Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake

Yes. A dairy free CHEESEcake.

My favorite part about this recipe is the crust. Spicy, flavorful, and crumbly goodness.
My second favorite part is that it is not too sweet. I only used 1/3 cup brown sugar in the filling.

I found this recipe here: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/recipe-pumpkin-cheesecake-with-a-gingersnap-crust/Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake

Here is the recipe:



For the Crust

1 1/2 cups organic vegan gingersnap cookies (about 24 cookies)
1/4 cup almonds
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
2 tablespoons neutral tasting oil
1/4 cup brown or palm sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

For the Pumpkin Filling

2 (8-ounce) containers vegan cream cheese
1/3 cup evaporated cane sugar
1/3 cup evaporated cane sugar
1 (15-ounce) can organic pumpkin, or pumpkin pie filling
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon whole-wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon neutral tasting oil
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Preparation

For the Crust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place cookies, almonds, ginger, oil, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract and sea salt in a food processor and pulse until uniform, about 20 to 25 times. Mixture should be a crumbly, even consistency that pulls away from the walls of food processor.
Grease a springform pan. Use damp hands to firmly press mixture into pan to form crust. Be sure to evenly distribute mixture and use thumbs to press crust into corners of pan. Bake for 7 minutes, to help crust stick together.

For the Filling

In a food processor, add cream cheese, sugar, pumpkin, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, flour, lemon juice, oil and sea salt. Blend until uniform.
Pour filling into baked crust and gently tap mixture on counter to release any trapped bubbles. Bake for about 40 minutes or until mixture is slightly browned on top and feels firm when pan is slightly shaken.
Remove from oven and allow cheesecake to cool on counter for at least 20 minutes, then refrigerate for 4 hours to overnight before serving, to firm up.

Scuffins

Apparently, every pastry needs a cool identifier these days. Scuffins are exactly what you would imagine: a combination of scone flavor and muffin shape. Plus, there's jam inside!

This recipe is from the NY Times. I made them and they are definitely more scone-like, but quite good. Not a lot of sugar, which makes me happy. If you like cardamom, stick with the recipe. They definitely have a kick. If you're not so much a fan, lower the amount, or exclude it altogether.

Scuffins

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 ounces), plus 2 tablespoons for buttering muffin cups
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour (4 1/2 ounces)
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour (3 ounces)
• ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal or wheat germ (1 ounce)
• 3 tablespoons light brown or raw sugar (2 ounces), plus extra for sprinkling
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• ½ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
• 1 egg
• ⅓ cup whole milk
• ⅓ cup heavy cream
• ¾ cup fruit jam, conserves, preserves or fruit butter (do not use jelly or marmalade)

Preparation

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a microwave or over very gentle heat. Using a pastry brush, butter the cups of a standard-size (3 1/2-ounce-capacity) 12-cup muffin tin. Let each coat of butter cool, then apply another coat; continue until the 2 tablespoons are all used.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients. Meanwhile, melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter, add to dry ingredients and mix with a fork until just combined.
3. In another bowl, whisk together egg, milk and cream. Add to dry ingredients and mix to combine (the dough will be quite sticky).
4. Reserving about a quarter of the dough for topping, scoop 2 tablespoons dough into each cup. Using the back of a spoon, press dough gently down into the cups. The dough will move up the sides, and there should be a shallow well in each dough cup. Don’t worry if the dough doesn’t come all the way up to the top; there should be about 1/2 inch of space between the top of the dough and the rim of the cup.
5. Spoon about 1 tablespoon jam into each well. Using your fingers, pinch remaining dough into small clumps and scatter evenly over the jam in each cup, making a bumpy topping. Sprinkle sugar over the tops.
6. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until browned. Let cool in the pan on a rack; run a blade around the sides of each scuffin before turning out.