it! :)
Hello! Thanks for this awesome recipe. I plan to try it out for thanksgiving! I was wondering how many servings did your recipe yield?
A 9-inch cheesecake can serve a wide range depending on the sizes of your slices but it’s typically suggested for 12 servings (give or take).
In the oven right now! It smells amazing, I hope everyone loves it. The bark is delicious just on its own, I made a full bark recipe so we had some leftovers, and might even crunch some up to serve on top!
I hope everyone enjoyed it! :)
I need to make this for Saturday 12/22/13, how far in advance can this be made?
Thanks!
You could easily make it a few days ahead, just be sure to keep it chilled until ready to serve. Also, keep in mind the extra time this particular cheesecake takes to make and factor that into your plans.
Hey do you leave the cheesecake in the oven for an additional 45min with the oven off I have never seen this method before, is it his specific to this cheesecake or do you always do this. Looks amazing by the way.
Cooking the cheesecake this way allows it to slowly cool down while still continuing to cook, instead of shocking it from warm oven to cooler room temperature which can often create cracks.
Delicious. Mine came out extremely soft which made it difficult to cut. Do you have this issue as well?
I did not have that issue at all. There are many reasons that could have happened and unfortunately having not been there, I can’t be sure what the reason was for you (whether baking, chilling or leaving it out too long etc).
I made this cheesecake for my daughter’s 10th birthday yesterday and it is amazing!! I will definitely be keeping this in my arsenal of cheesecake recipes.
So glad to hear it! :) Thanks for sharing and happy birthday to your daughter!
I’ve made this cheesecake for the holidays for the past three years. I suggested I might make something different this year and was soundly vetoed by all. It has definitely become a (well-received) tradition.
Haha! Well I guess that says a lot for how much your family enjoys it :) Thanks for sharing!
I’ve been looking for a cheesecake for the holidays! pinned and trying this one!
Awesome! I hope you enjoy it! :)
Hi Rachel,I made this last year and it was an absolute hit! My family and coworkers loved it!
I was wanting to make it this year again for my coworkers but there’s over 30 of us and it might be pricey making a couple cakes…so…I was curious if you had any suggestions on how to make mini,individual versions of this? Thanks in advance!
I don’t have a mini recipe for this variety at this time. However, you could simply make the batter and filling as is and follow the baking directions for many of my other mini cheesecakes.