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!
Recipe Card
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
Bett
Richa, wow and yummm!
I’m thinking of making one or two for a class party . . . only it’s 3 – 4 hours from when I leave home until I’ll serve them.
Will they need aggressive chilling in a cooler with lots of ice? Or is it enough to keep them cool with a few freezy packs?
Vegan Richa Support
Yes in cooler will be just fine.
Emily
This turned out so amazing! I made it into bars using your pumpkin pie bar crust, and it was creamy and perfect! The right amount of seeetvsnd tang to end the meal!
Richa
Yay
RubyTwoShoes
I had a crazy question…could garbanzos (or Burmese Tofu?) sub for cashews?
I really love your recipes. You don’t rely on questionable ingredients that could create health issues/allergies down the road and you are LOW FAT! I can always count on you to have the most balanced and healthy version out there.
Thank You
Richa
That would be a very strong flavor. I would use less cashews as blend them with non Dairy milk and add 1-2 tbsp more starch.
Andrea Thompson
This recipe is so easy and hits that nostalgic pumpkin pie flavour with a bit of creamy and tang added. Delightful! We will be making it regularly, for a fall celebration dessert.
Vegan Richa Support
I’m so glad to hear you enjoy!
Flavia
I made this for Friendsgiving and it was delicious! As I had other things to do, I used store bought pie dough. But the filling was just soooo yummy! It needed less time in the oven, I might have even overcooked it a bit, but without any harm to the taste. And I was really happy that the recipe did not call for a lot of sugar. I absolutely recommend this recipe!
Vegan Richa Support
Friendsgiving – how nice
ANDREA POSNER
Could I substitute Medjool dates for the sugar, and if so, how many?
Richa
7 soft dates should be sweet enough
Amy VanSpeybroeck
I’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
Yes, it might need a few extra minutes of baking
Angie
Can I replaced the cashews with macadamia nuts or almonds? If the answer is yes, can I use the same quantity?
Richa
Yes macadamia and yes same amount
Tanya
Could maple syrup be used instead of sugar?
Richa
Yes
J
Anyway you can use firm tofu instead of yogurt? Trying to use up what I have.
Richa
You 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
Lina
Hi. Is the 1/3 cup of cashews whole or after they have been puréed? I’m new at this!
Richa
measure the raw cashews dry in a 1/3 cup, then soak for atleast and hour and use
nadia
Hello, 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
yes some brands bake out too much oil. You can use just a bit of the yogurt andmore cashews.
nadia
thank you so much for the quick reply! I will try it! Keep being amazing as always! <3
Dorothy Brinz
Used 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
yay!!!
Brittany
This 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
check at 30 mins if the center is not liquidy
Stephanie Sall
Did you use sweetened yogurt or unsweetened? I’m just curious because the recipe doesn’t call for that much sugar….
Richa
unsweetened. You can taste the filling and add more as needed.
Stephanie Sall
Thank you!!!
Brenda
Can I use coconut cream instead of yogurt?
Richa
it might not set well, you can use some coconut cream and some cashew cream/yogurt
Orly
This cake looks yummy!
I was wondering if I can use garbanzo bean flour instead of potato flour for thickening?
Thanks 🙂
Sarah
I’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
yes 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.
Wendy M Britton
Can 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
yes, 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
Isaac Thomas
This looks amazing! Thank you for sharing!
Isaac Thomas
Peace & Love
Gulia Arno
This looks so yummy and delicious! I’m definitely going to give it a try! Lots of love!
Gulia
Betty John
Hi. Can you please mention the pan size required to make this much quantity of pumpkin cheesecake. Thank you
Richa
its a 9 inch pie pan
Elena
Oh 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
ah i missed adding the size. i’ll update the recipe. Glad that it turned out great!
Luci
I 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
Awesome! Yes use less of the lime. maybe the yogurt flavor was a bit tart adding to the flavor?
Sarah FEEHAN
would tapioca starch work instead of corn/potato?
Richa
yes
Andreya
wow!!! this cake looks stunning. And hope it’ll give a great taste as they look.
Hanna
That looks SO good! like literally all of your recipes
Is there something I could replace the cashews with for a nut-free-version?
Richa
some silken tofu and more non dairy yogurt. Add another 2 tsp cornstarch to help set.
Cassie Autumn Tran
This cheesecake looks fantastic! I will definitely enter the giveaways as well!