Tickle their taste buds with this Frozen Hot Chocolate Cheesecake! It’s an ice cream, cheesecake-flavored pie with an Oreo crust, mini marshmallows, and swirls of marshmallows mixed throughout–and it only LOOKS complicated to make!
Do you remember my Frozen Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake? It has (so far) been the most popular recipe on the blog, and definitely one of my favorite desserts. Even my husband (not a pumpkin fan) ate his fair share of that pie. That’s when you know you have a recipe win, BTW!
Well, I have great news! I went at it again and created another version of that pie. This one is more appropriate for December and Christmas though – it’s hot chocolate-flavored! With tiny marshmallows throughout, this Frozen Hot Chocolate Cheesecake is sure to be a hit!
True to form with the last pie, this one is just as easy. Mix a few ingredients, stir in the Cool Whip®, and freeze. Freezing is the hardest part. (That waiting game.)
Oreo Crust tips
- Crush the Oreos® thoroughly. If there are big pieces of the cookies in the crust, it will still taste great, but the pie won’t cut and serve as nicely. I recommend a blender or food processor for crushing the cookies. Alternatively, you can add all the cookies to a large plastic bag, remove any air from the bag, and break the cookies into crumbs with a rolling pin or meat mallet.
- Don’t add hot butter to the crushed Oreos. Let the butter cool slightly before mixing the two, to avoid a greasy pie crust.
- Leave the creme filling. There’s no need to separate the creme from the cookie; the creme adds structure and sweetness to the crust.
- Don’t add sugar. A lot of crust recipes (typically graham cracker crusts — like in this Creamy Lemon Pie) call for sugar, but the Oreo creme sweetens the crust plenty.
Frozen Hot Chocolate Cheesecake Tips
- Allow the cream cheese time to come to room temperature: If you use cold cream cheese or try and microwave it, you will end up with unpleasant chunks in your cheesecake. Give it at least an hour sitting at room temperature (or in a warmish environment).
- Allow plenty of time for the filling to set up. The filling takes a good eight hours to be completely firm and frozen; don’t try to rush this. Also, when serving, make sure you return any leftovers promptly to the freezer. This cheesecake begins softening very quickly at room temperature.
- Cover the cheesecake tightly in the freezer with plastic wrap and then foil to avoid freezer burn.
- Use a sharp knife to cut slices. I like to run the knife under hot water, quickly dry it off, and then make a cut. Repeat for each cut; this cheesecake is sticky and firm! Everyone should have some good knives for times like this.
- Go with full-fat products. Reduced-fat cream cheese and light versions of Cool Whip will cause a wet and melty cheesecake that might not set up properly; I don’t recommend any of these ingredients.
Homemade “Cool Whip”
This cheesecake calls for one 8-ounce container of Cool Whip®. If you’d like a healthier alternative, you can try TruWhip®. Or make your own whipped topping (recipe below) to use in place of the container of frozen whipped topping. Just FYI, Cool Whip is a non-dairy product, and of course, that isn’t the case with the homemade version.
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a mixing bowl attached to a stand mixer (with a whisk attachment) add the 1 cup heavy cream, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Beat to combine and then increase the speed and whip until firm peaks form, about 2-4 minutes. Now you’ve got homemade whipped topping to add to this Frozen Hot Chocolate Cheesecake!
Quick Tip
Cool Whip is a frozen non-dairy dessert topping. Our version isn’t dairy-free, so keep that in mind if you have dietary restrictions!
More delicious desserts:
- Twix Cheesecake Bars
- Cheesecake Filled Raspberries
- Chocolate Pudding Pie
- Mini Blueberry Cheesecakes
- Mini Cheesecakes
Frozen Hot Chocolate Cheesecake
Ingredients
Oreo Crust
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1¾ cups Oreo cookie crumbs (~24 cookies)
- Tiny pinch fine sea salt
Filling
- 1 pkg. (8 oz.) full-fat cream cheese, softened
- 1 can (14 oz) full-fat sweetened condensed milk (Note 1)
- 3 milk chocolate flavored hot cocoa mixes with marshmallows (Note 2)
- ¼ cup Dutch-process (special dark) cocoa powder (Note 3)
- 1 container (8 oz.) frozen whipped topping, (like Cool Whip) completely thawed
- ½ cup dehydrated marshmallows, optional (Note 4)
- Optional garnish: whipped topping
Instructions
- OREO CRUST: Lightly grease a 9-inch springform or pie pan with cooking spray. Melt 4 tbsp. butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Once melted, set aside to cool for 5 minutes. (Hot butter will cause a greasy crust.) In a blender or food processor, process the whole cookies (don't separate cookie from cream) until they are all fine crumbs (re-blend any large chunks). Measure to get a level 1 ¾ cups of crumbs and add to a large bowl. Add salt to the bowl. Use a spatula to scrape in every bit of butter and mix until well combined.
- FINISH CRUST: Empty the crumb mixture into the prepared pan. Using your fingers, press the crumbs into just the bottom of the pan (if using a springform pan) and up the sides (if using a pie pan). Use the bottom of a flat 1-cup measuring cup to thoroughly compress the crumbs into a firm crust. Place in the freezer while preparing the filling.
- FILLING: Add the softened (to room temperature) cream cheese to a large bowl and beat for about 45 seconds or until creamy. Add in the sweetened condensed milk and beat until the mixture is completely combined and smooth. Scrape the sides of your bowl with a spatula. Add in the hot cocoa mixes and again beat to combine. Beat in the cocoa powder until integrated.
- FILLING CONTINUED: Add in the completely thawed whipped topping and use a spatula to gently fold into the mixture until completely integrated (no dark streaks of the chocolate mixture remain -- the filling should be an even light brown color). Be careful to not over -ix the whipped topping, but ensure it's well combined with the other filling ingredients. Finally, add in the dehydrated marshmallows (if using) and gently fold through.
- FREEZE: Pour the mixture over the Oreo crust. Smooth the top with a spatula. Cover pan and freeze overnight or for at least 8 hours. When ready to serve, remove cheesecake from the freezer and cut into slices with a sharp knife (Note 5). If desired, garnish individual slices with whipped cream.
- LEFTOVERS: Cover any leftovers tightly and return promptly to the freezer.
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Is there are reason why you recommend a hand mixer and not a stand mixer?
You can use either! Just make sure you don’t beat the cool whip in the mixture (fold it in with a spatula) 🙂
This looks amazing!!! You’re instructions are great – I just have limited experience with springform pans and found out they come in different sizes. Do you know what size you use for this recipe? Thanks so much!
Thank you so much Kelly! I appreciate that 🙂 Honestly any size will work for this recipe so it just depends if you want a taller or thinner cheesecake (taller, use a smaller springform and thinner, use a wider sprinform).
Best dessert hands down. Thanks for the recipe!!! Can’t wait to make it again! It came out perfect!?
Wow!! What a compliment! So happy to hear that! Thank you Laura!
I made this for my Valentine’s dinner party and everyone loved it! It was so creamy and flavorful! Thanks for posting, I will add this to my routine of desserts I make!
Nicole
Yay!! So great to hear that! I’m glad it was enjoyed at your Valentine’s Day party! 🙂
Great recipe! I’m going to make this for my coworkers but was wondering of I could use chocolate graham crackers instead of oreos for the crust? If so, how many do you think I’d need? Thanks in advance!
Yes I think that would be delicious! 🙂 I’d say you’d probably need two sleeves of the graham crackers (crush to a fine powder) and about 6 tablespoons butter.
Hi 🙂 could you substitute freshly whipped cream for the can of Cool Whip?
Absolutely! Just keep the quantities the same and it will be awesome! 🙂
I decided to try this recipe finally after seeing it on Facebook months ago and it is by far one of my favorites that I’ve ever made. My husband and son agree too as we are all eating a piece now!! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes! Thank you for this beyond amazing cake!!
YAY!! So glad to hear it!! Thank you so much for your sweet comment April 🙂 I hope you love whatever you try next! 🙂
wow! and easy, too!
Thank you Denise!!
Im confused about the hot chocolate mix….did you use Swiss Miss or something like it?
G’day Chelsea,
This looks ‘scrumdididdilyumptious’!!!
I am not able to find the mix, with mini marshmallows here in Aussie, we have the mini marshmallows readily available in shops, so my question is do you have an approximate quantity, by weight, of hot choc mix and marshmallows used?
Thanks in advance for your reply
One packet is 28 g about 45 mL (3 Tbsp). I just opened one up! I was curious about the same comment, but I am assuming that the mini marshmallows that we find in the store (I’m in Canada) are going to be bigger in throughout the recipe and hopefully won’t make too big of a difference. I wanted to find out because I just want to use the big cans of powder, so I just figured out (while doing your math) that I’ll need a heaping cup of hot chocolate powder (needs 18 Tbsp, 16 Tbsp. is 1 cup) Hope that helps!
Thanks Michelle