Easy Instant Pot Peppermint Cheesecake

Instant Pot Peppermint Cheesecake made with a cookie crumb crust and topped with chocolate ganache. This cheesecake is garnished with broken peppermint candies and chocolate curls.

Instant Pot Cheesecake

Cheesecake in the Instant Pot isn't only delicious but it's also incredibly easy to make! Instant Pot Cheesecakes are simple to make and essentially worry-free once you put them in the pot to pressure cook.

To make this peppermint cheesecake you will need a 7-inch springform pan, a silicone sling (or one made out of aluminum foil), and of course, a pressure cooker.

Ingredients in Peppermint Cheesecake

• Cream Cheese
• Eggs - room temp
• Heavy cream - used in the cheesecake and the ganache
• Granulated Sugar
• Cornstarch - used as a binder and thickening agent
• Peppermint extract
• Chocolate sandwich cookies - crushed
• Butter - to bind the crust
• Salt
• Semi-sweet chocolate - chips or squares

Cheesecake Crust

I prefer to bake my crust before adding the cheesecake batter to the mix. Blind baking helps prevent soggy crusts and it's a must for me when making my cheesecakes.

To make this peppermint cheesecake crust I use a food processor to crush the chocolate sandwich cookies. I then add the salt and the melted butter and blend until the mixture is all wet. It's quick and simple when using a food processor to make cheesecakes!

I lightly grease the inside of my springform pan and add the crust to the inside of the pan. I then use a spoon to spread the cookie crumbs along the bottom of the pan as well as up the sides of the pan.

I then blind bake my crust at 325° for 12 minutes. This will create a nice crisp crust for your cheesecake filling.

After baking, remove it from the oven and allow it to sit out while making the peppermint cheesecake batter.

How to Make an Instant Pot Cheesecake

It's fairly easy to make cheesecake in a pressure cooker even if you're a beginner!

When making cheesecakes it's important to use room temperature ingredients and to not overbeat your cheesecake batter. This will result in a lumpy cheesecake and it's one of the biggest complaints when making cheesecake. It can easily be avoided by not overbeating.

I use my food processor when mixing my ingredients because it is fast and efficient.

The first step is to blend the room temperature cream cheese until it is broken down and smooth. The room temperature heavy cream, granulated sugar, cornstarch, salt, chopped peppermints, and peppermint extract are added next and blended until smooth.

The last step to making this peppermint cheesecake batter is so add the eggs and blend them in short pulses until just combined. Remember, overbeating the cheesecake batter results in a lumpy cheesecake.

Making an Instant Pot Cheesecake only takes 1 cup of water in the liner before lowering the springform pan down into the inside of the pot.

I use aluminum foil to cover my cheesecake so that it doesn't gather as much water on top of the cheesecake as it is pressure cooking. This step is completely optional when making this Peppermint Cheesecake or any Instant Pot cheesecake for that matter.

RELATED: Instant Pot Snickerdoodle Cheesecake

Instant Pot Cheesecake Sizes

For a 6 qt Instant Pot, you will need to use a 7-inch springform (or push) pan to make this peppermint cheesecake. You need at least a half-inch of clearance for the pressure cooker to build up pressure.

If you have an 8 qt or larger pressure cooker you can use an 8-inch pan. Since the pan is larger then cheesecake batter will create a thinner cheesecake.

Alternately, you can make mini cheesecakes using 4" springform pans. Simply prepare the crusts by dividing the cookie crumbs among three 4" pans and blind baking.

The batter is made the same but divided equally between the pans.

Pressure cooking time is different however! The time will be reduced to just 11 minutes when making mini cheesecakes.

Mini Peppermint Cheesecakes are great to give away during the holiday season. In fact, having fun with different Instant Pot cheesecake flavors is a great way to personal baked goods as Christmas gifts!

Instant Pot Cheesecake Flavors

The Instant Pot is a great way to make cheesecakes. In fact, I personally prefer to use my Instant Pot to make my cheesecakes because I love the way they turn out!

For the chocoholics, this Instant Pot Chocolate Cheesecake is for them! It has a cookie crumb crust with a chocolate cheesecake filling and is tolled with chocolate ganache. Garnishing this cheesecake are chocolate curls.

For fruit lovers, this Meyer Lemon Cheesecake, Strawberry Cheesecake, Blueberry Cheesecake, or Key Lime Cheesecake are the cheesecakes to make.

If you're looking for the classic cheesecake flavors, this simple Instant Pot Cheesecake recipe is great.

When baking during the holidays, you may be thinking festive! Either this Instant Pot Peppermint Cheesecake or this Snickerdoodle Cheesecake will definitely do the trick! Both cheesecakes have the flavors found in holiday and Christmas desserts.

Another note-worthy Christmas cheesecake is this Gingerbread cheesecake - it's perfect for the holidays and has the classic flavors of gingerbread.

📖 Recipe