No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake with a Gluten Free Crust
No bake pumpkin cheesecake is the perfect quick and light cheesecake. It combines the creaminess of cream cheese with the warmth of pumpkin and the spice of pumpkin pie spice. All on a gluten free crust.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 ½ cups gluten free sweet cracker (like Simple Mills Honey Cinnamon Sweet Thins) crumbs
- 4 tablespoon salted butter
- 2 tablespoon white sugar
Cheesecake Filling
- 24 ounces cream cheese (3 blocks) room temperature
- ¾ cup powdered sugar* see notes
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree
- 1¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice** see notes
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Make the crust
- Preheat the oven to 325℉. Spray an 8 inch springform pan with cooking spray.
- Use a food processor to grind the sweet crackers into mostly fine and small crumbs.
- Mix the sweet cracker crumbs, melted butter and 2 tablespoons of white sugar together with a wooden spoon until well combined.
- Add the sweet cracker mixture to the springform pan. Pat down flat with hands or a flat bottom measuring cup. It should be packed firmly but not too hard.
- Bake for 6 minutes and set aside to cool.
Make the Filling
- Place the room temperature cream cheese into the mixing bowl and mix on low speed until creamy and all lumps are gone. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.
- Add the powdered (or white) sugar to the cream cheese in the mixing bowl and mix on low speed until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.
- Next, add the pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla and salt to the mixing bowl and mix on low speed until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.
- Add the heavy whipping cream to the mixing bowl. Increase the mixing speed until you get to medium high to high. Mix on high until light and airy and medium peaks start to form. Approximately 3-5 minutes. Watch closely once filling starts to fluff up.
- Pour the filling on top of the crust in springform pan. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours but preferably overnight.
Top the cheesecake
- After 6 hours, or preferably the next day, run a knife around the edges of the springform pan. Remove the rim. Also, remove the cheesecake from the bottom of the springform pan (see FAQ if needed) if so desired.
- Top with favorite topping if so desired or leave it plain. No-bake cheesecakes are already light and airy, so I usually skip the whipped topping. Often, I will break up more sweet crackers and sprinkle them on the top for a bit of decoration and extra flavor like shown in the photos.
Notes
*For a less airy texture, use ¾ cup regular white sugar.
**If you don't have store bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice ready, you can use the following substitution for the 1 ¼ teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice needed for this recipe:
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice
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