Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake with graham cracker style crust. Easy Creamy Pumpkin Cheesecake to please everyone. Gluten-free with gluten free crust. Soy-free Recipe.
I made this cheesecake over Thanksgiving and I think I have found my favorite holiday dessert. It is creamy, lightly tangy, pumpkiny, spicy and all things holiday, fall and dessert. Its lighter, creamier and spicier than a pumpkin pie and oh so good. This has just the right amount of pumpkin and the cheesecake flavor balance which I like much more.
Its a simple recipe. Blend the pumpkin with soaked cashews, non dairy yogurt sweetener and pumpkin pie spice. Bake to set, then chill until ready to serve. Serve with whipped coconut cream, or vanilla ice cream or califlornia cabin (its a fabulous flavor from local Seattle vegan ice cream shop frankie and Jos). Make this cheesecake for a party or for yourself as you might not want to share!
This is a simple pumpkin cheesecake. You can make it fancier by swirling in some pumpkin puree (+ some sugar and cornstarch), or making an additional layer of plain cheesecake (cashews + non diary yogurt + lime + sugar). Graham cracker style crust or ginger snap, both work amazingly with the pie. The pictured crust is gluten-free vegan graham cracker style.
More holiday Desserts from the blog
- Chocolate Pecan Pie GF
- Chocolate Pumpkin Tart with Almond Crust. GF SF Grain-free.
- Salted Caramel Chocolate Pie. GF No Bake
- Classic Baked Pumpkin Pie with Rustic Crust. Cashew-free SF
- Dark Chocolate Silk Pie. GF SF
- Sweet potato Pie Bars. GF option
Giveaways!
Its the month of Giveaways to thank you all for being around, liking and trying out the recipes!
I am giving away 2 Print copies of Vegan Richa‘s Everyday Kitchen on Goodreads here,
I am also giving away my favorite Skillets (Ecolution and IKO Ceramic) that you often see in the videos! They are Teflon-free and amazing for making my recipes. You can enter those giveaways on my Instagram and facebook.
More to come in the following days. If you bought any of my books, pick up the Bonus Recipe Bundle here!
Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake
Makes one 9 inch pie pan, 8 inch will work too
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (6.48 oz) non dairy yogurt (I use plain or vanilla kite hill almond yogurt)
- 1/3 cup (43 g) cashews , soaked for atleast an hour
- 1 cup (245 g) pumpkin puree
- 3 to 4 tbsp sugar
- 1.5 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot or potato starch
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) salt
- 1 to 1.5 tbsp (1.5 tbsp) lime juice (depends on your preference of tang)
- 1 Pie crust of choice (vegan) parbaked, use gluten-free pie crust if needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Blend the cashews and yogurt until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. You might need to scrape the sides depending on the blender as the mixture is thick.
- Taste and adjust sweet and spice (it gets slightly sweeter and spicier on baking). Pour into prepared pie crust. I use graham cracker style.
- Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Cool completely, then chill for a few hours for it to set well. Slice and serve with whipped coconut cream or ice cream.
Notes
Nutrition
Cassie Autumn Tran says
December 7, 2017 at 5:00 pmThis cheesecake looks fantastic! I will definitely enter the giveaways as well!
Hanna says
December 8, 2017 at 10:47 amThat looks SO good! like literally all of your recipes
Is there something I could replace the cashews with for a nut-free-version?
Richa says
December 8, 2017 at 11:11 amsome silken tofu and more non dairy yogurt. Add another 2 tsp cornstarch to help set.
Andreya says
December 8, 2017 at 9:56 pmwow!!! this cake looks stunning. And hope it’ll give a great taste as they look.
Sarah FEEHAN says
December 9, 2017 at 8:59 amwould tapioca starch work instead of corn/potato?
Richa says
December 9, 2017 at 11:01 amyes
Luci says
December 9, 2017 at 2:28 pmI made this today and followed the recipe exactly as stated. I used vanilla almond yogurt and 3 tabblesspoons of sugar. It is very good. However, the 1 1/2 tablespoons of lime juice was too much. I will adjust next time to 1 tablespoon as the lime is somewhat overpowering the other great spices in my opinion.
This recipe is very easy and quick. It is a keeper wthis minor adjustment.
Richa says
December 9, 2017 at 6:17 pmAwesome! Yes use less of the lime. maybe the yogurt flavor was a bit tart adding to the flavor?
Betty John says
December 11, 2017 at 10:50 pmHi. Can you please mention the pan size required to make this much quantity of pumpkin cheesecake. Thank you
Richa says
December 12, 2017 at 9:50 amits a 9 inch pie pan
Elena says
March 12, 2018 at 5:34 amOh I wish I had seen this comment! There was no mention of the size of the pie pan in the recipe, so I didn’t have enough filling for the size I used. I wish I had known that I needed to make extra filling in advance because I didn’t have enough ingredients to do that when I did make it. It was very tasty otherwise, though! My mom (not a vegan) tried it, and she liked it! She said it tasted a lot like a chilled pumpkin pie.
Richa says
March 12, 2018 at 10:25 amah i missed adding the size. i’ll update the recipe. Glad that it turned out great!
Gulia Arno says
December 18, 2017 at 5:44 amThis looks so yummy and delicious! I’m definitely going to give it a try! Lots of love!
Gulia
Isaac Thomas says
January 25, 2018 at 2:33 amThis looks amazing! Thank you for sharing!
Isaac Thomas
Peace & Love
Wendy M Britton says
October 16, 2018 at 1:20 pmCan I make this in advance and freeze it? If so how long can it be frozen & what would be the best way to unfreeze it?
Richa says
October 16, 2018 at 6:05 pmyes, just freeze the cooled cheesecake on a pan first and when frozen, then wrap in foil or other clingy thing and store for upto a month. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight
Sarah says
October 19, 2018 at 4:16 amI’m based in the UK and we don’t have that brand of almond milk yoghurt. It’s quite hard to find plain almond milk yoghurt without some soya being in there too. Do you think it would be fine with an almond/soya mix or any kind of non-dairy yoghurt? Or does it have to be a purely almond one to work properly?
Richa says
October 19, 2018 at 5:57 pmyes it should work fine. The only yogurt i’ve had trouble with is all coconut yogurt. it sometimes will leak oil and not set well.
Orly says
October 21, 2018 at 12:17 pmThis cake looks yummy!
I was wondering if I can use garbanzo bean flour instead of potato flour for thickening?
Thanks 🙂
Brenda says
October 21, 2018 at 4:18 pmCan I use coconut cream instead of yogurt?
Richa says
October 21, 2018 at 10:19 pmit might not set well, you can use some coconut cream and some cashew cream/yogurt
Stephanie Sall says
November 14, 2018 at 2:21 pmDid you use sweetened yogurt or unsweetened? I’m just curious because the recipe doesn’t call for that much sugar….
Richa says
November 20, 2018 at 11:57 pmunsweetened. You can taste the filling and add more as needed.
Stephanie Sall says
November 21, 2018 at 4:11 amThank you!!!
Brittany says
November 6, 2019 at 8:35 amThis looks so yummy! I want to make this for a dinner party, If I used 5 inch pie pans for this, how long would you suggest baking for?
Richa says
November 6, 2019 at 12:36 pmcheck at 30 mins if the center is not liquidy
Dorothy Brinz says
November 26, 2019 at 7:37 amUsed a whole wheat crust (didn’t realize it required the other, but no issues, parbaked, then filled and baked). So this is really good. Followed the rest of the instructions to the letter. Used organic canned pumpkin (think it tastes better than the other stuff). 30 minutes took out, added the white topping, back in for another 10. Cooled, put in frige for couple hours. Melted some chocolate and drizzled. Man was this good! Wish there was a 10 star rating. Perfect change up for Thanksgiving. Going to make another with cracker crust. But good both ways. THANK YOU!!!!
Richa says
November 26, 2019 at 10:16 amyay!!!
nadia says
November 26, 2019 at 10:07 amHello, I want to make this. So you don’t recommend coconut yogurt? that’s all I have at the moment I love all your recipes!!
Richa says
November 26, 2019 at 10:16 amyes some brands bake out too much oil. You can use just a bit of the yogurt andmore cashews.
nadia says
November 26, 2019 at 10:19 amthank you so much for the quick reply! I will try it! Keep being amazing as always! <3
Lina says
November 27, 2019 at 12:12 pmHi. Is the 1/3 cup of cashews whole or after they have been puréed? I’m new at this!
Richa says
November 27, 2019 at 12:17 pmmeasure the raw cashews dry in a 1/3 cup, then soak for atleast and hour and use
J says
October 14, 2020 at 6:47 amAnyway you can use firm tofu instead of yogurt? Trying to use up what I have.
Richa says
October 14, 2020 at 2:27 pmYou can. But the tofu flavor shows up a little bit if used in large amounts so use more pumpkin and cashews. So 1/2 cup tofu and add a few tbsp more pumpkin purée and cashews
Tanya says
October 14, 2020 at 8:54 pmCould maple syrup be used instead of sugar?
Richa says
October 15, 2020 at 9:42 amYes
Angie says
October 15, 2020 at 11:23 amCan I replaced the cashews with macadamia nuts or almonds? If the answer is yes, can I use the same quantity?
Richa says
October 15, 2020 at 11:26 amYes macadamia and yes same amount
Amy VanSpeybroeck says
November 24, 2020 at 4:56 amI’ve made this in the pie pan, and it turned out beautifully! The whole family loved it – even the members who aren’t the biggest pumpkin fans.
Would this recipe also work in a cheesecake pan?
Richa says
November 24, 2020 at 11:46 amYes, it might need a few extra minutes of baking
ANDREA POSNER says
November 27, 2020 at 1:23 amCould I substitute Medjool dates for the sugar, and if so, how many?
Richa says
November 27, 2020 at 1:56 am7 soft dates should be sweet enough