Meat Free Monday: Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake

February 20, 2012 Tazi Phillips

(VEGAN RECIPE) Who ever thought you could take the cheese out of cheesecake? Celebrate this week’s Meat-Free Mondays Challenge by indulging in a tasty pumpkin version of this dessert classic. Spice it up with almonds, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Happy eating! — Global Animal

Photo credit: veganmiss

VegWeb.com, veganmiss

Ingredients

Crust:

1/2 cup whole almonds
1 package (5 ounces) cinnamon graham crackers
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegan butter, melted

Filling:

1 (14 ounce) package silken tofu
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin pie filling
2 (8 ounce) packages vegan cream cheese, divided
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

Photo credit: veganmiss
For crust, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grind almonds in a food processor. Add graham crackers, spices, and sugar to the food processor. Grind until smooth.
Move the mixture in the food processor to a medium sized bowl and add the butter. Mix well. Pack into a 9″ springform pan. Push the mixture up the sides. Bake the crust for 10-15 minutes.
For filling, in a mixer with whisk attachment, blend the tofu and pie filling. Add 1 tablespoon cream cheese at a time until smooth.
Add both types of sugar and spices. Mix well. Pour into crust and let set overnight in the refrigerator.
Serve with cinnamon and whipped cream, if desired.

Makes: 8 servings

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 10-15 minutes

*Note: I used 365 Organic brand. Make sure your sugar is vegan! For silken tofu, I used Nasoya brand. The pumpkin pie filling was Farmer’s Market brand. Lastly, for vegan cream cheese I used Tofutti.

More Vegweb.com: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=41755.0