Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites (vegan + dairy free)

Little pumpkin colored cheesecakes with a dark brown gingersnap crust with a white pumpkin and pecans.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites (vegan + dairy free)

Pumpkin cheesecake bites are made with an outrageously delicious gingersnap crust! A healthy recipe using canned pumpkin puree! This is a no-bake cheesecake using cashews instead of cream cheese for a creamy filling!

Prep Time35

Soaking Cashews2

Total Time2 35

Servings: mini cheesecakes

Author: Danika Vanderpyl

Ingredients

Gingersnap Crust:

1 cup rolled oats or almond flour
¼ cup almond butter
¼ cup coconut oil or butter
1 tablespoon molasses
2 teaspoons powdered ginger or ½ teaspoon fresh grated ginger

Cheesecake Filling:

1 ¾ cups cashews soaked 2-8 hours
½ cup pumpkin purée
⅓ cup maple syrup
⅓ cup melted coconut oil or butter
1 teaspoon molasses
1 tablepsoon vanilla
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice make your own
¼ teaspoon sea salt

Garnish:

pecans
almond butter

Instructions

Prepare: You will need to soak the cashews for 2-8 hours before making these cheesecakes.
To easily remove these cheesecakes from the muffin tin, place a strip of parchment paper in the tin first; make sure it's long enough to pull out of the muffin cups once they are ready! Or line the muffin tin with cupcake liners.
To make the crust: Start by grinding your oats in a food processor by blending until it forms a flour-like texture: about 1-2 minutes.
Then, pour the ground oats into a bowl and add almond butter, coconut oil, 1 tablespoon of molasses and the powdered ginger. Stir until well combined; it will form a smooth dough. Using a muffin tray, press 1 tablespoon of the gingersnap dough into the bottom of each muffin cup. Set aside.
To make the cheesecake filling: In a high-powered blender or food processor, place the soft cashews, pumpkin purée, maple syrup, ⅓ cup coconut oil, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, sea salt, and 1 teaspoon molasses. Blend for 5 minutes or until very smooth and creamy.

If the batter is too thick, add 1 teaspoon of milk at a time until blending well (don't add too much or they will not become firm in the fridge).

Assemble: Add about 1 heaping tablespoon of pumpkin batter to each gingerbread crust. Add pecans on top and drizzle with almond butter. Put into the fridge to set for 2-4 hours.
Storage: They will stay good in the fridge for up to one week. These no-bake cheesecakes will last in the freezer up to three months.

Notes

Tips for the smoothest cashew filling:

- Soak the cashews. I have made the mistake of not soaking the cashews first and the texture becomes grainy! Make sure to soak the cashews for at least 2 hours or boil them for 20 minutes to make them soft.

- Use a high-powered blender or food processor. The cashew filling will not become completely smooth without a high-powered machine, it will stay slightly grainy. My blender takes about 3-4 minutes to make it smooth and when I used a food processor I blended it for 7-8 minutes.

Nutrition