This Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake is topped with a creamy pumpkin mousse and crunchy candied pecans. It has all the pumpkin pie flavors we all love and the creaminess and richness of a not-so-traditional cheesecake on a gingersnap crust. All vegan, dairy-free, and can easily be made gluten-free!
If you can read vegan cheesecake with pumpkin mousse and candied pecans and don’t drool a little bit, you’re a super-human. We make it to somewhere around pumpkin mousse before the cravings start. This recipe will definitely be making it to our Thanksgiving table!
We’re sure that once you see how easy it is and get a peek at the photos that it’ll be a “must make” for you, too!
Ingredients in Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake
Raw Cashews: The base of this delicious no-bake vegan cheesecake is made from the ground-up soaked cashews. Soaking the cashews gives the cheesecake the creamy, super-rich texture traditional cheesecake is known for without eggs, sour cream, full-fat cream cheese, melted butter, or all-purpose flour.
Cinnamon and pumpkin spice: A touch of cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice brings in the fall flavors everyone loves. If you don't have pumpkin spice, you can combine cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, and a pinch of cloves to make your own.
Pumpkin puree: The pumpkin mousse has the same cashew base but with a good amount of pumpkin puree folded into it, which makes it light and reminiscent of pumpkin pie, which we absolutely love by the way! Don't you?
Ginger-snap cookies: We made the crust by grinding up ginger snap cookies (you can also try gluten-free ginger snaps) for a touch of spice, and some melted coconut oil to hold it together.
How to Make a Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake
You won't even need an oven or water bath to make this delicious no-bake pumpkin cheesecake recipe, and you have no fear of cracks.
Soaking Cashews: Start by soaking raw cashews. This will be the base for the cheesecake instead of using cream cheese.
How to Make the Cheesecake Crust
Crush the cookies for the crust: we used ginger snaps for these cookies for extra spice, you can use any other cookies you may like. Crushing them in a food processor will give you fine crumbs. Graham crackers and vanilla wafers are both great alternatives. Once crushed add some coconut oil to form the crust. If you want to keep things easy, you can even buy a graham cracker crust pre-made.
How to Make the Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling
Making the cheesecake base: Process the soaked cashews with our favorite Fall spices, and coconut oil until creamy, then spread over the crust using an offset spatula. The coconut oil at room temperature will be solid, so you must first melt it in the microwave or on the stovetop. This is how the cheesecake batter gets its structure without actual cream cheese.
Make the Pumpkin Mousse: Combine the pumpkin puree, soaked cashews, maple syrup, and spices with your hand mixer. Spread it over the cheesecake.
Optional Pumpkin Cheesecake Toppings
Create your crunchy topping: we used a topping of roasted chopped pecans in the recipe below or you can use our candied pecans recipe.
If you don't want to add more nuts, you can add crushed Ginger Snaps, graham cracker crumbs, Crushed caramel candies, a caramel sauce drizzle, tahini date caramel, or vegan whipped cream.
How to Store Pumpkin Cheesecake
Just like with classic cheesecake, our beautiful vegan cheesecake should be kept refrigerated and will stay fresh for three to four days in an airtight container. It can be frozen for up to three months. Thaw the frozen cheesecake overnight in your fridge. It should be chilled before you serve it because the flavors will be better cold than at room temperature.
Variations for this Vegan Cheesecake
You can easily make these into pumpkin cheesecake bars just by using a square or rectangular pan. If you are making them for a crowd, triple or quadruple the recipe and use a large roasting pan instead.
Instead of a teaspoon of vanilla extract, you can use almond extract or even maple extract can change up the flavor.
If you don't have maple syrup, you can use light brown sugar, honey, or agave syrup to sweeten the mousse.
Other Thanksgiving Desserts We Recommend
- Vegan Pumpkin Mousse
- Cranberry Pear Pie
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Candied Pecans
- Pumpkin Coffee Cake
- Ginger Snap Pumpkin Pie
- Pumpkin Mousse Cashew Cheesecake
- Vegan Pumpkin Pie Ice cream
- Bourbon Pecan Pie
- Lemon Infused Almond Milk Custard
DID YOU LIKE OUR VEGAN CHEESECAKE RECIPE WITH PUMPKIN MOUSSE?
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Pumpkin Mousse Cashew Vegan Cheesecake
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 1 7-inch cheesecake 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Pumpkin Mousse Cashew Vegan Cheesecake has all the pumpkin pie flavors we all love and the creaminess and richness of a traditional cheesecake. All vegan, dairy and gluten-free!
Ingredients
- 2 ⅓ cups cashews
- 2 ½ cups boiling water
- For the crust:
- 12 vegan ginger snap cookies (if the cookies are small use 16 cookies instead. See note 1)
- 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- For the filling:
- ⅓ cup plus 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- ⅓ cup sweetened almond milk
- 1 tsp natural vanilla extract
- ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- For the pumpkin mousse:
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 2-3 tablespoon maple syrup (to taste)
- 1 tsp natural vanilla extract
- ¾ tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp cinnamon
For the pumpkin cheesecake topping (you can skip this step and use our candied pecan recipe instead)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- ¾ cup roughly chopped raw pecans
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp ground black pepper
- ⅛ tsp salt
Instructions
- Place the cashews in a heat-proof bowl. Add the boiling water, let them soak for 30 minutes and drain them
- In the meantime, prepare the crust for the cheesecake. Place the cookies in the food processor and pulse until finely ground. Add the melted coconut oil and pulse until well combined. Transfer the mixture to a 7-inch springform pan (see note 2). Press it down, so it covers the bottom of the pan. Refrigerate until it’s ready to use
- To prepare the filling, combine the drained cashews, brown sugar, melted coconut oil, almond milk, vanilla extract, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon in the food processor or high power blender. Pulse until smooth, scraping the sides occasionally. Transfer to a bowl
- To prepare the mousse, take ⅔ of a cup of the cashew mixture and place it in a separate large bowl. Using a spatula, fold in pumpkin, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon, until well incorporated
- To assemble the cheesecake, spread the plain cashew mixture over the prepared crust. Spread the pumpkin mousse on top and freeze for 2 hours. Remove it from the freezer and refrigerate until ready to use. Sprinkle the topping on top of the pumpkin cheesecake right before serving.
- To make the pecan topping, mix all the ingredients, except the coconut oil, in a medium bowl and mix until well coated. Heat the coconut oil in a small skillet, add pecan mixture, and cook over low heat for 7 minutes, stirring often. When done place them on parchment paper and let them cool
Notes
- If you want the pumpkin cheesecake to be gluten-free use gluten-free ginger snaps.
- A 7" springform pan is pretty small. If you use a bigger pan, you may need more cookies for the crust and the cheesecake won't be as tall.
- It's better to make this cheesecake at least one day ahead of time to give it time to set in the freezer and refrigerator.
This post was originally published on November 18, 2016. We have updated the images and added some other useful information, so this recipe is a success for you!
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Freezer time: 2 hours
- Category: dessert
- Method: no bake
- Cuisine: vegan thanksgiving
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ⅛ slice
- Calories: 379
- Sugar: 27
- Sodium: 56
- Fat: 22.3
- Saturated Fat: 8.5
- Unsaturated Fat: 11.5
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 41
- Fiber: 2
- Protein: 7
- Cholesterol: 0
Sarah Zanger
This looks amazing
Vicky and Ruth
Thank you!