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Biscotti Cheesecake Recipe, New York Style with Espresso Crust
Apr
A biscotti cheesecake is a classic New York-style cheesecake with a crust built from real biscotti. Not graham crackers. Not ordinary cookie crumbs. The twice-baked biscotti you reach for with morning coffee, pulsed fine and pressed into a pie dish. The recipe below uses Chocolate Hazelnut Espresso Biscotti from The Biscotti Company, which brings dark chocolate, roasted hazelnut, and espresso right into the crust itself. The filling is classic New York cream cheese, rich and creamy. The finish is black-and-white, for a reason I will get into after the recipe.
If you are new to biscotti and want a deeper overview, start with our Biscotti Guide for history, types, and how to choose the best biscotti for your coffee.
Why Biscotti Makes the Best Cheesecake Crust
- Twice-baked structure that stays crisp under a rich filling instead of turning to paste.
- Built-in flavor from Chocolate Hazelnut Espresso, Anise, Almond, or Double Chocolate.
- A little resistance when the fork comes down through the slice, the way a real New York cheesecake should feel.
Pro tip: pre-bake the crust for 10 minutes at 350°F before adding the filling. This locks the butter into the biscotti and keeps the crust crisp for up to five days in the fridge. Skip the pre-bake and the crust softens by day two.
The recipe is written for Chocolate Hazelnut Espresso. Any of these will also work, one-for-one, at ten ounces of biscotti: Shop Anise, Shop Almond, Shop Double Chocolate.
Prep: 30 min
Bake: 65 min (10 min crust + 55 min filling)
Chill: 6 hours, overnight better
Total: about 8 hours
Yield: 1 nine-inch cheesecake, 10 slices
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Hazelnut Espresso Biscotti crust
- 10 oz The Biscotti Company Chocolate Hazelnut Espresso Biscotti
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- Pinch of fine sea salt (optional)
For the cheesecake filling
- 3 packages cream cheese, softened (8 oz each)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 3 tbsp heavy cream
- 2 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 egg yolk
For the chocolate topping
- 4 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
For the vanilla topping
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 to 3 tbsp heavy cream or milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
For garnish
- Crushed Chocolate Hazelnut Espresso Biscotti
- A few whole biscotti, broken into shards
- Very light sprinkle of sea salt (optional)
New York twist: the black-and-white topping is a nod to Glaser’s Bake Shop in the Upper East Side, the old Manhattan bakery famous for black-and-white cookies. More on that below the recipe.
Steps
- Pre-bake the crust. Preheat oven to 350°F. Pulse the Chocolate Hazelnut Espresso biscotti into fine crumbs. Mix with sugar, melted butter, and a pinch of sea salt until the texture feels like wet sand. Press firmly into a 9-inch pie dish, bottom and slightly up the sides. Bake 10 minutes. Let cool slightly. Reduce oven to 300°F.
- Make the filling. Beat cream cheese, sugar, and flour until smooth. Do not overmix. Add sour cream, heavy cream, vanilla, and salt. Mix to combine. Add eggs and egg yolk one at a time on low speed, just until incorporated. Pour over the cooled crust.
- Bake. 300°F for 55 to 65 minutes. Edge set, center with a slight wobble. No water bath needed.
- Rest. Turn oven off, crack the door, leave the cheesecake inside for 1 hour. Remove, cool to room temperature, refrigerate at least 6 hours, overnight better.
- Make the toppings. Chocolate side: heat heavy cream until hot but not boiling, pour over chopped chocolate, sit 1 minute, stir until smooth. Cool 5 to 10 minutes to thicken. Vanilla side: whisk powdered sugar, vanilla, and enough cream or milk for a thick spreadable glaze. Spread chocolate over one half, vanilla over the other. Refrigerate 20 to 30 minutes to set.
- Garnish. Push biscotti shards into the seam where chocolate meets vanilla, standing upright at slight angles. Scatter crushed Chocolate Hazelnut Espresso biscotti around the edge. Light sprinkle of sea salt if you want it.
Crumb saver: hold back a small handful of biscotti crumbs from the crust and scatter on top of the finished cheesecake for extra crunch and texture.
How to Serve
- Chill overnight for the cleanest slices.
- Warm a sharp knife in hot water, wipe dry between cuts.
- Slice cold, let the slice sit at room temperature about 10 minutes before serving.
- Pair with hot coffee or espresso.
- Keeps covered in the fridge up to 5 days. The pre-baked crust is what makes that possible.
About That Black-and-White Finish
The topping is not random. It is a nod to Glaser’s Bake Shop, a small bakery on Second Avenue in the Upper East Side that closed in 2018 after more than a century in business. Glaser’s was famous for black-and-white cookies. The real ones. Soft, cakey, one half dipped in vanilla fondant, the other in dark chocolate.
When I moved to the Upper East Side in 2014, I had a Sunday morning routine. I would walk down the block for a toasted bagel with egg and cheese. On the way back to the apartment, I would stop in at Glaser’s for a couple of black and white cookies. The bagel was breakfast. The cookies were for after, with coffee.
This cheesecake is not a black-and-white cookie. It just borrows the look. That part of the Sunday felt worth keeping.
Tasting Notes
I made this cheesecake for the first time the week I wrote this recipe. Here is what the first slice tasted like.
The cheesecake is making my hair stand up. The crunch of the base with that hint of sea salt is where it starts. The New York style filling is rich but not dense, creamy, the kind you want another bite of. The vanilla comes through and the vanilla bean elevates it. The bitter chocolate and the vanilla frosting work together harmoniously.
I wanted to keep eating and I should not have.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is biscotti?
Biscotti is an Italian twice-baked cookie. The word comes from the Latin bis coctus, meaning twice cooked. The dough is formed into a log, baked once, sliced, and baked a second time to dry the cookie out. That second bake is what gives biscotti its crisp texture and why a biscotto keeps for weeks in a tin. The singular is biscotto. The plural is biscotti.
Do I need a springform pan?
No. This recipe is written for a standard 9-inch glass or ceramic pie dish, which most home kitchens already have. Springform pans are great, but they are not required for a New York-style cheesecake. The pre-baked biscotti crust is sturdy enough to hold structure, and the pie dish doubles as the serving vessel.
Where can I buy biscotti for baking?
You can make this with any biscotti, but the better the biscotti, the better the crust. The Biscotti Company bakes in small batches on Long Island with no preservatives and no shortcuts. Order directly from the full collection.
What is the best biscotti for a cheesecake crust?
It depends on the flavor you want the cheesecake to carry. For a coffeehouse-style dessert, use Chocolate Hazelnut Espresso. For a classic Italian-American feel, use Anise. For warm and nutty, use Almond. For maximum chocolate, use Double Chocolate. The swap is one-for-one at ten ounces.
Why pre-bake the crust?
Ten minutes at 350°F before the filling goes in. This is the single step that separates a crust that stays crisp for five days from one that goes soft by day two. The pre-bake sets the butter into the biscotti and creates a seal between the crust and the filling.
Can I make this biscotti cheesecake gluten-free?
Yes, using any of The Biscotti Company’s gluten-free biscotti as a one-for-one swap. Gluten-Free Chocolate Almond is the closest match to the Chocolate Hazelnut Espresso version. Gluten-Free Almond and Gluten-Free Double Chocolate also work. Substitute cornstarch one-for-one for the flour in the filling to keep the whole recipe gluten-free.
Is this a no-bake biscotti cheesecake?
No. This is a baked New York-style cheesecake. Baking is what gives it the structure and clean slice it is known for. For a proper New York-style cheesecake, the oven does the work.
How long does biscotti cheesecake keep?
Covered, in the fridge, up to 5 days. The pre-baked crust stays crisp the entire time.
Can I freeze biscotti cheesecake?
Yes. Wrap the cooled, fully set cheesecake (without the topping) tightly in plastic wrap, then in foil. Freeze up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge. Add the toppings and the biscotti garnish the day you plan to serve it.
Make it this weekend with our small-batch biscotti: Shop Chocolate Hazelnut Espresso, Shop the Chocolate Lovers Four-Pack, or browse the full collection.
