This extra creamy coffee cheesecake has an Oreo cookie crust, delicious espresso flavor, and a coffee-infused chocolate ganache on top. It’s a decadent dessert that’s perfect for coffee lovers. 
Whenever I make cheesecake for a dinner party or gathering, I tend to eat the leftovers for breakfast. So with that in mind, I suppose it was only a matter of time before I combined the flavor of my morning coffee with creamy cheesecake. The tanginess of the cream cheese goes perfectly with the bitterness of the coffee for a cheesecake recipe that’s not too sweet. The Oreo crust and chocolate topping make it a little extra decadent, plus chocolate and coffee go together perfectly.
Making the Cheesecake
To get started – you’ll make the Oreo cookie crust. It’s the standard crust recipe I use for so many cheesecakes made with crushed Oreo cookies and melted butter. You’ll crush the cookies (wafers and filling) in a food processor until they’re fine crumbs, and then mix with melted butter. The mixture gets pressed into the bottom and slightly up the sides to form a little ridge around the edges.
Then for the cheesecake filling, it’s very similar to making classic New York cheesecake – but with the addition of the coffee flavor. For our coffee flavor, we’re using instant coffee. It packs a punch without adding too much liquid to the batter (which would happen if just added brewed coffee). You’ll dissolve the instant coffee granules in just a tiny bit of water. It doesn’t need to completely dissolve at this point – the coffee will dissolve as it’s beaten into the mixture. The water just helps to soften it.
Then you’ll make the cheesecake filling by beating the cream cheese, sugar and coffee until soft. Then in goes the sour cream (it makes the cheesecake velvety-smooth) and vanilla extract, and lastly the eggs. I always mix in the eggs last so that they don’t get over mixed.
Cheesecake Tips
- Make sure the cream cheese, sour cream and eggs are room temperature before getting started.
- Always use full-fat, brick-style cream cheese. This provides the best flavor and structure for the cheesecake
- After it’s done baking – cool the cheesecake super slowly (while it stays in the pan).
- Chilling the cheesecake is absolutely mandatory for the cheesecake to set and the flavors to come together. Do not skip this step.
- This cheesecake (like all my cheesecake recipes) is baked in a water bath. Do not fear the water bath. It keeps moisture into the cheesecake, gives it a silky smooth texture, and minimizes the chance of cheesecake cracks.
- Before making the crust, wrap the outside the springform pan in aluminum foil at least 4 times. No seams should be showing.
- You’ll place the unbaked cheesecake (with the springform pan wrapped in foil) in a large roasting pan.
- Pour about ½ inch – 1 inch of boiling water into the roasting pan.
- Then place the whole thing into the oven to bake.
After the cheesecake is baked, cooled and chilled – it’s time for the topping. I added a chocolate ganache that’s infused with a little extra coffee (coffee is optional). I also added coffee-infused whipped cream and some chocolate shavings. You can add all 3 toppings, none, or a combination of the three.
Note that I typically make the cheesecake the night before I serve it. Then sometime during the day I’ll make the ganache and refrigerate it again. Then right before serving it, I add the whipped cream and chocolate shavings.
Creamy coffee flavor, super smooth cheesecake, with the addition of a little chocolate too – this coffee cheesecake is a coffee lover’s dream. And if you want even more coffee-infused desserts, be sure to try:
Coffee Cheesecake
Equipment
- 9-inch springform pan
- large roasting pan (big enough to fit the springform pan inside)
- Aluminum Foil
Ingredients
Oreo Crust
- 25 Oreo cookies you'll use the filling and wafers
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter melted
Cheesecake Filling
- 2-3 teaspoons instant coffee powder*
- 1 tablespoon hot water
- 24 oz cream cheese* full-fat, brick style
- 1 ¼ cups white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup sour cream*
- 3 large eggs*
- hot water for the waterbath
Chocolate Ganache
- 6 oz dark chocolate* 50-70%
- ⅔ cup heavy cream*
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee powder optional
Coffee Whipped Cream (Optional)
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee powder
Instructions
Oreo Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.
- Wrap the outside of a 9-inch springform pan with aluminum foil. Wrap it at least 3 times to ensure that all the seams are covered.
- Add the cookies (wafers and filling) to a food processor or high-powered blender and pulse until crumbs. Or place in ziploc bag, and crush with a rolling pin.
- Mix the cookie crumbs with the melted butter.
- Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan, creating a slight lip around the edges.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, and turn it down to 325F degrees.
Cheesecake Filling
- In a small cup, add the 1 tablespoon of water and instant coffee powder. The coffee doesn't need to entirely dissolve - it's just to help with the process.
- In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar and coffee dissolved in water until the cream cheese is soft with no lumps. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Beat in the vanilla and sour cream.
- With the mixer on low speed, beat in the eggs 1 at a time until just combined.
- Place the springform pan with the crust (still wrapped in aluminum foil) in the middle of the large roasting pan.
- Pour the cheesecake batter over the crust, smoothing the top.
- Pour very hot water into the roasting pan so that there's about ½ - 1 inch of water in the roasting pan (1-2 cm).
- Place the whole thing in the oven and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the top looks just set except for in the very middle. If you give the pan a gentle nudge, the cheesecake should still have a slight wobble in the middle (think like jello or pudding).
- Remove the roasting pan (with the cheesecake inside) from the oven. Cool the cheesecake in the roasting pan until the cheesecake is room temperature.
- Cover the pan with aluminum foil and place in the fridge to chill for at least 6 hours, or overnight.
Chocolate Ganache
- Chop the chocolate into very small pieces and place in a heat proof bowl.
- Add the instant coffee to the cream and heat until the cream is almost boiling (either in the microwave or in a small saucepan while gently stirring).
- Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate, let it sit for 3 minutes. Then whisk until smooth.
- Remove the cheesecake from the fridge. Gently unclamp the out side of the springform pan.
- Pour the chocolate ganache over the cheesecake, letting it drip over the edges. Place the cheesecake back in the fridge until you're ready to serve.
Coffee Whipped Cream (Optional)
- Add the instant coffee powder to the heavy cream. Let it sit for a few minutes.
- In a large bowl beat the whipped cream until stiff peaks form.
- Decorate the cake right before serving with whipped cream and chocolate curls.
Notes
- It's best to use an instant coffee powder with fine granules. You do not need to make the coffee - just place the powder in the recipe as directed. For the cheesecake filling, I use about the amount of powder recommended for 1 cup of coffee (this will vary depending on the brand.
- Make sure the cream cheese, sour cream and eggs are room temperature before getting started. Take them out of the fridge about 30 minutes prior.
- Semi-sweet chocolate can be used instead of dark chocolate for the ganache.
- For the cream, heavy cream of whipping cream works - you want something about 33-35% MF.
- Always store the cheesecake covered in the fridge.
- Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Nutrition information is based on 1 pieces with ganache and coffee whipped cream, assuming that the cheesecake is cut into 12 equal pieces. Nutrition information is meant as an estimate only.
Nutrition
This is my second time making this is as many days. I made one for my family and it was divine! I decided to make one for my friends birthday. She loved it!
Daughter requested this for her bday. She is gluten intolerant so I used the gluten free “Oreos”. I was worried this would affect the texture of the crust, it didn’t. No one could tell the difference. Also my instant espresso had expired. Had to send hubby out to get more. He bought regular espresso, seeing it was below zero when he went out, I didn’t have the heart to tell him he got the wrong thing. Used it just as the instructions stated. You can see the flakes of the espresso as it didn’t really dissolve. However it was not gritty, again you couldn’t tell the difference. She and her friends really liked it. In fact one asked if I could make it for his birthday.
I wish I could give this 10 stars. It was perfectly creamy and the right balance of sweet with the perfect coffee cake. I made it for my mom’s birthday and she said it was better than any restaurant or store cheesecake!
Outstanding – this was sooo delicious!
I made this with Hill’s bro’s instant double mocha coffee I doubled the recipe to make two used 1/3 cup less sour cream and it’s come out great I also used semi sweet chocolate chips instead of dark chocolate
so good i love coffee cake
This cheesecake was PERFECTION! Perfect creamy consistency with the right amount of coffee flavor, and that chocolate ganache is the perfect topping. I made it for my coffee-lover boyfriend’s birthday and he absolutely loved it!
Thank you for this very well-written and delicious recipe!
Thank you so much Jess! I’m so glad that you and your boyfriend loved it
Can you freeze part of it to use later? It’s delicious but I’d love to space out the enjoyment since I just made it for our family.
Cheesecake typically freezes quite well, as long as it’s wrapped tightly. You can either wrap slices, or the entire thing (if you plan to thaw it all at once). I’d wrap it first in plastic, then either place in a freezer container or freezer bag, or wrap again in foil. Sometimes the chocolate on top can discolor – so that’s not the best for serving to company.
Made this cheesecake for my brother who loves coffee cheesecake. It was a hit. I made it with lactose free dairy produces and it worked just as well. Wasn’t sure if it would change it. I added 1.5x the coffee because we love strong coffee, and I think next time I’d add just 1 cup of sugar. Not overly sweet, but with the ores base I think you could add less to the filling. I also didn’t add the ganache.
Will be making this over and over again!
This is one of the best cheesecakes I’ve ever had, I made it a 2nd time for my mother’s birthday and my whole family thought it was amazing. It is so creamy and delicious! The only variation I did on it was that I used graham crackers instead of Oreo’s because that’s what I had on hand, but either way, I’m sure it would be absolutely amazing.
Thank you so much Katie! It is definitely one of my favorites too – and I am so glad that you loved the creamy texture
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! Made it for Thanksgiving 2022 and my friends loved it! I used our home made cinnamon walnut biscotti as the crust. It was YUMMY!
Oh my gosh – that crust sounds amazing!