No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake

This no bake pumpkin cheesecake is made with crisp ginger nuts biscuits crust and extra creamy and smooth filling, flavoured with pumpkin and aromatic spices. Made with only a handful of ingredients, this is a perfect treat for this autumn season!

It's a quick and easy recipe, perfect to be made well in advance and ahead of time. The cheesecake also freezes really well and can be stored frozen for up to three months.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Make ahead
• Top tip
• 📖 Recipe
• Comments

If you love pumpkin, then I guarantee this cheesecake will become one of your favourite recipes of this season, especially during October and November, months dominated by pumpkin! It will make a great and easy dessert for any type of gathering, including Halloween and thanksgiving.

What I love the most about this no bake cheesecake, is it's flavour and texture. The filling is rich, but not too sweet or too heavy. If anything, thanks to the whipped cream, it makes it fluffy and almost mousse-like!

This recipe is similar to my Strawberry and White Chocolate Cheesecake. But there is a slightly different way of folding and mixing the ingredients in this recipe.

Pumpkin puree is naturally a very moist and a wet ingredient, therefore we need to make sure that the cheesecake filling is sturdy enough to set properly. That is why, in this recipe, we are whipping the cream into stiff peaks, before gently folding it to the rest of the ingredients.

Ingredients

You will need two sets of ingredients to make this easy pumpkin cheesecake recipe:

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1. Cheesecake crust/ base: To make the buttery base you will need ginger nuts biscuits (or ginger snap biscuits), unsalted butter, ground cinnamon and ground ginger.
2. The filling: This consists of double cream (or heavy whipping cream), full fat cream cheese, canned pumpkin puree, icing (powdered) sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon and ground allspice (or pumpkin spice/ pumpkin pie spice).

Optional ingredients include whipped cream and salted caramel, to serve this cheesecake with.

See the recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Start by preparing the ginger snap crust. Crush the biscuits into crumbs using food processor (you can also place them in a plastic bag and use rolling pin to do this). Add the rest of the ingredients and mix them to combine.

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Press the crust mixture firmly into the bottom and the sides of the springform pan to pack it tightly. The tighter it is packed, the less likely it will fall apart when slicing the cheesecake.

Hint: Use the bottom of a measuring cup or heavier glass to press the crust firmly into the pan.

Place the cheesecake crust in the freezer, while you prepare the filling. This will make it firmer and more sturdy, as well as it will reduce the chance of the crust falling apart as you slice it.

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Next, make the filling. First, whip cream until it forms stiff peaks. Be careful not to over-beat it. This should take about 2-3 minutes. Set aside and prepare the cream cheese mixture.

Hint: It is very important to make sure the cram is whipped to stiff peaks. Otherwise, the cheesecake will not set properly.

Whip cream cheese with an electric mixer until it is really soft and fluffy. Add pumpkin puree and both sugars, followed by vanilla, spices and salt. Keep mixing until off the ingredients are well combined and you have smooth, lump-free batter.

Hint: Make sure to scrape the bottom and the sides of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition.

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Lastly, gently fold in the whipped cream into the mixture. Pour the filling on top of the chilled crust and smooth the top with palette knife, spatula or back of the spoon.

Substitutions

Make it gluten free - This no bake pumpkin cheesecake can be easily made gluten-free. Canned pumpkin puree is naturally gluten free, and so is the rest of the ingredients in the filling. To make the base gluten free, simply replace the ginger nuts biscuits with their gluten free version.

Try it vegan - Although I haven't try making vegan version of this recipe, I found this Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake from Paleo Running Momma, which could be a great alternative.

Variations

Here are few suggestions on how you can serve this cheesecake and how you can make different versions of it:

• Serve it with a whipped cream on top and a drizzle of salted caramel sauce.
• Replace the crust by any type of sweet biscuits - If ginger nuts are not something you want to use, you can try digestive biscuits (as used in my Raspberry Cheesecake Bars), graham cracker, BelVita, Hobnobs or even Oreos (check out my Raspberry Ripple Cheesecake, which is made with Oreo crust).
• Make the mini-version - Rather than making one cheesecake, you can turn this recipe into 24 mini cheesecakes. Here's the link to my Mini Cheesecakes recipe, where you can find the instructions.
• Serve it in a jar - you can also half the recipe and serve it layered in small jars.

Equipment

If you want to make this recipe, ideally you will need a springform pan or loose-bottom cake tin. These types of pans make it much easier to slice the cheesecake and to release it from the tin.

I tested this recipe in the 23cm springform tin as well as 23cm loose-bottom one. If you are using loose-bottom pan, do not spread the crust onto the sides of the rim. Alternatively, you can also use deep pie dish or 9" (23cm) square baking tin.

Although it is possible to make this recipe start-to-finish by hand, having an electric mixer of a freestanding mixer with the whisk attachment will ensure the super-smooth and lump-free filling.

Storage

Any leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. The crust will become softer with time, but it will still taste delicious.

You can also freeze this no bake cheesecake for up to 3 months. To do so, wrap it in plastic foil, then into some kitchen/ aluminium foil and transfer into the freezer.

Thaw it in the fridge overnight.

Make ahead

As mentioned before, this is a perfect recipe to make ahead of time! In fact, the longer in advance you make this cheesecake, and the longer it sits in the fridge, the better chance it will have to set properly!

You can also make the crust in advance, then store it in the fridge for up to two days.

Top tip

Make sure that the cheesecake ingredients are at room temperature (apart from heavy cream/ double cream). Remove the cream cheese from the fridge about an hour before making the recipe.

Remember to allow this cheesecake to sit in the fridge for at least 8 hours, or ideally overnight. It needs time to set properly!

If you tried this No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake or any other of my recipes, feel free to leave me a comment and a rating below. I love hearing from you!

To pin this recipe and save it for later, use the button on the recipe card or on any of the photos above.

📖 Recipe