Baked Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake (Gluten-Free)
This Baked Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake will wow you with its rich texture, spices, and graham cracker style crust. It’s the perfect vegan Thanksgiving dessert, or for any other time of year you’re craving pumpkin!
Less than TWO weeks until Thanksgiving. A few more months left of 2019…and then we’re on to a whole new DECADE. Let’s not talk about it, because it’s making me freak out a little bit. 😳 Instead, let’s talk about this BAKED VEGAN PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE.
I’m a big fan of pumpkin cheesecakes – in fact, I already have two posted: this no-bake pumpkin cheesecake and this no-bake chocolate pumpkin cheesecake. Both absurdly delicious.
P.S. if you LOVE pumpkin recipes, see all of my favorite healthier pumpkin recipes!
What makes this Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake special?
This new one though. It’s different. It’s baked.
If you’re familiar with vegan cheesecakes, you probably know that most of them are raw. Those are great, and they totally have their place. But if you ask me, baked vegan cheesecakes are better. This vanilla bean baked vegan cheesecake I made a few months ago has totally converted me.
By baking this vegan pumpkin cheesecake, you get a texture that’s similar to a pumpkin pie, but extra creamy and with that tangy cheesecake flavor.
What’s in the crust?
This vegan pumpkin cheesecake has a magnificent crust. It’s made from almond flour, toasted pecans, coconut sugar, cinnamon, and coconut oil. They magically come together and bake up into a crust that tastes like a graham cracker crust. It’s delicious.
What’s the filling made of?
- Raw Cashews
- Vegan Coconut Yogurt
- Pumpkin Puree
- Maple Syrup
- Lemon Juice
- Arrowroot Starch
- Pumpkin Pie Spice
- Vanilla Extract + Powder
- Sea Salt
The cashews, coconut yogurt, and pumpkin puree provide structure and make for a super creamy and rich filling. It’s not quite as dense as traditional cream cheese-based cheesecakes, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
A combination of maple syrup, lemon juice, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla add a TON of flavor to this baked vegan cheesecake and bring out all that warm, pumpkin spice flavor.
This Baked Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe is…
- so rich and creamy
- perfectly pumpkin spiced
- encased in a delicious graham cracker-style crust
- the perfect gluten-free vegan Thanksgiving dessert
- easy to make a day or two ahead of serving
Success Tips for Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake
Here are a few tips and tricks that are essential for the BEST ever vegan pumpkin cheesecake.
- Make sure to puree the filling so it’s super smooth. I let mine run in my Vitamix for a relatively long time, at least 4 or 5 minutes, until it’s absolutely, lusciously smooth. Scraping down the sides regularly and using a tamper definitely help with this.
- Use a thick, tangy coconut yogurt. This really adds to the “cheesecake” flavor and helps with the creamy texture. I like the Culina brand, which you can find at Sprouts.
- Follow the baking and cooling instructions carefully. The cooling is a little bit unique, in that you let it cool partially in the still-warm oven with the door propped open to help it set perfectly. Then, let it cool completely in the fridge for the perfect texture.
I hope you love this baked vegan pumpkin cheesecake as much as we do! This will be standing in for pumpkin pie at this year’s Thanksgiving for sure! Enjoy, and be sure to leave me a comment below to let me know you like it!
Want more pumpkin recipes?
- Vegan Pumpkin Bread
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Healthy Pumpkin Spice Syrup
- Easy Pumpkin Oatmeal
- Soft Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies
- Pumpkin Pie Crumb Bars
- Vegan Oatmeal Pumpkin Cookies
- 30+ Healthy Pumpkin Recipes
Baked Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake (Gluten-Free)
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 slices 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Vegan
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Baked Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake will wow you with its rich texture, spices, and a gluten-free graham cracker-style crust. It’s the perfect vegan Thanksgiving dessert.
Ingredients
For the crust
- 1⅓ cups raw pecans
- 1⅓ cups almond flour
- ⅓ cup coconut sugar
- ⅓ cup coconut oil melted
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
For the filling
- 1⅓ cup raw cashews soaked in water for 4 hours to soften, drain and rinse before using
- 1 cup vegan coconut yogurt any thick and tangy yogurt will work, I like Culina
- ⅓ cup (82g) pumpkin purée
- ⅓ cup (111g) pure maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons arrowroot starch, or tapioca flour
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla bean powder or another teaspoon of vanilla extract
Instructions
For the crust
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch springform pan with coconut oil and place on a baking sheet.
- In a food processor or high-powered blender, combine the pecans, almond flour, coconut sugar, cinnamon, and sea salt. Pulse slightly to break up the pecans. Stream in the melted coconut oil and then pulse again until the mixture is well moistened and sticks together when pressed between your fingertips. Scrape down the sides of the container or use the tamper as necessary.
- Press the crust evenly along the bottom and up the sides of the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until firm to the touch. Let cool while you make the filling.
For the cheesecake filling
- Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.
- In a high-powered blender or a food processor (I use my Vitamix), blend the soaked cashews, coconut yogurt, pumpkin, maple syrup, arrowroot starch, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract, sea salt, and vanilla bean powder. Scrape down the sides of the container or use the tamper as necessary to get a super smooth consistency. It will take about 3 to 5 minutes of blending to get it super smooth and creamy.
- Pour the filling into the cooled crust and tap the pan hard on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.
- Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until mostly set. The cheesecake should jiggle slightly in the center when it’s ready, but not be too wet and jiggly. Try not to disturb the cheesecake for the first 45 minutes.
- When the cheesecake is just shy of set, turn off the oven, leaving the cheesecake inside. Leave the oven door open a few inches and let the cheesecake cool inside of the slightly ajar oven. Remove from the oven after about an hour.
- Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour to chill all the way through.
- Store the cheesecake tightly wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Can you use the convection setting in your oven? If so, how would you adjust the cook time/temperature?
Hi Donna, I don’t test anything with convection so I’m not sure! I know the general rule is reduce the temp by 25 degrees F but I’m not sure how it would affect the time. I’d recommend using your oven’s regular setting if you have the ability to!
There is no mention of coconut cream in the ingredients list, yet in the filling instructions it says to add coconut cream. Did it accidentally get left off ingredients list? Thx
Oh no! Thanks for noticing Tamela, fixing that now – there is no coconut cream in the filling.
I see in the directions to “blend the soaked cashews, coconut cream, coconut yogurt, pumpkin, maple syrup…..”. But I don’t see “coconut cream,” listed in the ingredients? How much coconut cream do I need?
Hi JoAnn, there is no coconut cream in this recipe. I adjusted the recipe to reflect that. Forgot to fix it from a first test :) thanks for pointing that out!
This looks wonderful for Thanksgiving this year. I do wonder as step 2 for the filling mentions ‘coconut cream’ but that item is not in the ingredient list.
Hi Laura, my mistake! There is no coconut cream and I’ve removed it from the instructions. I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Is there a substitute for cashews? I am on the Low FodMap diet and it does not allow cashews?
Hi Lori! I haven’t tested this with anything except cashews, so I can’t make any guarantees. However, you could try using macadamia nuts or silken tofu in place of the cashews.
What do you think about freezing the cheesecake?
It really smells amazing! Can’t wait to try it!
I hope you love it, Edie! I haven’t tried freezing it so I can’t say how it would hold up, but my guess is that it would be just fine, just wrap it up tightly!
Oh my goodness, I’ve been experimenting with some recipes for a family member who is joining me for thanksgiving. She has a pretty restricted diet at the moment and Thanksgiving desserts seemed completely out of reach. Not any more- this cheesecake is SO good. Thank you for your hard work o develop it. I’m going to have one happy niece come Thursday!
So glad you’re loving it, Renee!! Thanks so much for the feedback.
How much lemon juice?
Hi Paula, I don’t know why I wrote that in the post because there’s no lemon juice in this recipe! There was the first time I tested but I ultimately decided against it. You can follow the recipe as written.
Hello trying to make the crust but its a very soggy dough
And difficult to press it to the sides
15 minutes and far from done yet
What am i doing wrong ?
Hi Romina, the dough should not be soggy at all. Did you adjust any of the ingredient amounts?
Hello! I made the crust two different times and both it turned out soggy and wouldn’t bake correctly. Maybe I blended too much?
Hi Breanne, interesting, it definitely shouldn’t be soggy. The crust shouldn’t be completely smooth but have small pecan chunks in it still and be a sandy texture. Was your crust on the smoother side?
Hello :) Is the coconut yogurt plain, unsweetened, or sweetened? or vanilla? Thank you!
Hi Tanya, I always use plain coconut yogurt in baking.
This was a big hit! Thank you for a wonderful recipe. A very worthy addition to the Thanksgiving table today.
So glad it was a hit!! Thank you so much for your feedback :D
can I use regular pecan, I cannot get RAW pecans in Costa Rica?
Yes any pecans are fine!!
Delicious! I served this last night for Thanksgiving dessert! Perfect texture, sweetness and spice level! I only had a 10-inch springform pan and it still worked, but an 8-inch would have been better for sure for more depth (but it still turned out great!). Thanks Rachel!
So thrilled it was a hit! Thanks for the feedback, Doris :)
I want to make this, but I’m sensitive to almonds. What can I use instead of almond flour?
Oat flour would work well here if you’re not grain-free/paleo, or you can use any other nut/seed flour!
Got cake in oven now…wondering what that whipped topping is….
Hi Suzy, it’s just whipped coconut cream :)
Just have to say I am so impressed with this recipe! I have always made a typical, unhealthy pumpkin cheesecake for thanksgiving, but this recipe blew the traditional ones out of the water. The crust is amazing, texture is perfect and no one in my family could tell a difference. Even better the 2nd or 3rd day (I did use regular Greek yogurt instead of coconut)
So thrilled it was a hit, Lauren! Thanks so much for the feedback.
GIRL you have cracked the code to vegan cheesecakes! THANK YOOOOO!
I swirled this one with some maple butter. It looked pretty but didn’t give quite as much flavor as I’d hoped, which was ok.
Thanks again for another good cheesecake recipe!!
Woohoo!! Sounds soooo good – so thrilled you’re loving it!
Made this for a fall dinner party with some girlfriends! It came out perfect. I think I only increased the pumpkin pie spice because I always increase spices lol. Thank you!
So glad it was a hit, LeAnna! Thanks so much for sharing :)
Can I use cornstarch instead of arrowroot powder or tapioca flour?
Yes that’s fine!
Hi Rachel – with the three different scales available (1x, 2x, 3x), the pan size isn’t different.
Does the 1x fit a 6”, the 2x fit an 8” and the 3x fit a 9-10” pan?
Thanks for your guidance!
Hi Marsha, unfortunately that feature only works for the ingredients section, not for the directions. Your pan sizes seem correct! You may need to bake a bit longer for the larger sizes as well.
My boyfriend and i are both vegan, gluten free, and refined sugar free and we absolutely LOVE this recipe!! We substitute the coconut sugar for monkfruit sweetener and it’s amazing!! Thank you so much for the recipe!!!
That makes me so happy to hear!! Thank you for the kind review Mady!
I made this for Thanksgiving Dessert. It was delicious and received rave reviews. DF,GF, and V are required in our family. Thank you for this wonderfully satisfying recipe!
Hi Rhonda, so glad it was a hit! Next time, star ratings are super helpful for others deciding whether to make the recipe :) glad you enjoyed it!
I know the point is to be vegan but can I just use regular yogurt? Greek plain or will it change the taste. Thanks. I have everything to make this but coconut yogurt.
Yes you can use plain greek yogurt!