Gingerbread Cheesecake

By swirling molasses and spices into cheesecake batter, you create the perfect holiday dessert. Gingerbread cheesecake is rich, aromatic and warming—and even though it’s out of the ordinary, it combines flavors that are familiar and comforting, making it a crowd-pleaser.

Serve this gingerbread recipe as part of a classic Christmas buffet or at the end of a plated holiday dinner. A little of this dessert goes a long way!

Ingredients for Gingerbread Cheesecake

• Gingersnap cookies: Using packaged gingersnaps gets you off to a quick start, although you can always make gingersnaps from scratch. There are also excellent gluten-free gingersnaps on the market, so it’s easy to turn this cheesecake recipe into a celiac-safe dessert.
• Butter: Since the recipe doesn’t contain salt, feel free to use salted butter if that’s what you have on hand. For an extra hint of toasty, nutty flavor, consider making the crust with browned butter.
• Cream cheese: It’s essential to use full-fat cream cheese in this recipe, as it significantly impacts the texture of the finished cake. Using softened cream cheese vs. cold cream cheese also makes a big difference: The former creates a creamy filling, while the latter creates lumps!
• Sugar: Regular granulated sugar is ideal here, but in a pinch you could use an equal amount of brown sugar, which would amplify the molasses flavor.
• Molasses: Molasses is a byproduct of the sugar-making process and has a deep, rich flavor with a hint of bitterness. Its distinctive taste is an important part of a gingerbread cake.
• Vanilla extract: As always, we recommend avoiding imitation vanilla and using a high-quality brand of vanilla extract.
• Spices: Ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves give gingerbread cookies their distinctive warming notes, so we use the spices in this gingerbread cheesecake recipe too. If you don’t have those spices in the cupboard, you could use an equal amount of pumpkin pie or apple pie spice.
• Eggs: Beating the room-temperature eggs slightly before adding them to the other ingredients helps make the cake come together quickly and avoids overmixing.
• Semisweet chocolate: The chocolate topping can be optional if you prefer for the gingerbread flavors in this dessert to shine.
• Whipping cream: Anything labelled whipping cream or heavy cream will work just fine. If you decide to skip the chocolate topping, turn the cream into a little bit of whipped cream to dollop on top of the cake.
• Pecans (optional): Pecans go swimmingly with gingerbread. Toast the nuts for a little extra flavor, if you’d like.

Directions

Step 1: Prep the pan

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Place a greased 9-inch springform pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 18 inches square). Securely wrap the foil around the pan.

Step 2: Make the crust

In a small bowl, combine the cookie crumbs and the melted butter. Press onto the bottom of the prepared pan. Place the pan on a baking sheet and bake for 8 to 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Step 3: Whip up the filling

In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the molasses, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.

Add the eggs, and mix on low speed using an electric beater just until combined.

Pour the mixture into the baked and cooled crust.

Step 4: Bake the cake

Place the filled springform pan into a large baking or roasting pan, and pour hot water into the larger pan until it’s 1 inch high. Bake until the cheesecake’s center is just set and the top appears dull, 45 to 55 minutes.

Editor’s Tip: Why use a water bath? It helps the delicate cheesecake filling cook evenly and can help prevent cracking.

Remove the springform pan from the water bath, and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cheesecake, and cool for one hour longer.

Editor’s Tip: To remove the pan from the simmering water, throw on a pair of oven gloves, grab opposite sides and carefully lift the dish out.

Step 5: Give it a topping

For the topping, place the chopped semisweet chocolate into a small bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream just to a boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and whisk until smooth. Cool slightly, stirring occasionally.

Pour the chocolate over the cheesecake. Refrigerate overnight.

Step 6: Garnish and serve

Remove the sides of the springform pan. If desired, sprinkle the top of the cake with pecans and drizzle it with additional melted chocolate.

Gingerbread Cheesecake Variations

• Skip the chocolate: If you adore the flavor of gingerbread, you may want to consider skipping the chocolate topping. Chocolate is a strong flavor, and it can be somewhat dominant. Instead, consider dollops of sweetened whipped cream, a dusting of spices or a drizzle of apple syrup.
• Change the crust: Since there are molasses and spice flavors in the filling, you could make the crust a counterpoint by using vanilla wafer cookies, Oreo cookies or Scottish shortbread instead of gingersnap cookies. No matter what kind of cookie you use, just make sure it’s dry and crisp.
• Add another layer: For a sweet surprise, spread some apple compote onto the crust before pouring in the cream cheese filling. You could stir a small amount of rum, whiskey or bourbon into the compote or even into the cream cheese mixture.

How to Store Gingerbread Cheesecake

This dairy-rich dessert must be stored in the fridge. If you have a lot of cheesecake left, you can slide the springform pan base onto a cake keeper and pop the dome on top. If you have only a few pieces remaining, you could transfer them carefully to a snap-top container.

How long does gingerbread cheesecake last?

This gingerbread cheesecake recipe should last for up to four days in the fridge. Cheesecake generally holds up nicely during storage.

Can you freeze gingerbread cheesecake?

Yes, you can freeze cheesecake whole or in well-wrapped slices. Eat the cake within three months. Thaw a whole cheesecake overnight in the fridge or a few slices for a couple of hours on the counter before consuming.

Gingerbread Cheesecake Tips

How do you know when the gingerbread cheesecake is done?

One of the most important things about making a cheesecake is knowing when to pull it out of the oven. When a cheesecake is done, you’ll notice that the top looks a little puffy (this is because the egg in the batter has expanded and set), and when you tap the pan with a wooden spoon or give it a little shake, the very center will still have a bit of wobble.

Why did my cheesecake crack on top?

Cheesecakes can crack when they’re cooked for too long, and also if they heat up or cool down too quickly. The water bath is intended to guard against this by slowing down the pace at which the cake heats up and maintaining a lower temperature around the cake during the cooking process.

If your kitchen is cold, you could allow the cake to cool in its water bath for the first few minutes after it comes out of the oven to prevent cracks (you’ll still want to run a knife gently around the edge after 10 minutes).

Something else that might cause a crack is whipping too much air into the batter before baking, so make sure that your cream cheese is softened and only mix as much as you need to.

What’s the best way to slice a cheesecake?

To get nice, clean slices, dip a long, slender knife in hot water, carefully wipe it dry and then cut a slice. Repeat this for every cut!