Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe

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Thick and creamy, this Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe will completely knock your socks off! Made with Nutella, makes it simply the best!

High fives all around for the best Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe! Not just any regular cheesecake, I’m talking mile-high, super creamy, Nutella Cheesecake. With pecans! And chocolate sauce!! And caramel whipped cream!!! This chocolate cheesecake recipe is super similar to the kinds you’d find at The Cheesecake Factory. Extra-large, very decadent, with no cracks in the entire thing whatsoever!

Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe

• Graham Cracker Crust – We start the base of the cheesecake with a homemade traditional crust. But traditional does not mean boring. This crust is responsible for holding and delivering cheesecake to you.
• Chocolate Cheesecake – The filling in this recipe calls for butter, FIVE packages of cream cheese, an ENTIRE jar of Nutella AND straight-up heavy cream. Meaning: I’m not messing around.
• Caramel Whipped Cream – This tops the cheesecake and makes the whole thing so much better.

If a whole tub of Nutella isn’t in your meal plan, here are some other cheesecake recipes to try out: Caramel Pecan Pie Cheesecake, The Best Cheesecake Recipe, Oreo Pumpkin Cheesecake & Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake Dip.

How to Bake Cheesecake with No Cracks

Getting no cracks in your chocolate cheesecake isn’t hard when you have the right method and I have just the way for you…no water baths are required! It’s so easy to ruin a cheesecake with a water bath if you don’t have the right pan, or enough foil wrapped around the bottom to ensure to water can seep into your crust or filling. So, I’ve developed my own nearly foolproof method without the water.

All my super-secret details about this fabulous treat are included below. The biggest takeaways would be:

• use room temperature cream cheese
• and room temperature eggs (if you forget to pull your eggs out to be room temp, submerge them into lightly warm water for 10 minutes.)
• scrape the sides of your bowl as you mix! You want a silky smooth chocolate cheesecake batter.

How to Make Chocolate Cheesecake

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly spray 10-inch springform pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
2. Stir melted butter, sugar and graham cracker crumbs in a small bowl until moist, similar to wet sand. Pour into the greased springform pan and press evenly into the bottom and up the sides about 1 inch using the bottom of a dry measuring cup {with a flat bottom}. Fingers work just as well too 🙂 Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, stir softened cream cheese together to ensure its all the same temperature. Stir in granulated sugar until well incorporated. Add in room temperature eggs, incorporating one at a time. Scrape edges of the bowl and stir again. Lastly, add in Nutella, heavy cream and vanilla. Scrape sides of the bowl and stir again to ensure a completely uniform, smooth, chocolatey filling.
4. Pour into prepared springform pan. Because I’m using a 10-inch springform pan, this ends up being VERY full with some extra filling to spare. You might want to leave about 1 cup of batter out of the pan to ensure your cheesecake doesn’t overflow and destroy your oven. If you’d like to use an 11- or 12-inch springform pan, be my guest. But just know that it won’t be quite as tall. But at least you won’t waste any batter. To each his own!
5. Place cheesecake onto a cookie sheet and bake for 80 minutes even in the middle of your oven. After 80 minutes, turn the oven off completely and DO NOT open the oven. Leave cheesecake in the hot oven for 6-8 hours or until it’s cooled off completely. Overnight is perfect. Cooling the cheesecake in the oven and bringing its temperature down very slowly is the secret to ensuring it doesn’t crack. Who knew, right?
6. Once the cheesecake is cooled, remove from the oven, run a butter knife around the edges and remove the outer edge of the springform pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate to chill completely.
7. To make the caramel whipped cream, place all ingredients into a large bowl (I used Watkin’s brand caramel extract, found at Walmart and Target stores.). Whip until stiff peaks form.
8. Cut chilled chocolate cheesecake into pieces, top with caramel whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and pecans.  (To get super smooth slices, dip your knife into hot water and slice away! Be sure to wipe any cheesecake off of the knife every few pieces.) Enjoy!!

More Cheesecake Recipes to Try!

• No-Bake, Grain and Gluten-Free, Chocolate Cheesecake {sugar free}
• Fail-Proof Vanilla Bean Cheesecakes
• Guilt-Free No-Bake Cheesecake {high protein, gluten-free}
• Pumpkin Cheesecake Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

In the dictionary under the word decadent is a picture of this cheesecake. I love celebrations and holidays because of recipes like these. Its the only time I indulge and this is the perfect dessert to indulge with.

Be sure to pin/bookmark/print/save this chocolate cheesecake recipe because it’s a showstopper that is certain to turn a few heads at your next get together.

Have a great day, friends!

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5 from 10 votes

Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe

Thick and creamy, this Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe will completely knock your socks off! Made with Nutella, makes it simply the best!

servings 16 servings

Prep Time 9 hrs

Cook Time 1 hr 20 mins

Total Time 10 hrs 20 mins

Ingredients

For the crust-

• ▢ 2 tablespoons butter melted
• ▢ 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

For the filling-

• ▢ 40 oz. softened cream cheese* five 8 oz packages
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 tablespoon vanilla
• ▢ 4 large eggs at room temperature**
• ▢ 13- oz. Nutella 1 container
• ▢ 1 cup heavy cream liquid; not already whipped

For the caramel whipped cream-

• ▢ 1 cup heavy cream
• ▢ 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• ▢ 1 teaspoon caramel extract***
• ▢ Hershey's chocolate syrup + pecans as garnish {optional}

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly spray 10-inch springform pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
• Stir melted butter, sugar and graham cracker crumbs in a small bowl until moist, similar to wet sand. Pour into the greased springform pan and press evenly into the bottom and up the sides about 1 inch using the bottom of a dry measuring cup {with a flat bottom}. Fingers work just as well too 🙂 Set aside.
• In a large bowl, stir softened cream cheese* together to ensure its all the same temperature. Stir in granulated sugar until well incorporated. Add in room temperature eggs**, incorporating one at a time. Scrape edges of the bowl and stir again. Lastly, add in Nutella, heavy cream and vanilla. Scrape sides of the bowl and stir again to ensure a completely uniform, smooth, chocolatey filling.
• Pour into prepared springform pan. Because I’m using a 10-inch springform pan, this ends up being VERY full with some extra filling to spare. You might want to leave about 1 cup of batter out of the pan to ensure your cheesecake doesn’t overflow and destroy your oven. If you’d like to use an 11- or 12-inch springform pan, be my guest. But just know that it won’t be quite as tall. But at least you won’t waste any batter. To each his own!
• Place cheesecake onto a cookie sheet and bake for 80 minutes even in the middle of your oven. After 80 minutes, turn the oven off completely and DO NOT open the oven. Leave cheesecake in the hot oven for 6-8 hours or until it’s cooled off completely. Overnight is perfect. Cooling the cheesecake in the oven and bringing its temperature down very slowly is the secret to ensuring it doesn’t crack. Who knew, right?
• Once the cheesecake is cooled, remove from the oven, run a butter knife around the edges and remove the outer edge of the springform pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate to chill completely.
• To make the caramel whipped cream, place all ingredients into a large bowl***. Whip until stiff peaks form.
• Cut chilled cheesecake into pieces****, top with caramel whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and pecans.  Enjoy!!

Notes

*it's really important that your cream cheese is completely soft at room temperature. This will ensure a completely smooth cheesecake filling {no lumps!}

**if you forget to pull your eggs out to be room temp, submerge them into lightly warm water for 10 minutes.

***I used Watkin's brand caramel extract, found at Walmart and Target stores.

****to get super smooth slices, dip your knife into hot water and slice away! Be sure to wipe any cheesecake off of the knife every few pieces.

Nutrition

Calories: 619kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 45g | Saturated Fat: 28g | Cholesterol: 163mg | Sodium: 330mg | Potassium: 242mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 1490IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 126mg | Iron: 1.8mg

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chocolate cheesecake, Chocolate cheesecake recipe, Nutella Cheesecake