Instant Pot Chocolate Cheesecake

Close view of a chocolate cheesecake slice showing its creamy filling and dark crumb crust.

Instant Pot Chocolate Cheesecake

This silky, dark Instant Pot chocolate cheesecake is lightly sweetened, with a rich chocolate crust. Perfect for chocolate lovers!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 40

Cooling and Chilling Time 7

Total Time 7 55

Servings

Calories 365kcal

Author Gary White

Ingredients

8 chocolate graham crackers 124 grams
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
4 Tbsp. butter melted
⅓ cup sugar
1 Tbsp. cocoa powder
16 oz. cream cheese room temperature
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup heavy cream
2 eggs room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions

Cheesecake Crust

Place graham crackers in food processor and run until crackers break into fine crumbs. Add cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and melted butter to a bowl and stir to combine.
Pour the crumb mixture into a 7x3-inch push pan or springform pan. Use fingertips or the bottom of a glass to press the crumbs into an even layer. Place the pan in the freezer while preparing the batter.

Cheesecake Batter

Add sugar and cocoa powder to a bowl and mix together, making sure to break up any clumps in the cocoa powder. You may want to sift in the cocoa to remove any clumps. Then add cream cheese and blend until smooth with a hand mixer.
In a microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate chips and heavy cream. Microwave chips and heavy cream for 25 seconds, then whisk until completely smooth. If chips are not melted after one minute of whisking, microwave for 10 second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth.
Let chocolate mixture cool until warm, not hot, then fold into cream cheese mixture until completely combined.
Add eggs (one at a time) and vanilla and mix until just combined. Tap bowl against counter top several times until air bubbles rise to surface. Burst bubbles with fork or toothpick.
Remove cheesecake crust from freezer and pour batter into pan. Add 1 ½ cups water and 3-inch trivet to Instant Pot. Cover cheesecake with foil, and place on trivet. Cook for 40 minutes at high pressure, then allow a natural pressure release.
Once pressure is released, turn off Instant Pot and carefully remove cheesecake. Remove foil and allow cheesecake to cool for one hour or until room temperature. Once cool, carefully run a paring knife around the edge of the cheesecake to separate from pan. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.
Carefully push cheesecake up from push pan by placing center of push pan on a can or glass and pushing edges down. If using springform pan, gently remove outer edge of pan. Then serve and enjoy.

Notes

Use a 7x3-inch push pan or springform pan. Keep the pan covered with foil during pressure cooking and allow a natural release.
Use chocolate graham crackers for the crust as written. Other cookies can differ in sweetness and crumb texture, so the same butter amount may not give the same result.
Swerve or alternative chocolate chips are unconfirmed variations; equivalent sweetness and texture are not guaranteed. Replacing only the filling sugar does not make the complete graham-cracker dessert low-carb.
For clean slices, warm the knife in hot water, dry it, and wipe the blade between cuts.
Make the cheesecake a day ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator. Wrap leftover slices tightly before freezing and thaw them in the refrigerator.

Timing: The displayed 7 hours 55 minutes includes preparation, 40 minutes at high pressure, 1 hour of cooling, and 6 hours of chilling. Time to reach pressure and natural pressure release are additional.

Nutrition