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    Home » Desserts

    Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake

    Published: Oct 6, 2018 Updated: Oct 23, 2021 by Alison Andrews This post may contain affiliate links

    Jump to Recipe
    Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake

    Rich and decadent vegan pumpkin cheesecake packed with flavor and topped with a caramel sauce and crushed pecans!

    A slice of vegan pumpkin cheesecake topped with caramel sauce and crushed pecans on a white plate.

    Vegan pumpkin cheesecake is here you guys!

    I am officially crazy about this cheesecake.

    Last time we made a vegan cheesecake we got some feedback on facebook that, even though it was decadent as heck, folks could do with a vegan cheesecake that was less on the healthy side.

    They were wanting to see some vegan cookies and vegan butter for the crust, none of this nuts and dates stuff. 

    Well, we are so happy to oblige.

    I like a good cookies and vegan butter crust just as much as the next person.

    So this vegan pumpkin cheesecake has a ginger cookie crust that blends so well with the pumpkin flavors in the cheesecake.

    And if you love all things cheesecake then also check out our delicious baked vegan baked cheesecake too.

    Vegan pumpkin cheesecake topped with caramel sauce and crushed pecans on a white cake stand.

    How To Make Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake

    You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.

    The Crust:

    • Add ginger cookies to the food processor and process into crumbles.
    Two photo collage showing ginger cookies added to food processor and processed into crumbles.
    • Melt vegan butter and pour this into the food processor with the cookie crumbles and process until well mixed. Spray an 8-inch round springform pan with non-stick spray and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper.
    • Transfer the cookie crumbs and vegan butter to the springform pan and pat down firmly with the base of a spoon. Place into the freezer to set while you work on the filling.
    Ginger cookie crust in a springform pan.

    The Filling:

    • Add pumpkin purée, brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice to a pot on the stove and gently warm it, stirring all the while until hot. This melts the sugar and blends the flavors.
    Pumpkin purée, brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice cooked together in a pot.
    • Then add this pumpkin mix to the blender jug along with raw cashews (soaked and drained), coconut milk, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, lemon juice and vanilla. Blend very well until smooth.
    Two photo collage showing filling ingredients added to blender and blended.
    • Pour the blended mix out over the cookie crust and smooth down. Place into the freezer to set.
    Pumpkin cheesecake filling smoothed down in springform pan.

    The Topping:

    • And then for the topping…..a fabulous caramel sauce made with vegan butter, brown sugar, coconut milk, vanilla and sea salt.
    • This sauce is heated on the stove to a simmer and then simmered for a few minutes (stirring constantly) until thickened.
    Vegan caramel sauce in a glass bowl with a spoon.
    • Pour the caramel sauce over your pumpkin cheesecake, top it with crushed pecans and you have a dessert that will wow anyone.
    Vegan pumpkin cheesecake topped with caramel sauce and crushed pecans on a white cake stand.

    Ingredient Notes & Tips

    Ginger cookies: We used vegan gingersnap cookies, but you can use any ginger cookie. Ideally a snappy, dry cookie that will crumble well. Golden oreos would also work great for this though you would miss that ginger flavor.

    Soak the cashews. The cashews should be soaked for at least 15 minutes (and up to an hour) in hot water which will allow them to blend much easier. Just place the cashews into a bowl, pour over boiling hot water from the kettle and leave to soak for 15 minutes, then drain them and they’re ready to use.

    Pumpkin Pie Spice: If you don’t have any pumpkin pie spice on hand, you can easily whip up a batch of your own from cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and ground cloves. Check out our recipe for homemade pumpkin pie spice.

    The sauce: The sauce is completely optional of course. You can leave it off and just decorate the top of your pie with some crushed pecans. If you do make it though, then you might well have some sauce left over, even after adding more to every slice of cheesecake you serve. So use any leftovers as a topping for ice cream, on pancakes, or just eat it with a spoon!

    Make It Gluten-Free

    The only thing you would need to do to ensure this cheesecake is gluten-free would be to use a gluten-free cookie for the crust. Everything else is already gluten-free.

    Vegan pumpkin cheesecake topped with caramel sauce and crushed pecans on a white cake stand.

    Make Ahead and Storing

    This pie makes an excellent make-ahead option as you can just store it in the freezer and then bring it out 30 minutes to an hour before you need to serve it. Spoon on the sauce, decorate with crushed pecans and serve.

    Keep any leftovers stored in the freezer and let thaw for 30 minutes to an hour before enjoying.

    A slice of vegan pumpkin cheesecake on a cake lifter.

    More Decadent Vegan Pie Recipes

    1. Vegan Pumpkin Pie
    2. Vegan Apple Pie
    3. Vegan Sweet Potato Pie
    4. Vegan Banana Cream Pie
    5. Vegan Coconut Cream Pie
    6. Vegan Banoffee Pie
    A slice of vegan pumpkin cheesecake topped with caramel sauce and crushed pecans on a white plate with a cake fork.

    Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!

    Slice of vegan pumpkin cheesecake on a white plate.

    Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake

    Rich and decadent vegan pumpkin cheesecake packed with flavor and topped with a caramel sauce and crushed pecans!
    4.93 from 39 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Diet: Vegan
    Prep Time: 45 minutes
    Total Time: 45 minutes
    Servings: 12
    Calories: 586kcal
    Author: Alison Andrews

    Ingredients

    For the Ginger Cookie Crust:

    • 9 ounces Vegan Gingersnap Cookies (250g)
    • ½ cup Vegan Butter (Melted) (112g)

    For the Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake:

    • 2 cups Raw Cashews (300g) Soaked in boiling water for 15 mins
    • 1 cup Pumpkin Purée (225g) Canned or fresh
    • ¼ cup Light Brown Sugar (50g)
    • 1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
    • ½ cup Canned Coconut Milk (120ml) Full Fat, Unsweetened
    • ½ cup Maple Syrup (120ml)
    • ½ cup Coconut Oil (120ml) Melted
    • 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

    For the Vegan Caramel Sauce:

    • 1 cup Light Brown Sugar (200g)
    • ¼ cup Vegan Butter (56g)
    • ½ cup Canned Coconut Milk (120ml) Full Fat, Unsweetened
    • 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
    • 1 teaspoon Sea Salt

    To Decorate:

    • Crushed Pecans
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Add the gingersnap cookies to a food processor and process until only crumbs remain. Add in the melted butter and process until mixed.
    • Prepare an 8 inch springform pan by spraying it with non-stick spray and lining the bottom with a circle of parchment paper.
    • Transfer the ginger cookie crumbs and vegan butter mix to the springform pan and pat down firmly with the back of a spoon. Place into the freezer to set while you prepare the filling.
    • Add the pumpkin purée, brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice to a saucepan and heat, stirring constantly until hot. This allows the brown sugar to melt and the flavors to blend with the pumpkin purée perfectly.
    • Remove from the heat when hot and add to a blender jug along with the cashews, coconut milk, maple syrup, melted coconut oil, lemon juice and vanilla extract.
    • Blend very well until completely smooth.
    • Pour the filling on top of the ginger cookie crust and return to the freezer to set completely. This will take several hours, at least 4-6 hours or you can just leave it overnight.
    • When the cheesecake has set, remove it from the springform pan and let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes to thaw before serving.
    • Prepare the caramel sauce by adding the brown sugar, vegan butter, coconut milk, vanilla and salt to a saucepan and bringing to a simmer, stirring constantly. Continue to simmer at low heat for a few minutes (stirring constantly) until the sauce has thickened slightly. The sauce will thicken more as it cools. Remove from the heat and let it cool. You can speed up the cooling process by placing the saucepan into the freezer.
    • Once the caramel sauce has cooled, spoon it out over the top of the cheesecake and decorate with crushed pecans.

    Notes

    1. Ginger cookies: We used vegan gingersnap cookies, but you can use any ginger cookie. Ideally a snappy, dry cookie that will crumble well. Golden oreos would also work great for this though you would miss that ginger flavor.
    2. Soak the cashews. The cashews should be soaked for at least 15 minutes (and up to an hour) in hot water which will allow them to blend much easier. Just place the cashews into a bowl, pour over boiling hot water from the kettle and leave to soak for 15 minutes, then drain them and they’re ready to use. 
    3. Pumpkin Pie Spice: If you don’t have any pumpkin pie spice on hand, you can easily whip up a batch of your own from cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and ground cloves. Check out our recipe for homemade pumpkin pie spice. 
    4. The sauce: The sauce is completely optional of course. You can leave it off and just decorate the top of your pie with some crushed pecans. If you do make it though, then you might have some sauce left over, even after adding more to every slice of cheesecake you serve. So use any leftovers as a topping for ice cream, on pancakes, or just eat it with a spoon!

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1Serve | Calories: 586kcal | Carbohydrates: 56.2g | Protein: 6.4g | Fat: 38.3g | Saturated Fat: 15.9g | Sodium: 227mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 35.3g
    DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? Rate it & leave your feedback in the comments section below, or tag @lovingitvegan on Instagram and hashtag #lovingitvegan
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    « Vegan Pumpkin Cookies with Maple Glaze
    Vegan Coconut Cookies »
    23.5K shares

    About the Author

    Hi I'm Alison Andrews, I'm the voice and cook behind Loving It Vegan. I love making delicious vegan food and creating vegan versions of all your old favorites, so that you’ll never feel like you’re missing out. Find out more about me here.

    Loving It Vegan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This site may contain some of these links to Amazon.com. If you make a purchase through one of those links, Loving It Vegan will receive a small commission from the purchase at no additional cost to you.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Andreia says

      November 24, 2022 at 10:11 pm

      Amazing! This recipe was a favorite at Thanksgiving this year. Will definitely be saving and making again!5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        November 25, 2022 at 10:49 am

        Awesome! Thanks so much Andreia!

        Reply
      • Kelley says

        November 27, 2022 at 7:43 pm

        I made this for Thanksgiving since I’m vegan and wanted to be able to have a dessert! I expected a yummy pumpkin dessert that, like most vegan cheesecakes, didn’t taste like cheesecake. I was blown away by the cheesecake flavor of this!! literally so so amazing, and I ran out of time and didn’t even make the caramel topping. it’s going on my must make Desserts from now on.5 stars

        Reply
        • Alison Andrews says

          November 29, 2022 at 10:34 am

          So happy to hear that! Thanks so much Kelley!

          Reply
    2. Sue Benzuly says

      November 22, 2022 at 2:53 pm

      Can the caramel sauce be made ahead?

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        November 25, 2022 at 10:44 am

        Yes!

        Reply
    3. Heidi says

      November 08, 2022 at 8:15 pm

      Hi Alison….When I made the caramel sauce, it was starting to thicken a bit on the stove as it was simmering, but as it’s cooling it’s more of a liquid consistency with much separation of the fat contents. Is it supposed to be like that? 4 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        November 09, 2022 at 10:02 am

        Hi Heidi, I would let it cool more and keep whisking/stirring it and it may come together. I’m not sure why it separated, I haven’t had that happen. It’s not a deal breaker for this dessert though! Still divine without the sauce if the sauce doesn’t work out this time!

        Reply
    4. Christina says

      October 21, 2022 at 1:24 am

      Would it be possible to sub a different nut for the cashews?

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        October 21, 2022 at 8:22 am

        You can try other nuts like macadamias or slivered or blanched almonds but the texture won’t be exactly the same.

        Reply
    5. Christine Williams says

      July 06, 2022 at 12:37 am

      Was asked to make this for a friend’s wedding dessert. To tell you the truth, I would have flicked right past this recipe and headed for chocolate something! But she had tried it and wanted it, so… my oh my, I was seriously impressed! The layers of flavours were beautiful – ginger in the biscuit layer, warm spices in the filling, and delicious caramel sauce and pecans to top it off. It was a winner! Thank you! Little changes I made: I wanted it to be fridge stable, so upped the coconut oil, and to give a bit more zing to the base, grated fresh ginger into the biscuit mix. Oh, and I made them in muffin pans. I put a little circle of baking paper inside each one before pressing the biscuit mix in. They came out perfectly, and looked gorgeous on the plates. Give this recipe a try, it’s so different from the norm, but you won’t be disappointed!5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        July 06, 2022 at 12:12 pm

        Thanks for sharing and the amazing review Christine!

        Reply
    6. Patty C. says

      November 28, 2021 at 1:46 am

      Hi, this sounds delish but since I do not have a Vitamix, would raw cashew butter be okay to use instead of raw cashews and if so, would the ratio be the same? Thanks!

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        November 29, 2021 at 1:05 pm

        Hi Patty, I’m not sure, it might work! You would use half the amount of cashew butter, so use 1 cup cashew butter to replace the 2 cups cashews.

        Reply
    7. Kathleen Norton says

      November 23, 2021 at 3:19 pm

      Made for my six year old grandsons for Thanksgiving. Made my own gingersnap crust with 2 cups almonds (blended), ginger, cinnamon, maple syrup, molasses, almond butter, salt. Smoosh together and press into greased springform pan, baked 350 degree oven until brown.

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        November 24, 2021 at 11:02 am

        Sounds great! Thanks for sharing Kathleen!

        Reply
    8. Lydia says

      November 18, 2021 at 3:53 pm

      This sounds perfect for my vegan family for thanksgiving. Think I can sub in sweet potatoes for the pumpkin?

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        November 18, 2021 at 3:56 pm

        Hi Lydia, yes I think you could! 🙂

        Reply
    9. Reid says

      November 14, 2021 at 11:36 am

      Can I use vegan cream cheese instead of cashews?5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        November 15, 2021 at 11:57 am

        No, not in this recipe.

        Reply
    10. Emma says

      November 09, 2021 at 4:09 pm

      Hello! I would love to make this for Thanksgiving, but our blender just died. We have a really nice food processor – do you think that would work to make the filling? If not, do you have any other suggestions? Thank you!

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        November 09, 2021 at 4:27 pm

        Hi Emma, the food processor should work, it may not be quite as smooth as with a blender, but it will still work. All the best! 🙂

        Reply
    11. Mo Johnson says

      November 06, 2021 at 3:56 pm

      Another awesome recipe! Thank you! I made this for Halloween and it was Devine. Just having some from the freezer a week later and I think it’s even better now. I used a 9inch springform pan as I don’t have an 8inch so the slices were slightly thinner than yours but it was fine. I needed it to be gluten free so I used some Gf cookies and added a tsp of ginger powder to the mix to get the ginger taste. This worked well! I used your home made butter recipe too which is now a staple in our house (game changer thank you!!!) Also I can’t get maple syrup where I live so I subbed that with ‘vegan honey’ which is made from palm sugar. The caramel sauce is delicious and I kept wanting to eat spoonfuls of it on its own! So quick and easy too so I wouldn’t advise skipping it !5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        November 06, 2021 at 4:07 pm

        Wonderful to hear that Mo! Thanks for the awesome comment and review!

        Reply
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