Fall is the perfect time for pumpkin desserts, and this dairy free and vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake is a great decadent treat for fall parties or a weekend indulgence!
Well friends, it’s happened… the recipe I’ve been thinking about for a couple years has finally made it into a blog post!
Every month, I make a list of recipes I want to add to the blog, but they don’t always get made. This dairy free and gluten free Pumpkin Cheesecake is a recipe I’ve been dreaming of for a while now, but just hadn’t made it until now.
Better late than never I say, especially when it comes to dessert! 😉
This dairy free Pumpkin Cheesecake is quite rich, so you might want to cut these into smaller pieces. We topped our slices with a dollop of non-dairy coconut Reddi Wip, but you can even add a drizzle of chocolate syrup if you want.
Or eat it plain – it’s still amazing by itself!
How to make Gluten Free Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake
The method for making our pumpkin cheesecake is very similar to our other dairy free cheesecake recipes, it’s pretty easy and there’s no baking at all.
Here are the steps for making this pumpkin cheesecake (no tofu or cashews needed). This is just an overview of steps, the full recipe card is at the end of the post:
- In a medium bowl, beat the dairy free cream cheese with a hand mixer until it is smooth and softened. Don’t skip this step or your cheesecake filling won’t be as smooth!
- Add the powdered sugar to the cream cheese and beat again.
- Add the canned pumpkin to the cream cheese, and the vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice and mix again until smooth.
- Add half an 8-ounce container of So Delicious Cocowhip to the cream cheese mixture and beat in until smooth.
- Add the rest of the Cocowhip to the mixture and fold in with a spatula until incorporated.
- Spread the cheesecake filling into a pre-made gluten free graham or gingersnap crust (such as MiDel).
- Cover and refrigerate overnight to allow the cheesecake to chill and firm up.
- Slice and serve with dairy free whipped cream!
We used a pre-made MiDel graham crust for our cheesecake (which also comes in a gingersnap flavor as well), but if you want to make your own crust, you can use the gluten free cookie crust recipe from our vanilla cheesecake recipe.
The allergy friendly cookie crust for our vanilla cheesecake is made with vanilla Kinnitoo sandwich cookies, but they also make a cinnamon sandwich cookie that would be great in this recipe as well.
Or you can create a gluten free Oreo crust for a pumpkin cheesecake with a chocolate cookie crust!
Ingredient notes on the cream cheese and whipped cream
On one of our last cheesecake recipes, people would ask about good substitutions for Daiya cream cheese. I haven’t made these recipes with a different brand of non-dairy cream cheese since Daiya fits our allergies, but since this recipe is no-bake, I bet any plain dairy free cream cheese would work in this recipe.
Update: we’ve made this with Violife cream cheese and it tastes great!
The same goes for the So Delicious CocoWhip: if you have coconut allergies, you can find a different brand of non-dairy whipped cream to use if you like, just make sure that it holds it’s shape well, or your pumpkin cheesecake won’t be firm enough.
Reddi Wip just came out with some new non-dairy whipped creams made with either coconut or almond (the coconut version is on top of the cheesecake). I haven’t tried the almond version yet, but the coconut Reddi Wip is not too bad, it is very coconut-ty tasting.
I like the So Delicious CocoWhip better since it doesn’t have as strong a coconut taste as the Reddi Wip coconut whip does, but out Walmart carries the non-dairy Reddi Wip to it’s nice to get in a pinch if the health food store is closed since that’s the only place in our town I can buy So Delicious CocoWhip.
For the crust, I used the Mi-Del gluten free graham crust for this recipe, and it tastes really good, but it is a bit crumbly. They also make a gingersnap cookie crumb crust that would be great in this recipe, too, if you want a bit more spice.
If you have a favorite homemade graham crust, that would also work great in this recipe! I like fewer steps in recipes, so the prepared crusts work great and still fit our allergies.
Can I freeze this cheesecake?
This past week (November 2022) I made this cheesecake and did a freeze test on it to see how well it held up to freezing and thawing.
I made the cheesecake, then let it firm up in the fridge overnight before I put the whole thing in the freezer to freeze for 24 hours. Then I let the whole, uncut cheesecake thaw on the counter at room temperature. It took about 4-5 hours at room temperature to thaw completely.
I also made sure to remove the lid since I noticed condensation forming on the inside of the clear plastic lid and I didn’t want it dripping onto the cheesecake, getting my cheesecake wet on top.
The texture of the cheesecake did change a bit, it wasn’t as smooth and it looked like the cheesecake mixture was trying to separate a little, so the bottom of the cheesecake was a little more wet.
However it was still mostly smooth and creamy, and the flavor of the filling was the same. The MiDel crust didn’t taste as good after freezing and thawing due to the aluminum pie plate that was with the crust. Not sure what happened there but the crust did not taste as good after I it was frozen and thawed.
Bottom line: you can freeze this cheesecake and it won’t completely break down. However I don’t think the texture is as smooth though once it’s frozen and thawed, and it separates very slightly so there’s some excess liquid around the bottom of the cheesecake.
Kitchen tools you’ll need for this recipe:
Check out our other no-bake vegan cheesecakes made without cashews!
- Gluten Free and Vegan Vanilla Cheesecake
- Gluten Free Dairy Free Key Lime Cheesecake
- Easy Vegan Oreo Cheesecake
- Dairy Free Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes with Granola Crust
- Vegan Strawberry Cheesecake
- Triple Chocolate Vegan Cheesecake
- No Bake Dairy Free Lemon Cheesecake
- Chocolate SunButter Cheesecake
- Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake
Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake (Gluten Free)
Gluten free, vegan, dairy free; Free of: eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts (except for coconut)
Ingredients
- 1 Mi-Del gluten free graham or gingersnap pie crust (or 9-inch cookie crust equivalent)
- 12 ounces dairy free cream cheese (12 ounces = 1-1/2 containers Daiya cream cheese)
- ¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons canned pumpkin puree
- ¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice blend
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 9 ounces So Delicious CocoWhip ** (9 ounces = 1 container)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, beat the Daiya non-dairy cream cheese with a hand beater or stand mixer until smooth.
- Add the pumpkin puree, powdered sugar, pie spice blend, vanilla, and 1/2 the container of CocoWhip to the Daiya cream cheese and beat until smooth and blended completely.
- Using a spatula, fold in the other 1/2 of the CocoWhip container into the cream cheese mixture until blended.
- Spread the pumpkin cheesecake filling into the Mi-Del gluten free crust, cover, and chill for about 6+ hours until the cheesecake is set.
- Slice into 8-10 slices and serve (this is rich, so smaller slices are best). Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Sarah Jane Parker is the founder, recipe creator, and photographer behind The Fit Cookie which she founded in 2011. Sarah is based in Wyoming and has been managing food allergies for herself and her 2 children for over 20 years. Sarah was also a certified personal trainer for 12 years, as well as a group fitness instructor, health coach, running coach, and fitness nutrition specialist.
Absolutely delicious! Even my husband (who dreads most gf/df recipes) loves it! Does this freeze well? If so, how would I freeze it?
Thank you Sydney! I’m not entirely sure if this freezes well since I haven’t tried that yet, but I will try making this recipe this week and test out freezing it and report back to you soon!
Any update?
I just put the cheesecake in the freezer this morning, so I’ll pull it out tomorrow and let you know how it did in the freezer. I planned on making this earlier in the week, but messed up my first recipe and had to remake it again yesterday to test it.
So I did a freeze test on this cheesecake and it freezes and thaws pretty well (I should say mostly well). The texture is a little different after freezing and thawing, like it tried to separate a little bit. The flavor is the same, but the texture is not as smooth as if it was made fresh. It took about 4 to 5 hours to thaw the entire uncut cheesecake on the counter at room temperature. You can definitely freeze this, I think the texture is better when it’s made fresh then allowed to firm up overnight, but freezing is an option if you are in a pinch. While this is thawing, I’d remove the lid to make sure that there isn’t excess condensation forming on the lid and dripping onto the cheesecake.
Could you use a different sugar? Maybe maple syrup or honey instead or monk fruit?
Hi Rachel! For this recipe, you can try using a powdered sugar alternative (like powdered Swerve) but I would not use a liquid sweetener like honey or maple syrup to replace the powdered sugar. The powdered sugar helps to sweeten this but also to help thicken it as well, so if you use a liquid sweetener it might not set up as well. A granulated sweetener like monk fruit might work, but a granulated sweetener might not distribute and dissolve into the filling as well, and it also won’t help it thicken. It will probably work fine, it just won’t be quite as thick. Your best bet to replace the sugar is a powdered sugar replacement for this one.
Made this recipe now multiple times and it’s just delicious every time! I don’t mind gluten, so I just buy a normal pre-made pie crust. All my family loves it (even the ones that can eat dairy) and it’s so easy to make! Thank you for sharing! Looking forward to making your other recipes.
Thank you so much Chelsey! 🙂
Used two kinds of vegan cream cheese with juice of half a lemon for tart flavor. Cheesecake didn’t set even after 24 hrs. Maybe due to cream cheeses. Was still DELISH! Used an all but crust.
Hi Marine, it could be the type of vegan cream cheese you used or adding the lemon juice. I found that Daiya works better than the Violife cream cheese, so different cream cheeses might not set up quite as well as others. But I’m glad you loved the taste! 🙂
Does anyone know what I can substitute the coco whip for as I’m in uk and we can’t get it
Someone I talked to from the UK mentioned that Asda has some free-from whipped cream toppings available
Ok I have found out what coco whip is what can I use as a substitute as I’m in the uk and can’t get that anyone knows please
I’m not sure what is available in the UK, but a few other brands of dairy free whipped topping are TruWhip, something called Hopla in the UK (soy based I think?), Soyatoo, Trader Joes, Reddi Whip, etc. You might be able to do a Google search for brands that are available in the UK. You can also make your own whipped cream, but it won’t be as fluffy as the store bought dairy free kind: https://minimalistbaker.com/how-to-make-coconut-whipped-cream/
Can anyone tell me what coco whip is please as I haven’t got a clue
Hi Stephanie, Coco Whip is the So Delicious brand of dairy free coconut based whipped cream. I’ll add a note to the recipe to clarify that.
So easy to make and so tasty! My kids were excited about pumpkin pie so I made them a pumpkin pie and this cheesecake for me. Well, I had to share because they liked this cheesecake better than their pumpkin pie. Can’t say I blame them!
Thanks so much Liz! I think I like this cheesecake even better than regular pumpkin pie, too 🙂