Creamy chocolate cheesecake bars made with dark chocolate — no water bath required! Served on a 2-ingredient Oreo crust and topped off with whipped cream and strawberries, these cheesecake bars are decadent bliss.
As promised, I have something sweet for you today! Hopefully none of you minded last week’s savory recipe too much, but today we’re getting back to what I do best: sugar… and chocolate!
These chocolate cheesecake bars have actually kind of been the bane of my existence these past few days. I’ve been trying to clean up my diet a bit (along with going on more runs), and so I’ve been trying to pick at my desserts less while I’m making them. I eat everything that I make still, but when I’m in the process of making them I’ve been trying to indulge a bit less.
Unfortunately, no cookie dough or cake batter is safe from a stolen spoonful (or six…hundred).
I’d been doing pretty well recently, but when it came to making these chocolate cheesecake bars… between the dark chocolate, the cream cheese, the Oreo cookies… it was irresistible.
I also learned this weekend that not everyone has this problem — Zach tested a cookie bar recipe for me yesterday and he didn’t sample so much as a single chocolate chip… what is that!? Am I married to a complete freak of nature or are there other unicorns like him out there who can resist the buttery temptation of a good cookie dough?
Then, once these chocolate cheesecake bars came out of the oven and chilled… Oy, I couldn’t stop sampling.
Every bite of these cheesecake bars is chocolate bliss, from their buttery Oreo cookie crust (my favorite kind of crust to make, it’s so easy and just 2 ingredients!) to the creamy, dark chocolate infused cheesecake itself… how is a person expected to keep their fork off of it?
But enough about my utter lack of self control. Let’s get into what it is that really makes these chocolate cheesecake bars so darn delicious.
For the richest possible chocolate flavor here, you’re going to melt down 8 oz of dark chocolate. I recommend using bars of chocolate between 60-75% cacao. I recommend using bars, but I’ve also used dark chocolate chips when they were all that I’ve had on hand.
Another thing — sour cream.
Not all cheesecake recipes call for sour cream and that’s just mind-boggling to me. As I mentioned in my no-bake cheesecake recipe, Sour cream is critical for that real, rich cheesecake flavor. I can pick out a cheesecake made without sour cream from a mile away… and I’ll pass on it every time.
There are a few important things to keep in mind to make your cheesecake making process as easy as possible.
- Softened cream cheese. You want it softened to room temperature. Cream cheese that is too cold can leave lumps in your cheesecake, or when you add your melted chocolate it can cause the chocolate to harden, leaving chunks of hard chocolate in your cheesecake. Admittedly, the latter isn’t the worst thing that could possibly happen, but we want a smooth cheesecake, so let that cream cheese soften!
- Easy on the eggs. Don’t over-beat the eggs when you add them. Stir on low-speed just until combined after each egg, and make sure to pause after each addition to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Over-beating the eggs can actually ruin the texture of your cheesecake and can cause cheesecake to crack.
I originally intended to cover these chocolate cheesecake bars with a thick layer of ganache but the flavor was already so rich and dark that I thought that a ganache topping would just be overkill.
Instead, I topped mine off with some whipped cream and strawberries to help lighten the rich flavor — and then just a touch of chocolate sauce (because I can’t help myself).
Enjoy!
Chocolate Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
Oreo Crust
- 24 Oreo cookies
- 4 Tablespoons butter melted (56g)
Chocolate Cheesecake
- 8 oz dark chocolate 60-75% (226g)
- 24 oz cream cheese softened to room temperature (680g)
- 1 cup sugar (200g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup sour cream (120g)
- 3 eggs room temperature
Instructions
Oreo Crust
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a 9x9 baking pan with parchment paper or foil.
- Place your Oreo cookies in a food processor and process until pulverized to fine crumbs.
- Add melted butter and pulse again until well-combined.
- Pour cookie crumb mixture into prepared baking pan and use the back of a spoon to press the crumbs firmly into an even layer. Set aside.
Chocolate Cheesecake
- Chop your chocolate bars into small pieces (if using chocolate chips, you do not need to chop) and place in a medium-sized bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir well. Microwave again for 15 seconds and stir again, repeat until chocolate is smooth and completely melted.
- In a stand mixer (or in a large bowl with a hand-mixer), beat together softened cream cheese and sugar, scraping down the sides with a spatula occasionally to ensure ingredients are mixed well. (beat on medium-speed about 1-2 minutes, scraping down side occasionally).
- Add sour cream and stir well, pausing once to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Stir in vanilla extract.
- Stir in melted chocolate until completely combined.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just mixed after each addition (and scraping down the sides after each addition).
- Spread cheesecake batter evenly over prepared cookie crust.
- Bake on 350F (175C) for 40 minutes or until cheesecake is just set and slightly jiggly to the touch.
- Allow cheesecake to cool to room temperature, and then transfer to refrigerator and chill at least 6 hours before slicing and serving.
- Top with whipped cream, strawberries, and chocolate sauce, if desired.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
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Kim
WHOA! Absolutely delicious and no water bath!!! Thank you for taking the time to perfect this recipe. 8500 ft 50 minutes no changes to recipe
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Kim! 🙂
Doug
I baked these for the first time last night. Followed the directions pretty much to the tee except I did not have a 9×9 baking dish so the closest I had was a 9×11 (approximate). The Oreo crust had a slight burned taste initially, but after chilling in the fridge all night it disappeared. The only thing I can figure is that the crust was a little thinner than your recipe so probably didn’t need quite as long to bake. The filling was delicious. Gave some to several neighbors who enjoyed it. The top cracked so I figured I must have beat the eggs a little too long based on your tips. Will definitely make again. Very glad I found this site as I have made several of the recipes during our work at home period. No complaints on any that I have tried.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Doug! 🙂
Pam
Love these chocolate cheesecake bars! A hit with everyone! So delicious!
DelishDiva-Z
Can I add chocolate gram crackers for the crust instead of oreos? Would it taste good?
Sam
I think that would be great! You could use my graham cracker crust for this recipe as your guide, only substitute the chocolate graham crackers for regular ones. I hope that helps!
Cynthia Goebel
How can I make a 13×9 pan? Would I 1 1/2 times the recipe?
Sam
I think you would need to almost double the recipe to fit it in a 9×13 pan. 🙂
Kate
For the 9x 13, I think 1 & 1/2 times would work. I made a different cheesecake bar recipe and it called for 32 oz of cream cheese, 4 large eggs, 1 cup of sugar.
I’m wondering if the Best Cheesecake recipe measurements would work because of that? Just not sure the chocolate amount would be adjusted?
Sam
You would want to increase all of the ingredients proportionally here. If you don’t adjust the chocolate the same way you are definitely going to lose a lot of the chocolate flavor.
Esther
Is there anything I can use to substitute for the sour cream? I want to make this non-dairy. Can use soy cream cheese but don’t know of any non dairy sour cream substitute.
Sam
Hi Esther! I’m honestly not sure of a non-dairy substitute. Hopefully someone else can chime in with some ideas.
Sara
I feel uncomfortable about baking a cheesecake. I usually just refrigerate cheesecakes when I’m making them; the one time I baked one it turned out pretty gross. Can we refrigerate this rather than bake it?
Sam
Hi Sara, while there are some no-bake cheesecake recipes out there, this one does need to be baked due to the eggs. Otherwise it would not set up properly.
Maren
I have an odd question- I going to make this, but SOMEONE ate all my chocolate chips (okay, it was mostly me) So! Do I need to tweak the rest of the ingredients at all to make regular cheesecake bars?
Sam
😂 Your comment made me laugh! You should be fine to just omit the chocolate, they may need to cook a few minutes less just because they’ll be ever so slightly thinner. Enjoy!! 🙂
Jess @ Sweetest Menu
These photos are gorgeous Sam! Wow! And I am EXACTLY the same as you. I eat EVERYTHING, all the time, especially when I’m cooking. It is a serious hazard of being of a food blogger! 😛
Hira
Sam, these look absolutely incredible! I love cheesecake. I love chocolate. I love Oreos. I also love fitting into my jeans, but I’ll make an exception for these! 😉
Sues
These look sooo perfect! Chocolate cheesecake is my favorite kind of cheesecake and that drizzle makes these bars even more amazing!
Emma @ Lights, Camera, BAKE!
Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate! You’re speaking my language with these bars. I absolutely love these and the Oreo crust is my favourite to make also! 😉
Joanne
These bars look decadent, and I had to chuckle over the comment you made about your husband! 🙂
Emily
Hi! Do you use the whisk or paddle attachment on the mixer? Also, is there any difference is using a springform pan, other than it not being a bar? Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Sam
I use the paddle! I actually think this would do perfectly fine in a springform pan, I intend to try it out that way myself next weekend. I hope you love it!!
Emily
I’m going to make this for my boyfriend’s birthday this week! I take it this recipe is good to go without a water bath, no matter the pan, but would a standard ~60 minutes in a spring-form be sufficient before checking it? I haven’t made a cheesecake in years.
Shawnna Griffin
hey girl- these look amazing! yummy!