If a pumpkin pie and a pumpkin cheesecake got married and had a baby
It would be this Vegan Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake with gingersnap crust and we would name him Gary.
Gary Gary Gary.
If you are not sure what I mean by the “Gary” reference click here for the full story and a really good laugh!
But let’s stay focused on the best cheesecake recipe you will ever try
Creamy NY style cheesecake with a gingersnap cookie crust
Gingersnap cookies for decor and also crushed up for gingersnap buttercream rosettes! *totally extra but totally awesome!
Of course you can skip the gingersnap crust and go traditional graham crackers
But trust me the gingersnap cookies really add a special something something to this otherwise perfect cheesecake!
The recipe link for the cookies below makes more than you need for this cheesecake recipe
However if you are anything like me you will eat about a quarter of them before you even get to making the cheesecake
A hefty handful of crushed cookies into the buttercream makes for a perfect ginngersnap buttercream rosette for each slice!
Notes for Success:
This was one of my first vegan recipes a couple years ago as I transitioned my blog and YouTube channel to all vegan recipes.
I have since then honed my skills in all things vegan and can now offer you a much easier and infinitely better version of this cheesecake
The recipe listed below is the new improved recipe and it will not match the video tutorial on YouTube for this recipe
Additionally I often add an addition of firm tofu in place of some of the vegan cream cheese for a lightened up version to cut some of the fat calories.
I do not find an extremely noticeable difference in the outcome of straight vegan cream cheese versus the tofu addition, so for me I like the tofu version.
If you prefer to eliminate tofu just add in more vegan cream cheese or even vegan sour cream!
Important: I only use Tofutti Brand Cream Cheese for my BAKED recipes. *Not sponsored
I have not had success with any other brand in BAKED recipes.
For some reason the other more expensive brands I’ve tried have broken down into an oily mess when baked.
Cornstarch is a very difficult ingredient to measure consistently with a volume spoons measure
Many times people have complained that their cheesecake is like rubber and they don’t know why!
This is from a heavy measure of cornstarch when using volume measuring spoon vs the 100% accurate scale measure in grams
CLICK HERE FOR THE YOUTUBE VIDEO TUTORIAL FOR THE ORIGINAL CHEESECAKE RECIPE
Improved Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe
Ingredients
- Vegan Cream Cheese 12 ounces (336g) * see notes above
- Firm Tofu drained of excess water 4 ounces (113g)
- Pumpkin Puree 1 cup (250g)
- Light Brown Sugar 1½ cup (315g)
- Pumpkin Pie Spice 3 teaspoons (8g)
- Vanilla Extract 2 teaspoons (10ml)
- Cornstarch 6 Tablespoons (48g)
- All Purpose Flour 2 Tablespoons (16g)
- Vegan Lactic Acid 2 teaspoons
- FOR THE CRUST:
- 15- 1 ounce Gingersnap Cookies approx 1½ cups ground
- Vegan Butter melted 2 Tablespoons (30ml)
- FOR THE GINGERSNAP PUMPKIN BUTTERCREAM:
- ½ Recipe Buttercream
- 1 cup crushed gingersnaps finely ground
- ½ cup canned pumpkin or homemade puree
Instructions
- Prepare a 7" cake pan with pan grease and parchment lining
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- *I did not use a water bath in the old video, but I do now bake my cheesecakes in water baths and it is a better idea
- Prepare the crust with the cookies and melted vegan butter, press into the bottom of the greased and parchment lined cake pan, refrigerate until needed
- Combine all of the cheesecake ingredients together in the food processor and whiz it up smooth
- Pour into prepared crust and bake in a water bath for 1 hour then turn the oven off and allow the cheesecake to cool slowly as the oven cools for another hour
- Then remove from water bath and cool overnight in the refrigerator to set to firm.
- Unmold then garnish with gingersnap pumpkin buttercream and more gingersnap cookies
Notes
Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake must be kept refrigerated at all times, will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
I do not like to freeze vegan cheesecake, I find the texture changes in a bad way & they get soggy on the thaw
I, like you, always bake my cheesecake in a cake pan instead of a springform pan. I have a question. When baking a cheesecake this way how and when do you add a sour cream topping? Can it be done the next day once you have removed it from the pan? Thanks.
yes definitely the next day after un-molding
Thanks for your quick response. In this case I can use your old Pumpkin cheesecake recipe but
1) instead of using egg replacer plus warm water, can i just substitute with 3 eggs?
2) Can I also substitute a small portion of the 2 8-ounces Vegan cream cheese with maybe 100g Silken tofu? I will be using normal cream cheese since I am not vegan and cannot get tofutti in where I live.
3) How does the original recipe differ in taste compare to the improved version?
I am really keen to adapt your recipe to make healthier cheesecake versions. Gonna try various of your cheesecake recipes. Will give u feedback how it turns out once I make it.
Hello, I want to make this cheesecake but my roommate is allergic to the soy in the tofu. If I cannot use the tofu, do I use the egg replacer, and if so, does it have to be the EngerG brand? I am very excited to make this!
Hey there! Hmmm, well my first question is, what will you use in place of the cream cheese? Since the vegan cream cheese has soy (the tofutti brand I only use has soy) I have not had any luck with another brand of vegan cream cheese for BAKING. CLICK HERE FOR MY MAJOR VIOLIFE FAIL!
As for the egg replacer, I have a new version of this recipe that I think is WAY better! If you scroll down on this same post, you will see the New Improved Updated version!
*However the cream cheese conundrum remains 🙁
Made the updated recipe for Thanksgiving and it was absolutely perfect. So happy to find a vegan alternative that actually tastes like cheesecake. Thank you!!
YAY!! Thank you!
Hi Gretchen,
I am not vegan but I love your vegan recipes. For the improved pumpkin cheesecake version, can I use an egg to replace the butter to lower e calories? If yes any other adjustments I need to make?
Hey thanks! I can’t say how that will work since I do not bake with eggs
Hi Gretchen, thank you for your amazing recipes. I was wondering if you could try layering pumpkin cheesecake batter and vanilla cheesecake batter. Would it bake well if I tried to layer the two batters?
Hi Thankyou too. Unfortunately the vegan cheesecake batter is very thin, almost liquidy so the try to layer anything it just sinks.
If I use a premade pie shell, would I bake it all at the same time or do the shell first and then the pie filling afterwards?
Many people do NOT pre bake the crust but I like to do it, that said I can’t guarantee how a premade crust will react, but I suspect it would be fine! It’s really your option to do it or not, the trouble with NOT doing it- is that the bottom crust often does not get enough heat and will remain slightly “raw” even when the rest of the pie is done
CLICK HERE for more info and a video visual of exactly what we are talking about
Can I make these or any of your cheesecake recipes in cup cake tins?
Yes! definitely! Bake time would probably be about 35-45 minutes? I made small ones here if you want to see a reference
Hi Gretchen,
If I wanted to leave out the tofu, would I just use both packages of cream cheese like in the first recipe? Or would I replace the 98g of tofu with 98g of cream cheese? Thank you.
Yes you would replace the tofu with either more vegan cream cheese or even sour cream would work!
Hi Gretchen!
I’m thinking about trying this out for Thanksgiving. I think your gingersnap cookie link is pointing to your old website domain in the original recipe above (& is broken), but I found this one which I think was the intention. https://www.gretchensveganbakery.com/gingersnap-cookies/
Hope you have a great Thanksgiving! Thank you for all the wonderful recipes and tips! It’s so much fun making them for my family!
Thank you for pointing that out! I will update that now!
hI CAN I USE SWEET POTATO INSTEAD OF PUMPKIN?
How many gingersnap cookies (course ground?), maybe in cups for measurement, for the crust for a 7″ cake pan?
If using a cake pan, and doing a water bath cooking method, doesn’t the water seep up into the crust? How does that work?
Hey thanks for pointing that out. I recently implemented the “Jump to Recipe” button and it seems to have messed with some of my ingredients
I’ve updated the recipe to reflect that it should be approx 1½ cups ground cookies which is about 15 small cookies
For the water bath it is the same as if you were using a springform pan (which of course you can use if you like that method) So for me when I use a cake pan I set the 7″ cheesecake pan into a larger pan (usually 10″) for the water bath
CLICK HERE OR WHY I DONT USE SPRINGFORM PANS
Thank you – the first batch of cookies just went into the oven. Hoping to make the cheesecake on Wednesday.
Went over really well, and it is very much like you titled it – a good merging of pumpkin pie and cheesecake. I would probably pre-bake the crust a little first next time for just what you mentioned in one of the other comments – it was still a bit moist, and I also like it a bit dryer and more crumbly.
awesone! Thanks for the feedback!