Baked Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake (Gluten-free, Oil-free)

Hands up if you need the BEST VEGAN PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE recipe. The texture is how I remember cheesecake should be and the crust smells like gingerbread. It is baked, it is oil-free and I used only SIX whole foods ingredients (including homemade pumpkin puree) to make the filling. A truly festive and decadent dessert for your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. 

If you love the fall season, you’ll probably love baking with pumpkin, butternut squash, sweet potato, apple, plum, pomegranate, and all the other delicious fall veggies and fruits. Stock up on pumpkin spice mix and cinnamon and fire up your oven to make my apple crisp pie, plum crumble, caramel apple crumble, vegan sweet potato brownies, or this vegan pumpkin cheesecake. 

What to expect from this recipe

What does anyone expect if they make a vegan pumpkin cheesecake recipe? That it is the same or pretty close to the dairy cheesecake they all remember. Well, this is how I remember.

• A cheesecake should be soft, moist, creamy, fluffy, and not dry, crumbly, or dense.
• The perfect cheesecake is light, but filling as one slice is usually enough (khm… I mean two slices.)
• The thin crust of the cheesecake is only a sidekick to the delicious filling.
• You know it is pumpkin cheesecake, not a pie as the taste of pumpkin is not the only thing you can taste.
• The perfect pumpkin cheesecake has pumpkin spice or at least cinnamon so that your kitchen can smell like Christmas.

So, how do you remember? Did I describe the perfect pumpkin cheesecake? If this is also how you imagine it, you are in the right place. This vegan gluten-free pumpkin cheesecake recipe delivers everything I listed above and more…

• vegan (so dairy-free and egg-free)
• gluten-free
• soy-free
• oil-free (for those lovely folks following the whole foods plant-based diet)
• refined sugar-free (but since this is a dessert recipe, it is definitely not low-carb)
• but most importantly OVER-THE-TOP DELICIOUS!!!

Why is it baked?

As much as I like no-bake vegan cheesecakes, nothing beats the baked ones. And I am here to give you exactly 3 reasons:

• Baking makes it healthier – You can skip coconut oil or silken tofu or store-bought vegan cream cheese (like Tofutti, Kite Hill, or Daiya) and any other processed stuff if you bake it. I am not saying it doesn’t have a lot of calories, but at least it is only 6 whole foods ingredients.
• Baking makes it creamy – If you ever tried warming up cashew cream to make pasta sauce or cheese dip, you might have realized that cashew cream thickens when it is heated. If you bake it, the cheesecake thickens up without added cornstarch.
• Baking makes it light – If you bake it, it will give you the original New York-style cheesecake texture that a raw, no-bake cheesecake will never do without any processed ingredients.

Ingredients

To make this delicious vegan pumpkin cheesecake, you need 6 ingredients:

• Pie crust – Choose your favorite or try our gingerbread pie crust recipe or our flaky gluten-free vegan pie crust recipe.
• Cashews
• Canned full-fat coconut milk – Light coconut cream works as well, although light coconut milk does not. Don’t worry the cheesecake will not have a coconut flavor, but you need this for consistency.
• Butternut squash puree – We used homemade (I will show you how below), but canned store-bought pumpkin puree works just fine.
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Maple syrup – You can use other liquid sweeteners.
• Pumpkin spice mix – Or the mix of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.

🛒 You’ll find detailed measurements for all Ingredients in the printable version of the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.

Why butternut squash?

In case you need any further explanation why should you use butternut squash instead of pumpkin puree, here it is.

Back in 2019, I read an article on Epicurious titled “The Best Pumpkin Pie has No Pumpkin In It” saying

Miraculously, the butternut squash filling tastes even more vibrantly pumpkin-y than any recipe that uses the real thing.

No argument there. My reasons for loving butternut squash for desserts are simple:

• It is super quick to bake in the oven. Butternut squash becomes so soft that you can puree it with a fork.
• Butternut squash is naturally sweeter than any other pumpkin I’ve tried. You don’t need to add a lot of extra sweeteners to enjoy a luscious pie or cheesecake.
• The flesh of butternut squash is less watery and fibery. You don’t need to strain it or be afraid that the extra moisture ruins the consistency of the filling.

Instructions

Roasted butternut squash puree

1. Wash butternut squash but don’t peel it. I think it tastes better roasted with a skin.
2. Use a steady cutting board and a sharp knife. If you have a medium-sized one, cut it in half in the middle using a rocking motion.
3. Then make 4 wedges from the neck part and 5-6 wedges from the bottom part. They should look like the ones in the below picture.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 Fahrenheit (220 degrees Celsius)
5. Use tin foil, parchment paper, or a non-stick baking sheet and place the pieces in one layer. They can be close, even touching, but don’t let them overlap each other. Too crowded means you need a longer baking time.
6. Bake them for 40 minutes. They should be soft and juicy. It is okay if some parts are caramelized a bit.
7. When it is chilled scoop the orange flesh out with a spoon and store it in the fridge. They are usually super soft so don’t need to blend them further at this step.

Gingerbread pie crust

You can choose to use your favorite pie crust. If you don’t have one, try our gingerbread pie crust or our flaky gluten-free vegan pie crust. To make this vegan pumpkin cheesecake even better we opted to use the former.

1. In a small bowl mix 2 Tablespoons of ground flax or chia with 6 Tablespoons of fresh water. It will thicken in seconds!
2. Take another bowl and add all dry ingredients: oat flour, almond flour, cinnamon, and ground ginger. Mix until combined.
3. Add maple syrup and flax or chia egg. Mix it with your hand until you can form a ball and the dough no longer sticks to the sides. If it sticks too much, add 1 Tablespoon of oat flour.
4. Roll the dough to the size of your springform pan. Place the removable bottom on top and cut it around it.
5. Place the cheesecake crust in the pan and store it in the fridge until you are ready with the filling. No need to use parchment paper if you have a good non-stick pan. I never had a problem taking it out.

Vegan pumpkin cheesecake filling

1. Boil water in a kettle and soak cashews in hot water for 5 minutes. Alternatively, you can boil cashews on the stovetop for 5 minutes. You can leave cashews to soak overnight if you plan to finish the cheesecake the next day.
2. Take your blender (I use my Vitamix for an extra creamy consistency, but any other blender would do just fine) and add canned full-fat coconut milk, chilled roasted butternut squash or canned pumpkin puree, soaked cashews, lemon juice, maple syrup, and pumpkin spice (or a homemade mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and clove)
3. Blend them until the filling is smooth and creamy.

Baking the cheesecake

1. Take the crust out of the fridge and pour the cheesecake filling on it.
2. Level it with a spatula and shake it a couple of times to get the air bubbles out.
3. Bake it in a preheated oven of 350 Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius) for 45 minutes.

How do you know when ready? The top should rise a bit but shouldn’t crack. The middle is not hollow but firm. It feels and looks soft, but it will firm up during cooling.

Top tips to make it perfectly

• Cut the cake when it is chilled – If you try to cut the cheesecake while it is still hot, you may not be able to make nice and clean slices. First, place a knife between the side of the cake and the form and run it around. Then open up the cake form. Transfer gently to a cake stand and chill before slicing.
• Add toppings when served– If you add whipped cream or caramel sauce while the cheesecake is still warm, they will melt and run down the sides. The same thing happens if the cheesecake rests in the fridge for too long. The toppings will lose their shape and position.
• Baking time – The top should rise a bit especially around the sides. It may seem a little jiggly in the middle, but it will firm up while it cools down. If the middle is hollow, it might mean that either you have to bake it a little longer or the filling was not leveled up properly, to begin with.

Toppings

To make the most decadent vegan pumpkin cheesecake you can add some delicious toppings. These will definitely make it the perfect festive dessert for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Our favorite toppings are

• coconut whipped cream or use store-bought
• vegan caramel sauce (we have a quick recipe using coconut sugar and coconut cream in our caramel nice cream recipe)
• chopped pecans or walnuts
• vegan caramel popcorn (Trader Joe’s has a dairy-free, gluten-free one)

Let us know in the comments, what is your favorite topping!

FAQs and substitutions

Can I make it with canned pumpkin puree?

Yes, the recipe works with canned pumpkin puree as well. I would add a bit more sweetener though since homemade roasted butternut squash tastes sweeter to me than any canned pumpkin puree I have tried so far.

Can I make it nut-free?

You need cashews to make the creamy, fluffy cheesecake filling. It is also needed to thicken the filling after it is baked. Sadly, I don’t know any other alternative. If you try to use only canned coconut milk or cream, the cheesecake filling will not firm up without starch or additional thickener.

How long does it last?

Keep it in the fridge for not more than 4-5 days.

Allergen info

This baked pumpkin cheesecake recipe is dairy-free and egg-free.

• Vegan – All ingredients are supposed to be vegan.
• Nut-free – Sadly, I don’t know any alternative to substitute both cashews and coconut to make it nut-free.
• WFPB-friendly (whole foods plant-based) – Yes, it is. No oil or refined sugar is used in this recipe. As far as I know, canned coconut milk can be used sparingly since it is high in fat. But cheesecakes are for occasions only, right?
• Gluten-free – If you use one of our two recipes (either this gingerbread pie crust or this gluten-free vegan pie crust) or any other gluten-free pie crust, then yes it is a gluten-free pumpkin cheesecake.
• Soy-free – All ingredients are supposed to be soy-free.

More vegan dessert recipes

You can browse through our vegan gluten-free dessert recipes or check out

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UPDATED: This recipe was originally posted in Nov 2019. It has been updated with more details, tips, and photos. It has been republished in Sep 2022.