Creamy Nutella Cheesecake Recipe
This Nutella Cheesecake recipe features an Oreo crust, a creamy baked Nutella cheesecake filling and is topped off with a thick and rich Nutella ganache. 😍
This Oreo Nutella cheesecake is a top-notch, ultra indulgent, thick and creamy, decadent, fancy, holiday-worthy, Valentine’s Day appropriate dessert, while still being a sweat-pants-movie-night, eat-outta-the-pan kind of dessert. You know what I mean? 😂 For more indulgent Nutella desserts try my Nutella Brownies, Nutella Cookies, Nutella Milkshake, and Nutella Stuffed Cookies recipes!
Why This Recipe Works
- 2 cups of Nutella. Trust me when I say the Nutella flavor in this cheesecake really comes out and it’s because we have two full cups of Nutella!
- Cheesecake filling with flour. I know it seems a little strange to have flour in the cheesecake filling, but it has two important purposes! The flour in the filling helps prevent cracking on top of the cheesecake while it’s baking. It can also help provide better texture that is easier to cut. It’s just a tiny bit of flour, but it makes a world of difference!
- Perfect cream cheese-Nutella ratio. This recipe has the perfect ratio of cream cheese to Nutella. It’s 2 cups Nutella and three 8 oz. blocks of cream cheese. It’s just the right amount of each so you don’t have one overpowering the other but you can taste both! Trust me on this, the cheesecake flavor is there and the Nutella flavor is there too!
Ingredient Notes
- Oreo Crumbs: Use a food processor to get the crumbs really fine. Leave the Oreo filling in.
- Butter: The butter is used for the Oreo Crust. It helps bind the Oreo crumbs together and creates the crust when baked.
- Cream Cheese: 24 oz, or three 8 oz blocks of cream cheese, is the perfect ratio with the Nutella.
- Granulated Sugar: Since the Nutella is sweet, you don’t need as much sugar as you would have in a regular cheesecake. Just enough to help the sweetness and provide the texture needed.
- Flour: Adding a bit of flour can help prevent the cheesecake from cracking. If you don’t do the water bath correctly though, it won’t matter if you have flour or not in your cheesecake. Using the flour + the water bath is a surefire way to get a smooth top.
- Nutella: This Nutella cheesecake recipe calls for 2 cups of Nutella. The Nutella will make the cheesecake filling look and seem stickier than traditional cheesecake fillings. That’s OK. It is just due to the Nutella in the mixture.
- Eggs: The eggs are an important building block for the cheesecake. Most baked cheesecakes have eggs in them. It gives the cheesecake a nicely smooth and rich texture and flavor.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Make the Oreo crust. Combine the Oreo crumbs with the butter. Press the Oreo mixture into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a greased 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 325°F for 8-9 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Once completely cooled, double wrap the springform pan with foil so water doesn’t seep into the pan during the water bath.
- Make the cheesecake filling. Combine the cream cheese, sugar, and flour and mix on low speed with an electric mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until smooth. Add the vanilla extract and Nutella and mix on low until fully combined. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Spread the filling into the springform pan. Using an offset spatula, smooth the top of the cheesecake until even.
- Bake. Place the foil-wrapped springform pan in a large (and tall) cake pan (or use a roasting pan). Fill the pan with hot water. The water should go halfway up the sides of the springform pan but not past the aluminum foil! Bake at 300°F for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
- Properly cool the cheesecake. Once it’s done baking, turn off the oven and leave the door closed for 30 minutes. Crack the oven door open for 30 more minutes and let cheesecake continue to cool inside the oven. Then, carefully take the springform pan out of the water bath, cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold and firm, about 6 hours or overnight.
- Make the Nutella ganache. (Do this next step about 30 minutes prior to serving the cheesecake.) Remove the cheesecake from the fridge and uncover it. Remove the sides of the springform pan and set the cheesecake on a large plate or cake stand. Place the Nutella, chocolate chips, and heavy cream in a medium-sized, microwave-safe bowl. Heat in 20-second increments, stirring well after each increment, until melted and smooth. Let the mixture cool for 5 minutes. Pour the Nutella ganache on top. Gently spread it to the borders. Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.
Recipe Tips
Use a food processor to crush the Oreos. Leave the filling in the Oreos, but don’t use double stuffed. There’s too much cream filling in the double stuffed Oreos.
I place a sheet of circular parchment paper (cut to the size of the pan) on the bottom of the springform pan and then I grease the parchment and sides with softened butter. You can also use shortening if you’d like.
When mixing the Nutella cheesecake filling, we use LOW speed as to not bring in too much air in the filling. Air= air pockets. We don’t want that for this cheesecake.
Make sure you follow the proper cheesecake cooling steps (as explained in the recipe card and in the step-by-step above) to make sure the baked Nutella cheesecake doesn’t crack!
Interested in adding more decorations to the top? Make my Chocolate Buttercream Frosting and add some swirls on top with some Ferrero Rocher candies and chopped hazelnuts!
Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing
This is a great recipe to make ahead of time because the baked cheesecake needs to chill in the fridge for 6 hours+ before adding the Nutella ganache on the top.
Store the cheesecake covered in the fridge for 3-5 days.
I don’t recommend freezing this cheesecake due to the high dairy content. When frozen and thawed, dairy products can separate, creating a different texture and consistency.
FAQs
Double wrap the springform pan in aluminum foil. More foil = less chances of water seeping in. What happens if water seeps into the cheesecake? You’ll get a soggy crust!
Technically, yes you totally can, but it just depends on how you want the cheesecake to turn out. A water bath, also known as bain marie, protects the cheesecake from cracking while baking and keeps the cheesecake even. Without a water bath, the cheesecake can sink in the middle.
A bain marie is a baking term for a water bath.
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Creamy Baked Nutella Cheesecake
Ingredients
Oreo Crust
- 3 cups Oreo crumbs - See Note #1
- 5 tablespoons butter - melted
Nutella Cheesecake Filling
- 24 oz cream cheese - room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups Nutella
- 4 large eggs - at room temperature
Nutella Ganache
- 3/4 cup Nutella
- 2 tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon heavy cream
Instructions
Oreo Crust
- Preheat oven to 325 F. Line a 9” springform pan with parchment on the bottom, then grease the sides.
- In a medium size bowl combine the crushed Oreos and melted butter. Mix to combine.
- Press the Oreo butter mixture into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan. Bake the crust for 8-9 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Reduce oven temp to 300°F.
- Once cool wrap the outsides of the springform pan with foil so that water doesn’t seep into the pan during the water bath.
Nutella Filling
- Using an electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the cream cheese, sugar and flour on low speed until combined and smooth. Add the vanilla and Nutella and mix on low until fully combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after mixing in each egg.
- Spread the filling into the springform pan. Smooth the top to make even.
- Place the pan in a large roasting pan and fill the roasting pan with hot water. The water should go halfway up the sides of the springform pan but not past the aluminum foil.
- Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes. The center will be set but slightly jiggly.
- Turn off the oven and leave the door closed for 30 minutes. Crack the oven door open for 30 more minutes and let cheesecake continue to cool. (Helps prevent cracking).
- Remove cheesecake from the oven, then carefully remove the cheesecake from the water bath, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate the cheesecake until chilled and firm, about 6 hours or overnight.
- 30 minutes prior to serving, remove the sides of the springform pan and set the cheesecake on a large plate (or whichever tray you want to serve it on). Then make the ganache…
Nutella Ganache
- Place the Nutella, chocolate chips, and heavy cream in a medium size microwave safe bowl. Heat in 20 second increments until melted and smooth. Let mixture cool for 5 minutes. Pour half of the ganache over the cheesecake (starting in the center). Gently spread it to the borders. Refrigerate until set.
Notes
This recipe was originally published on Feb. 3, 2020. It was republished on Feb. 9, 2022, to include additional information and photos.
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5 Comments on “Creamy Nutella Cheesecake Recipe”
I’ve made this three times and it has gotten rave reviews, including one person asking which bakery I got it from! I would love to make smaller versions for gifting purposes but I’m a little hesitant because I’m not sure how to adjust the bake times since the batter will fill higher in 2 4-inch pans and thinner in 3 4-inch pans or 2 6-inch pans. Any suggestions?
Gosh, that’s tough to answer as I’ve never made a cheesecake in a smaller pan.
If you’re using smaller springform pans, the mixture will heat up faster, despite it coming up higher on the sides. I would just eyeball in, and trust your baking intuition.
I’m sorry I’m not more help!
Please let me know how they turn out when you test it!
Success with trying smaller cheesecakes! The best/easiest is two 6-inch pans, used the same bake time as the recipe above. A little more complicated was using three 4-inch pans and one 6-inch pan. I used half the recipe for the 6-inch pan and the other half I split between the three 4-inch pans. I measured the heck out of the weight to make sure they were all even (I don’t trust my eyeballing). I was just guessing how long to bake the mini cheesecakes and the 6-inch in the same oven, unfortunately I didn’t write down how long it took. My willing subjects for my baking experiment were quite pleased regardless. It’s also nice to know that I can make a smaller cheesecake by halving the recipe and using a 6-inch pan if we’re feeding a smaller group because honestly, I could eat this leftover cheesecake for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
Also, my brother-in-law who supposedly “doesn’t like cheesecake” cheered when I brought him one of the mini cheesecakes! My husband has recently started using them as currency for people who have done some last-minute work for him. He was gifting one of the 6-inch cheesecakes as a thank you and the guy took off $30 the charge when he saw it.
Your recipes has made me extremely popular lol
I don’t have a springform pan 🙁 BUT this works in a traditional pie pan. You won’t get the classic cheesecake edge you’d get in a springform, but it’s a great second. Love this nutella cheesecake. Thanks for the recipe!