Peppermint Bark Cheesecake

Peppermint Bark Cheesecake is a festive holiday dessert perfect for this time of year. Use store bought peppermint bark if you’re short on time!

Peppermint Bark Cheesecake

When I made that Swirled Peppermint Bark the other day, it wasn’t to simply have peppermint bark in the house. I made it with the intention to make this Peppermint Bark Cheesecake.

Peppermint Bark Cheesecake

For the December birthday celebration at work, the one guy with a birthday requested peppermint bark. I’m happy to oblige and decided to kick things up a notch by throwing the peppermint bark in to a cheesecake. And since the cheesecake didn’t use the entire batch of peppermint bark, there was peppermint bark for him to enjoy along side his cheesecake.

Peppermint Bark Cheesecake

It’s no surprise this cheesecake was a huge hit. It uses my favorite flavor combination – mint and chocolate with a festive tone from the candy cane garnish. I did run in to a minor issue with this cake, which was completely my fault. I apparently didn’t latch my springform pan properly prior to putting it into the water bath. As a result, some water seeped in to the cake, even though I had wrapped the pan with two layers of foil. This made the crust a little soggy, but other than this minor issue with the texture, it wasn’t a big deal at all.

Peppermint Bark Cheesecake

Oh and the birthday boy we were celebrating went back for seconds and then thirds of this cheesecake.

One Year Ago: Five Homemade Gift Ideas
Three Years Ago: Caramel Corn
Four Years Ago: Eggplant Parmesan and Green Bean Casserole
Five Years Ago: Peppermint Chocolate Cookies and Snickerdoodles
Six Years Ago: Spinach Tomato Chicken Pasta

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Peppermint Bark Cheesecake

Peppermint Bark Cheesecake is a festive holiday dessert perfect for this time of year. Use store bought peppermint bark if you're short on time!

Yield: One 9" cheesecake

Ingredients:

For the Chocolate Crumb Crust
3 cups or 10 ounces finely ground cookies such as chocolate wafers or Chocolate Teddy Grahams
10 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt

For the Filling
4oz white chocolate, melted
3 - 8oz containers or blocks cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 Tbsp heavy cream
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp peppermint extract
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups peppermint bark chunks, storebought or homemade

For the Mousse
1/2 cup cool whip, softened
4oz cream cheese, softened
2 oz white chocolate, melted
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

For the Chocolate Crumb Crust
Stir together crust ingredients and press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of a buttered 9-inch springform pan. Fill right away or chill up to 2 hours.

For the Filling
Preheat oven to 325 degF.

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, whipping 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 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 degrees for 1 hour. Turn off the oven. Keeping the door shut, leave the cheesecake in the oven for an additional 45 minutes. Remove and allow to sit for at least 1 hour before chilling.

Chill 4 hours or overnight before adding the mousse.

For 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.

Garnish with crushed candy canes and shaved chocolate.

Store covered in the refrigerator.

Cheesecake and white chocolate mousse recipe from Baked by Rachel, crust from Smitten Kitchen

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11 Responses to “Rocky Road Squares”

  1. #
    1
    The Hungry Mouse — November 4, 2009 at 5:02 pm

    Drooling now! I’ll take two, please.

    +Jessie

  2. #
    2
    Erin — November 4, 2009 at 5:56 pm

    Love them and will be making them this weekend!

  3. #
    3
    JanuskieZ — November 4, 2009 at 6:00 pm

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  4. #
    4
    nutmegnanny — November 4, 2009 at 10:48 pm

    I’m totally drooling over these bars! I can’t believe how easy they are:)

  5. #
    5
    We Are Not Martha — November 5, 2009 at 2:14 am

    How delicious do these look?!?! I might have to try these…

    Sues

  6. #
    6
    Amy I. — November 5, 2009 at 6:38 am

    The ease of prep to impressiveness ratio of these bars looks extremely high 🙂 Added them to my to-do list…thanks for the inspiration!

  7. #
    7
    biz319 — November 5, 2009 at 2:36 pm

    Wow, how easy is that??!! I may make those for our cookie exchange this year! 😀

  8. #
    8
    stephchows — November 5, 2009 at 3:22 pm

    those things look jam packed with tastiness!

  9. #
    9
    Erin — November 5, 2009 at 11:34 pm

    It’s nice to have an easy dessert recipe to turn to! I’m so glad you liked them!

  10. #
    10
    Kristy — November 9, 2009 at 12:19 am

    Ummm.. AMAZING! I might have to try those ASAP!

  11. #
    11
    Mermaid Sweets — November 10, 2009 at 3:13 am

    Thanks for posting, looks like a good and easy holiday addition.

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