Pumpkin cheesecake. It’s really very pleasing. What’s not to adore about a silky-smooth, creamy, sweet piece of pumpkin-y feel good that melts in your mouth and leaves you love drunk in decadent satisfaction?
True story, kidlets: I once made a pumpkin cheesecake before I left for a trip to Europe, and I told my roommate at the time, “feel free to eat that pumpkin cheesecake in the fridge, yeeeerwelcome, catch ya on the flippity flip,” only to return home after three weeks to a completely un-touched pie.
At first, I assumed it was because I hadn’t made it abundantly clear that the pumpkin cheesecake was fair game, but after cutting off a hefty slice of the three-week-old cheesecake for myself (some may call this gross, while others may call it immunity-building) and offering some to my roommate yet again, I was met with a shocking discovery: not everyone loves pumpkin cheesecake.
Cue record scratch.
You may have noticed there are those who would walk 500 miles for pumpkin cheesecake, and those who could give a flying wooptyloo about it.
This is a rough time of year for non-pumpkin eaters. Those of us who love pumpkin tend to think those who don’t care for it have broken taste buds. Which is why my best piece of advice is to package those pumpkin naysaying feelings up and bury them down deep so that they never.see.the.light.of.day. You pick your battles in life, and the pumpkin battle is tough to win. Even if Gerard Butler is on your team.
What were we talking about?
Oh yeah, how much we all love pumpkin cheesecake. I employed a little substitution wizardry for this recipe in order to make it nice and healthful. I made the pumpkin cheesecake filling with Noosa‘s plain yoghurt instead of cream cheese and pure maple syrup instead of cane sugar. The crust? Made it out of hazelnut meal for a little gluten omission action. Basically, this tasty treat health in a hand basket.
If you’re not hot to trot about pumpkin cheesecake, you can check up on the Peach Almond Yogurt Cheesecake Bars I showed you a few weeks ago. Same idea, minus the pumpkin, plus the peach. These yogurt cheesecake recipes are fantastically easy to make, as you simply put all of the ingredients for the cheesecake filling in the blender. I made this recipe into bars by using a square pan, but you can most definitely use a round pan to make a proper cheesecake-looking apparatus. Do what you gotta do to get this ish done!
Gluten free pumpkin cheesecake. Get love drunk off of it!
Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
For the Hazelnut Crust:
- 2 cups hazelnut meal/flour or almond meal/flour
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
For The Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling:
- 1 cup pureed pumpkin
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt*
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons tapioca flour**
- 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
Prepare the Hazelnut Crust:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly coat an 8” x 8” square baking pan (or 8” round cake pan) with oil.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together all of the ingredients for the crust.
- Pour the crust mixture into the prepared baking pan and press it into the bottom and sides of the dish with your hands, evenly distributing the mixture (note: this doesn’t have to be perfect).
- Place the crust in the oven and bake it for 8 minutes, until slightly browned on the edges. Remove from oven and allow crust to cool.
Prepare the Pumpkin Cheesecake Filing:
- Add all ingredients for the cheesecake to a blender and blend just until completely combined.
- Pour the cheesecake filling into the pan with the crust.
- Bake cheesecake in the oven for 40 to 50 minutes, until the center is set up and doesn’t jiggle when you shake the pan.
- Allow the cheesecake to cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then place it in the refrigerator to chill and set up for at least 2 hours prior to serving.
- Serve with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt (or whipped cream), chopped nuts, and a drizzle of pure maple syrup.
Um, I WISH I could leave a pumpkin cheesecake untouched for 3 weeks! No such thing would happen if I were around… it wouldn’t last 3 hours. Although I have to admit it’s probably more the cheesecake than the pumpkin that does it for me. Regardless… it doesn’t get much better than seasonal desserts!
Some people don’t like pumpkin cheesecake? That’s crazy talk. I had a big pumpkin cheesecake at my bridal shower years ago because I was married in the fall. There was not much of it left…it was devoured! This looks wonderful!
Confession: I don’t like cheesecake. It’s just too rich for my taste buds. BUT I have a feeling I would love this healthified version. Yogurt and maple syrup sounds much better than cream and sugar. It’s like you developed the recipe just for me. 🙂
Love using yogurt in desserts. That means I can have twice as much, right?
Who would turn down pumpkin cheesecake? Clearly I’m one of those pumpkin lovers so I truly can’t imagine. People.are.cray.
You and me both, sister! You and me both. 😀
The idea that someone could actively pass up pumpkin cheesecake gives me severe trust issues. And I’d be a little offended if you HADN’T eaten that 3 week old cheesecake. Old pumpkin cheesecake = pumpkin cheesecake, simple as that. Even when it’s made with yogurt, in fact, I think that makes me love this even more <3
I’m so happy we see eye-to-eye on all things pumpkin cheesecake 😉
These are definitely going to have a place on my Thanksgiving day dessert table!
Happy to hear it! Healthy pumpkin cheesecake is worthy of Thanksgiving feast, for sure!
But WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE who don’t like pumpkin cheesecake?! I don’t understand.
I want a whole tray of these. To myself.
I don’t understand either. Let’s make a double batch. One tray for you, one tray for me 😉
Love that you used Noosa yogurt in here. Their stuff is amazing! And maple syrup too! Sign me up! Glad you survived eating three week old cheesecake….:-).
I’m pretty obsessed with Noosa yogurt…so thick and creamy!! Glad you love the cheesecake – it really is a marvelous treat!
This post made me giggle. I kind of don’t feel bad for pumpkin naysayers – they only have to deal with ‘us’ for a month out of the year!
And good on your immune system. Impressive, I’d say!
Yup, the ol’ immune system… You know what they say: cheesecake gets better with time… I’m half tempted to purposely let a cheesecake sit just so the flavors and sweetness set in and infuse. But I probably wouldn’t wait 3 weeks. But that’s neither here nor there. 😉
OMG. Love drunk is an understatement. I’m bout to eat my computer. The beauty!!!!
Thanks, love! Whaddya say we take the recipe one step further to make it vegan and add it to Alchemy’s menu? I bet it’d sell like hot cakes….errrr…cheesecake bars 😉 xo
YES! I have to say, there is something about cream cheese I just can’t get on board with, but I love everything that’s cheesecake style without actually involving cream cheese, if that makes sense 🙂 I’ve never tried making one with Greek yogurt instead — usually I just use cashews and coconut cream and get all vegan about it, but this looks like a delicious alternative.
I’m gonna have to hop over to your site to see if you have a vegan cheesecake recipe, because I’ve been meaning to make one for aaaaaages! I love the idea of making cheesecake using cashews and coconut cream. Sounds so tasty and healthy. Cream cheese naysayers unite!
I literally JUST had this conversation with my mom and brother’s fiancée at dinner tonight – turns out they both aren’t huge fans of pumpkin desserts (exception: pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving only). I on the other hand am ALL ABOUT THIS (as I’m sure all the folks at Trader Joes would be too;). If I were your roommate, this wouldn’t have lasted 24 hours.
Oh yes, the third type of person: The person who eats pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving only. This is understandable…and better for the waistline than doing as I do and start in September 😉 Glad you’re all about the pumpkin, Sarah!
Can you sub honey for the syrup without up-ending the whole shebang? I am addicted to honey, and love the health bennies too!
Oh heck yes, you can definitely use honey! I bet that would come out marvelously! Let me know if you try it 🙂
Could i I use Vanilla greek yogurt in place of the vanilla and maple syrup? Dreading needing to make another trip to whole foods.
You could definitely replace the plain yogurt with vanilla yogurt, but I’d still add a smidge of sweetener, because I’m not sure the vanilla yogurt would be enough to sweeten the dish. Let me know how it turns out!
Please clarify if the recipe is supposed to use tapioca flour or starch. I understand there is a difference between the two but your recipe refers to them interchangeably . Thanks!
Hi Debby! My apologies for the confusion! It’s tapioca flour you’ll want to use 🙂 Let me know if you have any other questions.
I made this for Thanksgiving this weekend and it was a hit with the whole family! The only alteration I made was to use goat cheese and almond milk whisked together to the consistency of greek yogurt because so many people in my family don’t eat cow dairy. It worked perfectly and the texture was great, just needed a little maple glaze because goat cheese is slightly more sour than yogurt…and I have a sweet tooth. Thanks for an awesome recipe, I’ll be using it as a base for many others.
Has anyone tried vegan cream cheese in place of yogurt? Need dairy free.
I’ve never tested the recipe with vegan cream cheese, but my guess is it would work great. If you have access to a Whole Foods or natural food store, there are a couple great coconut milk yogurts on the market 😉