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I wasn’t sure if pumpkin + chocolate would taste good together, but in this dessert it works.
Originally, I was planning on making a vanilla swirled pumpkin cheesecake, but since I was working with natural sweeteners my first attempt at the vanilla “cheesecake” didn’t turn out very white– it was more of a beige color, which provided very little contrast against the pumpkin layer.
So, I decided to see how pumpkin and chocolate would work together for a Halloween-inspired treat. I love how the chocolate swirled layer looks like a spiderweb against the naturally orange cheesecake! Even though this “cheesecake” is dairy-free, it tastes unbelievably creamy and has the perfect amount of pumpkin flavor. The chocolate topping is mostly there for looks, but I think its flavor compliments the creamy pumpkin filling quite nicely.
Because this dessert is so rich in nuts and healthy fats, this cheesecake is on the thinner side when you make it in a 9-inch springform pan. I prefer it this way, so you don’t use too many expensive ingredients or make the portions too ridiculously large for your guests, but if you’d prefer a thicker cheesecake, just use a smaller springform pan. (A 6-inch pan would probably work well for making a thicker cheesecake.)
I hope you enjoy it soon!
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Vegan & Paleo Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake
Makes one 9-inch cheesecake
Ingredients:
Crust:
1 1/2 cups almond flour
3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
pinch of salt
Pumpkin Filling:
2 cups raw cashews, or 1 cup raw cashew butter
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
Chocolate Topping:
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1 1/2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Directions:
To prepare the crust, line a springform pan with parchment paper and combine all of the ingredients in a medium mixing bowl creating a shortbread-like dough. Press the dough into the bottom of the pan evenly, creating a thin crust, and set it aside.
To prepare the pumpkin filling, grind the cashews in a blender or food processor until they are very finely ground (it’s okay if they start to turn into cashew butter). Add in the rest of the filling ingredients and blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the container if necessary. If you’re using cashew butter, you can skip the blender and just mix all of the filling ingredients together in a bowl until very smooth. Pour the filling over the crust and use a spatula to spread the filling to the edges and smooth the top. Set aside.
To prepare the chocolate topping, combine the three ingredients in a small bowl and stir well to combine. Transfer the chocolate to an icing bag or to a plastic sandwich bag with the tip cut off. Pipe the chocolate topping in a spiral design, starting from the center and working your way towards the edge of the cheesecake. Drag a knife from the center of the spiral to the edge of the pan, almost like you’re slicing it into pieces to create a spider web-like design. (Even with my splotchy icing skills, I think the result still looks pretty impressive, so it’s hard to mess this up!)
Place the pan in the freezer to set until firm, about 4 to 6 hours or overnight. Once firm, you can transfer the cheesecake to the fridge for a softer more cheesecake-like texture, but keep in mind that this cake will start to melt at room temperature, so serve it quickly after slicing. (You can serve it directly from the freezer, too, but the flavors aren’t as strong when frozen– it gets better after sitting on the counter for about 10 minutes.) I’d recommend storing any leftovers in the fridge for up to a week, but if you want to store it longer it should keep indefinitely in the freezer when stored in an airtight container.
As you can see this cheesecake is rather thin when made in a 9-inch pan, but my whole family found this to be MORE than enough– it’s very rich and perfectly satisfying. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- pinch of salt
Pumpkin Filling:
- 2 cups raw cashews , or 1 cup raw cashew butter
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
Chocolate Topping:
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Instructions
- To prepare the crust, line a springform pan with parchment paper and combine all of the ingredients in a medium mixing bowl creating a shortbread-like dough. Press the dough into the bottom of the pan evenly, creating a thin crust, and set it aside.
- To prepare the pumpkin filling, grind the cashews in a blender or food processor until they are very finely ground (it's okay if they start to turn into cashew butter). Add in the rest of the filling ingredients and blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the container if necessary. If you're using cashew butter, you can skip the blender and just mix all of the filling ingredients together in a bowl until very smooth. Pour the filling over the crust and use a spatula to spread the filling to the edges and smooth the top. Set aside.
- To prepare the chocolate topping, combine the three ingredients in a small bowl and stir well to combine. Transfer the chocolate to an icing bag or to a plastic sandwich bag with the tip cut off. Pipe the chocolate topping in a spiral design, starting from the center and working your way towards the edge of the cheesecake. Drag a knife from the center of the spiral to the edge of the pan, almost like you're slicing it into pieces to create a spider web-like design. (Even with my splotchy icing skills, I think the result still looks pretty impressive, so it's hard to mess this up!)
- Place the pan in the freezer to set until firm, about 4 to 6 hours or overnight. Once firm, you can transfer the cheesecake to the fridge for a softer more cheesecake-like texture, but keep in mind that this cake will start to melt at room temperature, so serve it quickly after slicing. (You can serve it directly from the freezer, too, but the flavors aren't as strong when frozen-- it gets better after sitting on the counter for about 10 minutes.) I'd recommend storing any leftovers in the fridge for up to a week, but if you want to store it longer it should keep indefinitely in the freezer when stored in an airtight container.
Nutrition
Per Serving: Calories: 345, Fat: 26g, Carbohydrates: 23g, Fiber: 2g, Protein: 7g
Notes: As always, please leave a comment below if you make any substitutions to this recipe. We can all benefit from each other’s experiments! I have a feeling you could use honey instead of maple syrup, if you prefer, and you may have luck using a different nut or seed in the filling, too– but you’ll never know for sure until you try!
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Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite Fall dessert? Are you making anything special for Halloween? We make homemade peanut butter cups every year, and I have a feeling we’ll be making some peanut butter pumpkins using this recipe this year!
Wondering if I can make this filling and put it in a pie crus?
As long as you bake the crust first, the filling should still firm up just fine when chilled!
This turned out AMAZING! I swapped almond meal for hazelnut meal, and it turned out perfect. The only issue I had was my chocolate for the top was too thin, and so it didn’t turn out as pretty. Perhaps my cocoa powder should have been rounded tablespoons, regardless I give this an A+. Even though it appears small, you really don’t need much.
This looks like a good recipe thanks for the inspiration. 🙂
I was wondering if you can replace the Almond flour for coconut flour for the crust?
This turned out fabulous, and everyone including kids loved it. My big tip would be to simply use cashew butter (I’ve never actually used it but I assume it’s silly smooth like store peanut butter would be). I have a basic blender and a good food processor, I used the processor and worked really hard to get the raw cashews smooth enough. The end result was actually smooth but it was touch and go! I also used almond meal instead of flour (a mix of homemade and store because it’s what I had) – it had more texture than almond four would but to me it worked great as a sub if needed.
Do you think or know if the nuts can be subbed out? Maybe coconut flour for the almond flour and sun butter for the cashew butter? Would I be wasting ingredients to try it? I really, REALLY wanna eat this! 🙂
Hate having to ask, any suggestions on a substitute for the almond flour in the crust? I’m allergic to almonds. Thank you
Tried the Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake over the weekend with family. It was a huge hit. Thank you for the recipe.
Can you freeze this too? I don’t see why not~~
Yes, absolutely!
I just had to comment to say how delicious this is! I was craving pumpkin pie pudding and didn’t have an avocado for your pudding recipe so I made this filling instead, thinking that I could just eat it. It was super rich and delicious, but I couldn’t eat it like pudding (I will probably make the pie for Thanksgiving though!). So I mixed it with some homemade, tart coconut milk yogurt and wow! It tastes like the pumpkin yogurt from Trader Joe’s. Except better and healthier. Thanks for always having amazing recipes. Your book never leaves my kitchen.
Very festive and looks pretty easy make!