Vegan Pumpkin Peanut Butter Mini-Cheesecakes

Pumpkin and Peanut Butter may sound like an odd combination but it's actually quite compatible--somewhat reminiscent of the more popular peanut butter and banana pairing, just a little subtler.

I liked these cheesecakes. They're fun, nontraditional, and not very difficult. Including the optional lemon juice gives you a more authentic cheesecake tang, but I like them better without (That tang was actually part of the reason I never liked real cheesecake). Use as much or as little as you like.

These mini cheesecakes were an opportunity to try out my new silicon cupcake liners. They worked very well.  Paper liners don't do all that well with crumbs crusts; they tend to get greasy (or stick).
The silicon liners released the cheesecakes easily, and their floppiness allowed me to peel down the sides while pushing up the bottom, almost like a spring-form pan. I was quite pleased with them.

Cross-section view ; )

Pumpkin Peanut Butter Mini-Cheesecakes

Crust:

1 ¼ cups vegan ginger snaps (about 23 1½ inch cookies)

3 Tbsp oil

1 ½ Tbsp sugar or sweetener

Filling:

½ cup peanut butter (the thick no-stir kind)

¾ cup pumpkin puree

1 12 oz package silken tofu

¾ cup sugar or sweetener

1 ½ Tbsp cornstarch

2 tsp vanilla

¾ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ginger

½ tsp dried orange or lemon zest

dash each cardamom and nutmeg

¼ tsp salt

optional: up to 1-2 Tbsp lemon juice (only add if you prefer a distinctly tangy cheesecake; I leave it out)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Making the ginger snap crust

Pulse ginger snaps in food processor until they are fairly finely ground. Add oil and sugar/sweetener pulse until mixture looks like wet sand. Press crumbs into the bottom and up to ½ an inch up the sides of 12 silicon muffin liners. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Let cool five minutes.

Blending the filling

Place all filling ingredients into the food processor (no need to rinse it between crust and filling) and puree until completely smooth. Spoon filling into your cups and smooth the tops. Don’t worry about leaving room; these don’t rise.

Ready to bake

Bake for 20-22 minutes more. They should look firm and not at all wobbly. Let cool completely before you try to get peel them out of the cups

Then enjoy! This isn’t one of those cheesecake recipes where you have to chill forever before eating (although leftovers should definitely be stored in the fridge).

Happy Thanksgiving! Have a fun, stress-free holiday. Or failing that, just have some cheesecake!

Cheesecake: Therapy for Foodies