Delicious & Easy Mint Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

47 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

Featuring a delicious chocolate graham cracker crust for cheesecake, these easy mint chocolate cheesecake bars are a huge hit! No springform pan or fuss required. These easy cheesecake bars are always a huge hit and perfect for a large crowd!

peppermint-sheet-pan-cheesecake

Delicious & Easy Mint Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

This recipe for Delicious & Easy Mint Chocolate Cheesecake Bars is for you if you love homemade cheesecake but hate the fuss of spring form pans and cracking cakes! It’s easy and makes either one big sheet pan dessert, or two 9x13s, so you can eat one and freeze the other for another day!

My family always begs me to make cheesecakes, but I rarely do. Primarily, I don’t want to find my spring form pan and deal with the disappointment of another cracked cheesecake. Luckily, this recipe is much easier than a traditional cheese cake. Rest assured, though, it certainly doesn’t sacrifice taste! Three simple steps will have this wonderful sheet pan cheesecake on your table without too much effort.

chocolate-peppermint-sheet-pan-cheesecake

Let’s Make these Easy Cheesecake Bars

First, gather tools and ingredients. You’ll need either a sheet pan (18 x 13), these are my favorite, or two 9×13 pans for this recipe. You’ll also need parchment paper. I like the brand If You Care’s Unbleached & Chlorine Free variety. It also helps to have a food processor and a stand mixer, though neither are necessary. Make sure you let the cream cheese come to room temperature for about an hour or so before you’re ready to mix it or it won’t cream as nicely.

Easy Graham Cracker Crust for Cheesecake

It’s easy to make a delicious graham cracker crust for cheesecake.The crust is just crushed chocolate graham crackers combined with melted butter and pre-baked for about 5 minutes. And if you line the sheet pan with parchment paper, the cheesecake bars come off the pan effortlessly.

bake-the-crust-and-add-the-cheesecake

Make the cheesecake batter

To make the cheesecake batter, I busted out my Kitchen Aid stand mixer  and creamed the cheese and sugar before adding eggs one at a time. Finally, add the extracts and the mint candy pieces and pour the mix onto the crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until the middle has just set. After the cheesecake has baked, let it cool for 15 minutes, and then put it in the fridge for at least three hours.

bake-the-cheesecake-cook-then-add-the-ganache

Make the ganache

While your lovely cheesecake is cooling, make an easy ganache.  Yes, I made a ganache – doesn’t that sound fancy?! No, it’s not hard, don’t worry. 🙂 Just make sure you coarsely chop a cup of chocolate chips before adding hot cream. I used my food processor to chop the chocolate – easy peasy. Let the cream and chocolate mix sit for ten minutes, and then stir until the chocolate is melted. That’s it! After the cheesecake is completely cooled, spread the ganache on top.

cheesecake-with-chocolate-ganache

By the way, don’t let your son drop a grapefruit on the cheesecake after you’ve nicely smoothed out the ganache or it will look terrible. You can just trust me on that one. I was NOT a happy mama and I didn’t display very nice mama skills after that happened. How many times does a person have to tell her kids not to throw balls {or anything resembling balls} in the house?!

chocolate-peppermint-sheet-pan-cheesecake-vertical

Here’s the printable recipe

Yield: 40 squares

Mint Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

Mint Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

An easy and delicious cheesecake bar recipe - no spring-form pan or fuss required!

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

For the crust:

  • 3 cups crushed chocolate graham crackers
  • 10 TBS butter, melted

For the cheesecake

  • 6 - 8 oz packages cream cheese, room temperature
  • 6 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups raw sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
  • 1 cup crushed peppermint candies

For the ganache

  • 1 cup heavycream
  • 1 cup finely shredded semi-sweet chocolate, chocolate chips work fine

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. To make the crust, combine melted butter and graham cracker crumbs. Firmly press on a sheet pan (or two 9 x 13 if desired) covered with parchment paper.
  3. Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes, remove from oven.
  4. To make the cheesecake, combine cream cheese and sugar in a stand mixer over medium speed. Slowly add eggs one at time until combined.
  5. Add the extracts and candies and mix one last time.
  6. Pour the cheesecake batter on the crust and bake for 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool to touch, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
  7. To make the ganache, shred 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate. I ran a cup a chocolate chips through my food processor, but if you have mad knife skills, feel free to use your knife to chop.
  8. Heat one cup a cream over medium high heat until just boiling. Then, pour cream over chocolate in a heat safe bowl.
  9. Let the cream and chocolate sit for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes are up, stir the mixture until a nice ganache forms. Top the cheesecake with the ganache. Put the cheesecake back in the fridge for another 15 minutes or so.
  10. Finally, cut into bars (roughly 2" x 2") and top with a few more candies, if desired
  11. Store leftovers in the fridge.

Nutrition Information:

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 4381Total Fat: 271gSaturated Fat: 167gCholesterol: 751mgSodium: 2317mgCarbohydrates: 438gSugar: 410gProtein: 60g

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram tagging @simplifylivelove! I love to see your photos!

If you liked this recipe for easy cheesecake bars, you might like these recipes too:

Busy Week Night Greek Salmon Sheet Pan Dinner

Easy Instant Pot Dessert Recipes

Delicious Pumpkin Cheesecake

I hope you like these mint chocolate cheesecake bars! It is a new family favorite. Happy baking!

About Michelle Marine

Michelle Marine is the author of How to Raise Chickens for Meat, a long-time green-living enthusiast, and rural Iowa mom of four. She empowers families to grow and eat seasonal, local foods; to reduce their ecological footprint; and to come together through impactful travel.

You May Also Like:

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

47 Comments

  1. I’d try chicken pot pie. Yum! Thanks for introducing me to Blake’s. They look great, and I had not heard of them before now.

  2. You said to add the eggs one at a time to the cheesecake, but you never put how many eggs. I was looking for a cheesecake recipe to feed a crowd. Can you let me know how many eggs are in this recipe, please?

    1. How odd! I’ve updated the recipe to state 6 eggs. You need 6 eggs for this recipe. Thanks so much for pointing that out to me!