Smooth chocolate cheesecake blankets a rich and fudgy brownie crust, in this absolutely show-stopping chocolate brownie cheesecake recipe.
Velvety Brownie Cheesecake
If your two favorite desserts in the world happen to be brownies and cheesecake like mine are, this decadently dark chocolate brownie cheesecake recipe is pretty much the best dessert you could ever make, because it solves the problem of being forced to choose one over the other.
Now there is no need to choose at all – you can have both.
You may also like: Vegan Cheesecake Recipe – NO cashews!
Basic Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe
This chocolate cheesecake looks fancy, but it’s deceptively simple to make.
And if you’re short on time, you can easily skip the brownie crust for a plain chocolate cheesecake that comes together in just minutes.
I used my go-to vegan brownie recipe for the base, but if you have a favorite brownie recipe, feel free to use it instead.
Just remember to undercook the brownie layer, because you’ll be baking it a second time when you bake the cheesecake.
I bet my Black Bean Brownies recipe would be amazing here.
The flax or cornstarch in the recipe is optional because I accidentally forgot it the second time I made the cheesecake (yes, I make baking mistakes too!), and surprisingly I didn’t notice a difference.
The brownie bottom still held together as if I hadn’t forgotten the binder ingredient – so I marked it as optional.
Also try this popular Keto Cheesecake Recipe
Above – watch the video how to make brownie cheesecake
Because I really love you, I made you a video.
Or maybe I made the video because I wanted an excuse to make this cheesecake again.
I’ll never tell.
The recipe was adapted from my Healthy Cheesecake and this Vegan Chocolate Pie.
Brownie Cheesecake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 1 tbsp milk of choice
- 2/3 cup oil
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup spelt or white flour, or packed 3/4 cup Bob’s gf
- 1 cup cocoa powder (I used mostly regular, plus 2 tbsp dutch, to make 1 cup)
- 1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup brown sugar or packed coconut sugar
- 1/3 cup regular sugar OR stevia baking blend
- 2 tbsp flaxmeal or cornstarch, optional
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, optional
Instructions
- Whisk together the first 3 ingredients, then set aside. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan, and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly combine all remaining ingredients. Pour wet into dry, stir to combine, and pour into prepared pan. Smooth down. Bake 12 minutes.For The Cheesecake: 24 oz cream cheese or vegan cream cheese, 2 cups plain yogurt (vegan if desired), 2 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract, 3/4 cup sugar or maple syrup, honey, or xylitol for sugar-free, 3/4 cup cocoa powder (I used mostly regular, plus 2 tbsp dutch, to make up the full amount)Preheat oven to 350 F. Fill a 9×13 pan about halfway with water and place it on your oven’s lower rack. Bring cream cheese to room temperature. In a blender or food processor, beat all cheesecake ingredients just until smooth. (Don’t overbeat, as this would introduce air bubbles that could burst in the oven and thus cause cracking.) Smooth into the 9-inch springform pan with the baked brownies. Place on the middle rack above the other pan. Bake 30 minutes, and do not open the oven during this time. When the time is up, leave oven door closed and turn off heat. Leave in the closed oven an additional 5 minutes. Then remove—it will look underdone—and let cool 20 minutes before placing the still-underdone cheesecake in the fridge. Chill at least 6 hours, during which time it will firm up. Leftovers covered in the fridge will last around 3-4 days.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
Popular Recipes Right Now:
Hello Katie,
I was searching for Brownie Cheesecake articles online and I came accross your website.
I noticed that you linked to one of my favorite food articles.
Since I love it so much, I just wanted to let you know that I created a similar article but much more delicious and updated.
Might be worth a mention on your page!
Either way, keep up the awesome work!
Thanks for considering my work.
Best of All,
Xhulio
I’d like to try making this, but I’m curious about the baking method. Normally I would bake the cheesecake directly in a Bain Marie (water bath). But from your recipe it seems you bake it above the Bain Marie , without having the cake submerged in it. Is that correct ? This would of course be easier, since you don’t have to wrap the springform.
Best regards
Jacob
I have never tried baking directly in the water bath but can say from experience that this particular cake came out perfectly when I baked it with the water underneath 🙂
Just finished baking this for my husbands birthday it looks delicious i cant wait to surprise him with it tomorrow! I did take the coco powder out of the cheese cake part because I know him and chocolate cheesecake on top of a brownie crust will be too much chocolate for him, im going to decorate the top woth a bit of whip cream and mini chocolate chips and possiably some crushe peanut butter cups to add a bit of peanut butter flavor to it 🙂 hope its as good as it smells ! Thank you for sharing the recipe !
Hi there. Ingredients says coconut sugar, then lists unrefined sugar, an I able to just use coconut sugar again for that? Also for the flour it says I can use gf, I have coconut, tapioca and oat flours, would I just use a combination of my 3 flours to get that? How much should I use? Thanks.
Hi, yes you can definitely use coconut sugar. For the flour, the only ones Katie can vouch for are the ones listed (with Bob’s gf all purpose mix being the gf option), but feel free to experiment as long as you are okay with the possibility of a not so great turnout. Be sure to report back if you do experiment!
Woowww. So easy and simple! I want to make for my family gathering. So thank youu.
Can you freeze this cheesecake? How long would you say it lasts in the freezer, if you were to freeze the entire thing, and defrost the entire thing as one later? Would the brownie texture be affected? Thanks!
This looks amazing! My friend and I have been craving chocolate lately (okay that’s not actually newsworthy; that’s us on any given day) and I want to try a new recipe for a special treat, like this! The only thing is, I can’t justify spending money for THREE packages of cream cheese right now. I live overseas, and while Philadelphia original has finally arrived in some grocery stores, it is super-expensive. Would it be possible to scale the recipe down and make only one-third of a batch, with one 8-ozpackage of cream cheese? I don’t have much experience with cheesecakes, so am concerned this would ruin it. If you think it would work okay, what type of pan would you recommend baking the cheesecake in, for a one-third batch?
It is indeed possible! 🙂 https://lett-trim.today/2016/08/18/chocolate-mousse-cheesecake-bars/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Thank you for that link, Jason! This looks like the perfect recipe for this weekend.
Could these be made into individual cheesecakes – muffin size cups? What temperature would you suggest and for how long?
I would try adapting this one first https://lett-trim.today/2016/08/18/chocolate-mousse-cheesecake-bars/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
I have it in the oven now, and I think it will be delicious. But a food processor is absolutely the wrong tool for mixing the cheesecake filling. The filling is very thick, and there was too much of it for the food processor to effectively mix. Also, getting it out of the bowl was a huge mess because you have to use your hand to get the blade out and it was covered in thick filling. There was no way to get all the filling out without getting your hands absolutely covered in filling. Next time I’ll use the Kitchenaid mixer. Also, the brownie base didn’t bake through in 12 minutes, but the instructions don’t say that it has to be baked to a certain level of doneness, so I just did 12 minutes. But then when I put the filling on top it squished the brownie base to the side. I’m not sure it will cook through in the 30 minutes allowed, but fingers crossed it works out. Flavor of the filling is just right, though, and I think with some process tweaks this is a winner.
Hmm, what size food processor do you have? The one in the video didn’t have a problem mixing the cheesecake batter, which should not be too thick. (It’s a 7 cup Cuisinart food processor.) Hopefully yours turned out well in the end!
Jason