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This vegan pumpkin cheesecake is rich, creamy and loaded with pumpkin spice flavor! You’d never guess this decadent dessert was dairy-free.
When it comes to desserts, any kind of cheesecake is pretty much my ultimate favorite. As long as it’s vegan!
You might think pie or cake is a safer bet when it comes to vegan desserts. I mean, how good can a cheesecake without actual cheese be, after all? The answer is that it can be pretty amazing!
The taste and texture of dairy-based cheesecake is actually super easy to replicate with one magic ingredient: cashews!
With that in mind, I decided we needed a good vegan pumpkin cheesecake recipe around here for Thanksgiving and the year-end holidays. I adapted this one from both my classic vegan cheesecake recipe, as well as these mini vegan pumpkin cheesecakes. And frankly, of all the vegan cheesecake recipes I’ve shared on this site over the years (I’ve got a few), I think I love this one the most. A big slice of this is absolute heaven!
Jump to:
- Ingredients You’ll Need
- How It’s Made
- Leftovers & Storage
- More Vegan Pumpkin Desserts
- Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Graham crackers. Check the ingredients to ensure that the graham crackers you use are vegan, and be careful because many brands are made with honey. This guide to vegan graham cracker brands might help!
- Vegan butter. Look for this near where the regular butter is sold at the grocery store. Earth Balance and Miyoko’s are a couple popular brands to try.
- Organic sugar.
- Cinnamon.
- Raw cashews. Don’t substitute with roasted cashews. They need to be raw in order to give your cheesecake the best flavor and texture.
- Canned pumpkin puree. Not to be confused with pumpkin pie filling!
- Coconut oil. Use refined coconut oil if you’d prefer to avoid any coconut flavor in your cheesecake.
- Maple syrup.
- Pumpkin pie spice. Also known as pumpkin spice!
- Lemon juice.
- Vanilla extract.
- Salt.
How It’s Made
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!
- Start by crushing your graham crackers into crumbs. You can do this by blending them in a food processor, or placing them in a bag and crushing them with a rolling pin.
- Combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted vegan butter, sugar and cinnamon in a mixing bowl, then press the mixture into the bottom and slightly up the sides of a springform pan. My trick for this is to use a measuring cup to flatten and smooth out the crumbs!
- Bake the graham cracker crust until it’s darkened slightly.
- While the crust cools, place all of your vegan pumpkin cheesecake filling ingredients into a blender or food processor bowl: soaked raw cashews, pumpkin puree, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, pumpkin pie spice, lemon juice, and salt.
- Blend the mixture until it’s smooth and creamy.
Tip: Be patient, as blending can take a few minutes, especially if your blending device isn’t high-powered.
- Pour the filling to the crust and smooth out the top with a spatula.
- Pop the whole cheesecake in the fridge and chill it until it sets. This can take up to 4 hours.
Tip: You can cut down on the chill time by placing the cheesecake in the freezer. Just be sure to keep a close eye on it so it doesn’t freeze solid.
- Once your vegan pumpkin cheesecake is set you can slice and serve it! I topped mine with some dairy-free whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Vegan caramel sauce would also be excellent!
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover vegan pumpkin cheesecake will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about 4 days, or in the freezer for about 3 months.