Hi! I’m so excited to FINALLY publish this recipe!
This past week has been completely crazy! I flew to New York to meet and cook with Bobby Flay at his restaurant! Whattt?! I know! My dessert was selected by Fage Total Greek Yogurt to be served at their event. They transformed Bobby’s restaurant Mesa Grill into a beautiful Pop-up Plain Kitchen restaurant.
I’m so happy that I was able to be a part of it! I can’t express how blessed I feel. I met some fabulous food editors, Fage’s PR team (Mullen!), and of course, Bobby. He was incredibly sweet and complimented me on how delicious this cheesecake was. We also made a spice-crusted lamb, which was by far my favorite entree of the evening!
BUT THE CHEESECAKE?! Can we just talk about it? It’s a dense, smooth, chocolate-wasted cheesecake that I want to live in for the rest of my life. I’m SERIOUS. Oh and not to mention that it has a creamy, rich chocolate hazelnut butter (Nutella) ganache, toasted hazelnuts, and sea salt.
Please prepare yourself to drool.
Coming up with this recipe was quite a process. I knew that I wanted to use greek yogurt, but also that I wanted to make a dessert that could be presented in a restaurant or made for a special occasion such as a holiday party. It had to be decadent, rich, and basically everything you could ever want in your mouth.
Now here’s the funny part: I’m not a cheesecake girl. I typically go for pie during the holidays, but I wanted to challenge myself into crafting something beautiful and unique. And in my opinion, there’s really nothing better than dark chocolate and sea salt. OBVIOUSLY.
Oh.my.goodness.
I really can’t even deal with how incredible this is. The crust is made with hazelnuts and chocolate sandwich cookies and the filling from cream cheese, greek yogurt, dark chocolate, cocoa powder, eggs, and sugar.
The topping is a mixture of chocolate hazelnut butter, dark chocolate, and heavy cream, then it’s finished with toasted hazelnuts and a sprinkle of coarse sea salt.
There are not enough happy adjectives to describe this cheesecake. There are simply no words.
But I think that if Bobby says it’s good, well then… you know it’s GOOD.
Hope you guys had a good weekend! Enjoy!
Dark Chocolate Cheesecake with Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache, Toasted Hazelnuts, & Sea Salt

Ingredients
- 3/4 cup FAGE Total Greek Yogurt 2%
- 24 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temperature
- 3 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 10 ounces (1 1/4 cup) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (use dark cocoa for more intensity)
- 10 ounces 72% dark chocolate, chopped
- 25 chocolate sandwich cookies (Oreos are good)
- 1 cup hazelnuts
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache:
- 4 ounces (1/2 cup) chocolate hazelnut butter (Nutella)
- 4 ounces (1/2 cup) heavy cream
- 2 ounces 72% dark chocolate, chopped
- 1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt, plus more if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan.
- Place chocolate sandwich cookies and hazelnuts in a food processor and pulse until finely ground; add melted butter and process again until well combined and cookie crumbs resemble wet sand.
- Scrape into prepared pan and use fingers to press into the bottom and up the side of the pan, making sure the crust is even.
- Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes. Place on wire rack to cool. Keep oven temperature.
- Prepare cheesecake filling by placing 10 oz. of chopped chocolate in a double boiler until smooth and creamy. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.
- In an electric or stand mixer, beat cream cheese and FAGE Total 2% Greek Yogurt until smooth and fluffy.
- Add in sugar and cocoa powder and beat again until smooth, then add in eggs and egg yolks; blending until there is a silky consistency. Fold in melted chocolate until well combined.
- Pour chocolate cheesecake filling over the cooled crust and smooth the top with a spatula. Tap a few times to release any air in the batter.
- Bake until center is just set and just appears dry, about 1 hour and 15 minutes, but check at 1 hour. Do not worry if the cheesecake cracks while baking; this will be covered with ganache.
- Cool the cheesecake 10 minutes, then run a knife around the crust to loosen it. Chill the cheesecake a minimum of 4 hours in fridge, although overnight is best.
- To make the chocolate hazelnut ganache: In a medium saucepan, heat cream over medium-low heat. Add chocolate hazelnut butter and stir until smooth.
- Add in 2 ounces of chopped dark chocolate and stir until melted.
- Pour or drizzle over the center of the chocolate cheesecake and spread to outer edges to help cover any cracks. Top with toasted hazelnuts and sprinkle with sea salt.
- Serve while ganache is warm or place in refrigerator to cool. Cut into 12-16 slices and enjoy!
57 comments
THIS. LOOKS. ABSOLUTELY. AMAAAAAAZING. I can’t wait to make it for an occasion!
OMG! The chocolate drips are mesmerizing on this cheesecake! Congrats on cooking with Bobby Flay!!
Thanks!
Yikes! I am also not a big cheesecake lover…. BUT one look at your photos and my eyes are drooling. I am going to make this for our Christmas party and watch my guests go crazy.
Omg. This looks amazing. I am not even going to ask the nutrition value. Calories don't count with chocolate
OMG congrats! This definitely looks like a winner-who could resist!!?
Oh my!
Delicious!
omg i’m going to make this cheezecake for thanksgiveing I CAN’T WAIT!!! congrats on cooking with chef Flay.
Holy moses, this looks DELICIOUS. Definitely keeping this one in mind for when I need to bake the most amazing cheesecake ever.
There’s no doubt in my mind that this tastes incredible! Just look at all that oozing chocolate…!
Aiya! Whenever I have a party to go to, I come to your website for something to bring. You know why? If I made this for just myself, well, just myself would eat the whole darn thing. This was PERFECT timing because I think if I leave this in the springform it will travel just fine. Now the trick is, I’m living in France temporarily so I have limited ‘tools’ and am hesitant to buy any… I don’t have electric beaters! This might necessitate buying some. I also don’t have a springform, but that can fit in a piece of luggage and make its way home, no problem… eeks… this looks so good that I might have to splurge on tools. PS the only cheesecake I’ve ever loved has been a chocolate one and I am hoping this matches up because my boy is a cheesecake boy, but I don’t bother making him any cause I’m a cake girl!
hellobougeotte.blogspot.com
Suitable adjectives for this creation?…”ORGASMIC” comes to mind…
This is exactly the kind of dessert that has men (and women) rocking back on their chairs and eliciting non verbal moans…
Talk about “boyfriend/men magnet” fare…I’m certain that anyone faithfully following and executing your offering will have a rock on their finger within the week!!
Yum heaven! Thanks for sharing Monique.
monique, i am completely in love with your photography. wow!!! and not to mention this cheesecake looks fabulous. AND you’re gorgeous!
Wow, this cake looks GORGEOUS. 🙂 And you`re so lucky yo meet bobby!
I just made this for Thanksgiving and I can’t wait to eat it!! Only thing I noticed from the recipe is when making the ganache, it’s missing the step on when to add the cream. I added it when melting chocolate but you might want to add that in. Thanks for the recipe!!
Thank you Andrea!
No problem! This was AMAZING!! Everyone loved it!!
What a beautiful cake! I changed it up and made it for Thanksgiving. I Australianified mine by changing the crust and I used a traditional ganache but I gave you credit for the recipe.
Monique that is awesome!! Congrats on being selected that sounds so fun! I love Bobby Flay, he and Giada are my fav food network chefs. And your cheesecake looks stunning I can see why fage wanted it!
Oh oh oh! I haven’t made a cheesecake in YEARS and this might bring me out of retirement. I can’t believe you MET, let alone COOKED WITH Bobby Flay. You lucky devil! Such a creative way to use yogurt- you deserved to win, girl!
Awww. Bobby Flay seems so sweet! I’m happy you got to meet him! Congrats on the recipe win! Way to go!
I have soooooo enjoyed two of your recipes so far and I am sure many more. Loved your brown-butter, nutella filled, sea-salt chocolate chip cookies. In fact I am going to make them for the cookie exchange I host. Also, made my second batch of your black bean, quiona, sweet potato chili…LOVE IT! Have already shared the recipe with a couple of people.
What a masterpiece! That’s quite an accomplishment, getting to meet and cook with Chef Flay! I have dined (no other word fits) at his restaurant in Las Vegas several times – excellent! Congratulations!!
More beautiful than words! I won’t mind a slice of this 🙂
Can I make this ahead and freeze? It looks wonderful!
I took a recipe yesterday, & made a cake today! Thank you for the great recipe!
Does anyone know if this freezes well? I would love to do ahead for Christmas!
Made this as my first cheesecake and it was DELICIOUS! Thanks for the recipe and inspiring me to bake more cheesecakes, Monique!
this recipe looks great and i can’t wait to try it! question-if you use oreos do you have to separate the cookies from the icing or do you use the icing too and blend it all together? thanks!
I’m not really sure what you mean by blending the icing with the oreos?
do you have to only use the oreo cookie and discard the creme filling of the oreo or do you leave the oreo whole when you blend it in the processor? sorry!
Oh gotcha! You leave the oreo as is. 🙂 You’re gonna LOVE it.
thanks so much!! can’t wait to try it!!!
WOW this looks AMAZING! I don’t even love chocolate THAT much, but wow…….
girl….this looks too.die.for. i have cheesecake every year for my birthday, and this is going to be it! i can’t to try it out!!! love your blog! xo
You met Bobby! The recipe looks wonderful.
We don’t seem to have a springform pan. Could I use a different type of pan?
Looking forward to making this. However, my husband is not a huge fan of dark chocolate, could I replace it with a slightly lower cacao percentage maybe 60% or does the mix in with cream cheese play down the flavor of the dark chocolate? How about for the ganache topping, what do you suggest?
Yes, definitely! And you can use a lighter chocolate base for the topping as well. 🙂
making it now! It smells sooo good! thank you
Wow!
this sounds super delicious, love hazelnut. thanks for sharing this recipe.
Simon
Whoa! Where have you been all my life?!? I have a quick question for you Monique. Is it possible to use dark chocolate bars rather than cocoa powder? If so, how much of it do I need? I’ve got a few dark chocolate bars at home and was wondering where I could use it.
this recipe is amazing!! and so rich!
I just made this amazing, decadent Cheesecake for my husbands birthday yesterday . How long does the cake stay good for in the fridge? Can I freeze some?
Thank you for all your wonderful recipes!
Delicious! Yes it’s freezer friendly and should last 5 days in the fridge if properly covered.
This is the best cheesecake Ive ever done, its so posh that easly could be served on weddings or Christmas dinner!😃Love it and will make it again! Thank you Monique.
Amazing!! So glad you loved it!
This looks amazing!! <3 I don't have hazelnuts though 🙁 do you have any substitution recommendation? Thanks!!
Walnuts would be great, or almonds!
This was amazingly delicious! Even my wife, who usually dislikes cheesecake or anything with sweet cheese, enjoyed. It is just the right blend of sweet, sour, salty and bitter. And it is beautiful, too! Thank you!
Since we didn’t have Nutella, and I didn’t want to buy just for this recipe, I replaced the Nutella with semisweet chocolate chips, and added some extra hazelnuts on top to compensate. Otherwise, I followed the recipe as-is.
Amazing! Glad you both enjoyed!
This chocolate cheesecake is AMAZING!! I followed this recipe exactly, except for using Trader Joe’s cocoa almond spread instead of nutella. I also used their big 72% dark chocolate bar and chopped it up. I made the cheesecake ahead and made the ganache right before serving. It was easy to make and turned out fantastic. It’s a beauty but tastes even better! I cannot stop eating the leftovers and am now bringing pieces to friends and family to get it out of my house LOL
Love that! Such a great dessert!
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