Peppermint Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake
I have been wanting to make this cheesecake FOREVER! Seriously. I think since the day I saw it posted on Smitten Kitchen back in 2007. In the summer of 2009, I put it on my Top Ten List, but it still sat on my to-bake list.
I kept telling myself I needed just the right occasion to make this over the top cheesecake. I decided to put it on my 30-while-30 List so that I’d stop making excuses and just make this recipe already.
So when Hubby and I decided to have a few people over for a holiday party, I instantly thought of this cheesecake. I decided to make it seasonal by adding peppermint and crushed candy canes to the cheesecake, ganache, and on top of the ganache.
Chocolate and peppermint is one of my favorite holiday combinations. Well I love it year round, but at the holidays, it’s just another excuse to make something choco-minty.
This cheesecake takes a bit of time due to the number of components, but it’s definitely worth the effort! I made my brownies in advance. After cutting them, I froze them for a few days prior to baking the cheesecake. Then I covered the cheesecake and threw it in the fridge for 2 days. I added the ganache the day before the party and put it back in the fridge.
The only changes I made to the recipes below was to swap out vanilla and replace it with peppermint extract. I also stirred in 3/4 cup crushed candy canes into the cheesecake batter. And I crushed more to put on top of the ganache for garnish.
One Year Ago: Caramel Corn
Two Years Ago: Eggplant Parmesan
Three Years Ago: Peppermint Chocolate Cookies and Snickerdoodles
I am submitting this for December’s What’s Baking, hosted by Nicole of Seven Ate Nine. This month’s theme was to celebrate National Brownie Month!
Peppermint Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake
Cheesecake baked with brownie chunks right in the batter! Topped with peppermint ganache and crushed candy canes. You can leave the peppermint out if you're not in the mood for mint.
Yield: Serves 12
Ingredients:
For the One Bowl Brownies
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup flour
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 Peppermint Cheesecake
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
4 eggs
1 tsp peppermint extract
1 cup sugar
2 cups brownie cubes (from recipe above)
3/4 cup crushed candy canes or peppermint candies
For the Peppermint Ganache Glaze
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, broken up, or 1/2 cup chocolate morsels
2 ounces butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1 Tbsp powdered sugar
6 candy canes, crushed
Directions:
For the One Bowl Brownies
Preheat oven to 350. Line 13×9-inch baking pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Grease foil.
Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on high for 2 minutes, or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add flour and salt; mix well. Spread into prepared pan.
Bake 30 to 35 minute or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. Do not overbake. Cool in pan on wire rack. Remove brownies from pan, using foil handles.
Cut brownies once cooled.
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 Peppermint Cheesecake
Make crumb crust as directed above for 9-inch cheesecake. Preheat oven to 350°F.
Make filling and bake cake: Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy and add eggs, 1 at a time, then peppermint extract and sugar, beating on low speed until each ingredient is incorporated and scraping down bowl between additions.
Fold brownie cubes in very gently and pour mixture into prepared pan. Put springform pan with crust in a shallow baking pan. Pour filling into crust and bake in baking pan (to catch drips) in middle of oven 45 minutes, or until cake is set 3 inches from edge but center is still slightly wobbly when pan is gently shaken.
When completely cool, top with following glaze.
For the Peppermint Ganache Glaze
Grind the chocolate into powder in the food processor, scald the butter and cream in a saucepan (or in a Pyrex cup in the microwave). With the machine running, pour the hot cream/butter mixture slowly through the feed tube onto the chocolate. Blend until completely smooth, stopping machine to scrape down sides once or twice. Add the extract and sugar and process until smooth.
Spread over cheesecake while ganache is still warm. Sprinkle crushed candy canes around edges of ganache for garnish.
Chill until ready to serve.
Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
These look fantastic and are so festive!
Oh my, these look divine! I recently made something similar, but with no chocolate – just a pumpkin batter with cream cheese topping. But I definitely think I must try these too.
These are absolutely beautiful!
Look wonderful!
These look awesome. I just wish it made a bigger pan!
They’re pretty rich, but I would imagine you could just double it and make it in a 9×13 pan if you wanted!
I made pumpkin spice brownies on Friday and they were delish so I bet these are EVEN BETTER! Thanks for sharing and I’ll be following your tweaks!
~ingrid
i always make a pumpkin cheesecake in the fall with a ginger cookie crumb crust, but i’m liking the chocolate component in your recipe even more.
oh yum – love pumpkin, and the chocolate/pumpkin combo looks wonderful!
These look great! Is there a way I can make them non-dairy? Something I can sub the cream cheese for? Thanks!
Heather – I’ve had great luck subbing Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese in cheesecake recipes in the past. I think that would definitely work and you could use Earth Balance in the brownie portion. Let me know how it turns out if you try it.
Hi Jenn! I just wanted to let you know that you won the giveaway on my blog last week. I emailed you, but never got a response. Could you email me your mailing address to jennharton@paducah.com. I have to pass it along to myblogspark so they can send you your prize package!
Thanks, Jen…I’ll let you know how they come out!
OH wow these do look delicious! I love all that swirled pumpkin…yum!
Those look amazing!
Wow, I love these! My husband would die of happiness of I made these for him – pumpkin cheesecake is his favorite thing for fall.
They look like tiger fur – very cool! What an interesting flavour combination.
We love these at my house! I like your idea of dark chocolate – I will have to try that next time.
beautiful! And they look so delicious!! I agree I don’t normally think of pumpkin with chocolate… but you have me convinced!
The tops of these are a work of art! Love it!
Three of my favorite thi ngs in one dessert! Chocolate and pumpkin and cheesecake! How perfect…
~Nancy
Three of my favorite thi ngs in one dessert! Chocolate and pumpkin and cheesecake! How perfect…
~Nancy
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The side-view shot totally won me over. These look delicious!
This looks so yummy.
I now know what to make for the office potluck!
Those look amazing. I love pumpkin with chocolate, I plan on making these soon.
Your brownies look delicious! I am curious since I would like mine to taste more like pumpkin pie than plain pumpkin should i add pumpkin pie spices or follow your recipe for the spices?
Thanks!
fawkes – There are a decent amount of spices in the pumpkin portion of the batter. I would recommend making is as the recipe states, then taste it before you pour it into the pan. Maybe then add some pumpkin pie spice if you’d like.
I made these over the weekend and they were scrumptious!! I’m not a huge fan of pumpkin but this recipe is now a fall staple. I plan on making them for the family on Thanksgiving…thanks for sharing this!
I made these the other day and they were great! a hit at work! yum! thanks!
I stumbled across your blog from a Facebook friend and made these brownies last night. DELICIOUS!! I doubled the recipe and it does just fit in a 9×13 pan and took about 60 mins to bake. It’s worth the wait for them to be chilled in the fridge. The flavors are even more delicious that way.
Oh YUM! And gorgeous, to boot. I never thought pumpkin and chocolate go together either, until I tried it! 🙂 Now I’m hooked. Good idea to double up on the cheesecake layer…you can never have enough pumpkin cheesecake after all!
Thank you so much for participating in our event! These brownies look amazing. They say Halloween to me for sure!
I made these– now I love them! Will be repeated each fall 🙂
Amazing! I loved these so much I played with them a bit and made cranberry cheesecake brownies for my christmas baking.(I didn’t stumble on to these till christmas.) I’ll let you know when I put those up on my blog! With credit to you of course!
Lexi – cranberry cheesecake brownies sound very intriguing. Can’t wait to see them.
Hi Jen! I made these for Heather@BFM’s (comment listed above) birthday and she loved them! Unfortunately I could not find the Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder (I tried 3 stores) so I had to make them with the regular cocoa powder. Can you tell me where you found the Hershey’s Special Dark??
Kasey – I have actually had a hard time finding it as well. I had actually all but given up on it until one day it caught my eye at the grocery store. I proceeded to buy all three containers. I would say just keep an eye out for it and good luck!
1/2 cup of flour seems like very little. Is that correct?
Pup – Yes, that is the correct amount of flour. Most brownie batters have very little flour in them.
Just made these- delicious! I only had the milk chocolate powder, so I’m excited to try it again with the special dark powder.
I doubled the recipe and it perfectly filled a 13×9 pan so you might try it. 🙂 And they are amazing. Also I used margerine not butter and found they were more moist. Happy Baking!
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I made these with my nieces and over all they were pretty good, but something about the pumpkin part tasted off. Still, fun and festive to make!