Mini Vegan Pumpkin Almond Cheesecakes
These mini vegan pumpkin almond cheesecakes are the perfect festive fall treat! Gluten-free graham cracker cookie crust is stuffed with a tangy, naturally sweetened pumpkin almond cheesecake filling. The filling is made by blending together raw almonds, almond milk, coconut butter, pumpkin purée, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, and pumpkin pie spices until smooth and creamy. I recommend serving these beauties with a dollop of coconut whipped cream!
Servings: 12 mini cheesecakes
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Cookie Crust
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- ¼ cup virgin coconut oil, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups oat flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
- 2 tablespoons filtered water
Pumpkin Almond Cheesecake Filling
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons raw almonds, soaked for at least 2 hours (preferably overnight) and drained
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons melted coconut butter, it should be runny and pourable—see note*
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
- ⅓ cup unsweetened canned pumpkin purée
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
For Serving
- Coconut whipped cream (optional)
Instructions
For the Graham Cracker Cookie Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a mini muffin tin with parchment paper baking cups.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the coconut sugar, coconut oil, and vanilla on high speed for 1 minute.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the oat flour, baking powder, and sea salt. Place within reach of the mixer.
- With the mixer off, add the water to the coconut sugar mixture and start beating while slowly adding the oat flour mixture. Beat for 30 seconds, or until the dough pulls together into large, moist mounds as it moves around the mixing bowl. When you first add the dry ingredients, the dough will be dry and crumbly; however, just keep beating on high—the finished dough will look and feel similar to Play-Doh. If the dough is still dry and crumbly after beating for 30 seconds, add more filtered water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and continue beating until it pulls together.
- Scoop approximately 1 ½ tablespoons of the dough into each baking cup, dividing any extra dough evenly among the 12 baking cups. Use your fingers to press the dough firmly and evenly into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of each cup, forming a well.
- Bake for 10 to 14 minutes, or until the crusts are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs at the tip. If you prefer a soft, chewy, cookielike crust, bake for 10–12 minutes; if you prefer a crisper crust, bake for 12–14 minutes. They'll puff up quite a bit while baking; however, they'll fall and settle back into crust shape as they cool. Also, don't worry if there is an oily sheen to the crusts when you first remove them from the oven; the oil will be reabsorbed as they cool.
- Transfer the pan to an oven-safe cooling rack. Cool completely.
For the Pumpkin Almond Cheesecake Filling
- Add all filling ingredients to a high-speed blender, and blend on high until completely smooth.
To Assemble
- Spoon the filling into the cooled crusts**. Transfer to the freezer for 1 hour, or until the cheesecake layer has set.
- Serve each with a dollop of coconut whipped cream, if desired.
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to 2 days (the crusts will become soggy if you store the filled tarts longer than this, so if you're preparing in advance, see the recipe notes for how-to and tips).
Notes
*It's very important that the coconut butter is in a liquid state before blending. I find it’s easiest to make a fresh batch of homemade coconut butter and simply measure off the amount needed while it's still in a liquid state.
**If you're preparing these cheesecakes ahead of time to serve a crowd, I recommend making the filling and tart crusts in advance (up to 4 days ahead of time) and storing each separately—the filling in the refrigerator and the crusts at room temperature. Then, the day of serving, simply spoon the filling into the tart crusts, chill, and serve.