No-Bake Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake

Your guests will never guess that there's no dairy is in this delicious no bake vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake. It's the ultimate Thanksgiving dessert! This easy recipe is vegan and gluten-free.

Vegan Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

While I love to bake, I'm not very good at come up with my own recipes for baked goods. To me, baking seems more like a science, whereas cooking is more of an art. I'm an artist with a very unscientific brain, so when it comes to baking, I tend to follow other people's recipes.

No bake desserts are much easier for me though, because I can taste as I go, and I don't have to worry about how ingredients are going to react after a few minutes in a hot oven. (And I also don't need to worry about my old oven burning anything.)

That's why I created this no bake pumpkin cheesecake recipe. It's just a matter of blending ingredients together and then popping everything in the fridge.

It's great for Thanksgiving, because it can be made in advance. It saves space in the oven, which always seemed to be too crowded when cooking for the holidays.

What You Need

• Walnuts
• Almonds or almond meal
• Medjool dates, pitted and chopped

• Raw cashews
• Lemon juice
• Maple syrup
• Coconut oil
• Vanilla extract
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Ginger
• Allspice
• Cloves
• Sea salt
• Pumpkin purée

See the recipe card for exact amounts.

How to make a No-Bake Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake

This recipe is super easy to make!

• First you lightly brush melted coconut oil on the sides or an 8-inch or 9-inch pie pan or springform pan. Or you can line it with parchment paper.
• Then you mix together the crust ingredients in a food processor until the mixture resembles crumbs. Press the mixture into your prepared pan. Set it aside until ready to use.
• Next you mix the cashews, lemon juice, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and salt together in a high-speed blender or food processor until smooth and creamy.
• If you’re using a high-speed blender and you’re worried about the mixture getting “stuck”, start on a low speed and gradually increase it. Turn it up the highest speed, and let it blend until completely smooth. It may struggle for a few seconds at the beginning, but once it gets going it should blend smoothly. If it seems too dry, add a few teaspoons of water, but don’t add too much, or it’ll change the consistency of your cheesecake. 
• Once the filling is smooth and creamy, remove about ¼ cup of it and set it aside. Now you add the spices and the pumpkin purée to the blender and mix until it’s well blended.
• Now you pour the pumpkin mixture into the prepared crust.
• Next, you drizzle the ¼ cup of plain cheesecake mixture onto the cake. You can use a squeeze bottle or a piping bag, or you can use drizzle with a small spoon. If it seems too thick, add a little water, a half teaspoon at a time to thin it out.
• You use a toothpick or skewer to “marble” the plain cashew cream by gently dragging it back and forth through the cheesecake.
• Place the pan in your fridge or freezer for an hour or two to let it set.

Serving Your Cheesecake

Allow your cheesecake to set in the fridge or freezer before slicing and serving it. Serve it straight from the fridge or serve it frozen, which will give it more of an ice cream feel. 

Storing Your Cheesecake

Store your cheesecake in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. It will last for 5 to 6 days in the fridge, and about 6 to 8 months in the freezer.

Raw Cashews

While creamy cashew recipes can be made with any type of cashews, the raw type is idea. Raw cashews are soft, and they have a mild flavor. Roasted cashews aren’t as soft, and they will give your recipe a roasted, almost burnt flavor.

Raw cashews aren’t technically raw. Cashews have to be processsed with heat in order to be removed from their shells, which are toxic. They’re usually steamed or boiled in the process. They are considered “raw” because they haven’t been roasted.

For this recipe, you should soak your cashews for about 2 hours to soften them a little. They should then be drained and rinsed. High-speed blenders can sometimes mix up unsoaked cashews smoothly, but I sometimes find a few leftover chunks in my Blendtec if I don’t soak them.

Medjool Dates

There are two popular kinds of dates that you have probably seen at the grocery store – medjool and deglet noor.  Deglet noor dates are small and firm with a sweet flavor. Medjool dates are larger and chewier, with more of a caramel flavor. They’re softer, so they lend themselves well to raw dessert recipes.

This recipe calls for medjools. If, you can use deglet noors, but I would recommend soaking them to soften them up. Since deglets are smaller, you may need two or three more to get your crusts to stick together.

More Fall Desserts You Might Enjoy Include

• Healthy Apple Crisp
• Cinnamon-Oatmeal Baked Apples
• Date Sweetened Caramel Apples
• Thanksgiving Harvest Pie from Sweet Vegan Treats by Hannah Kaminsky

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More Pumpkin Recipes Include 

• Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal
• Pumpkin Pie Smoothie
• Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
• Stuffed Mini Pumpkins