There’s less than week until Thanksgiving!
You know what that means… it’s baking season! Holiday indulgences will be everywhere, tempting you to gobble sugary treats until you’re more stuffed than the turkey (or turducken) on the table.
This recipe might just be your sweet salvation.
This No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake has the familiar flavors of fall for those pumpkin pie lovers at the Thanksgiving table, but is blissfully sugar-free! And it’s so good that I actually prefer it to pumpkin pie (but not to Sugar-Free Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cake… nothing tops that glorious creation!). The fluffy, mousse-like texture of the No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake filling rests atop a sweet and cinnamon-y, “cookie” crumb crust, making for an irresistible flavor combination.
I teased y’all with a preview pic of the dreamy dessert on Facebook last year (have you liked the Healthy Indulgences Blog Facebook page yet?), but ended up too busy last season to post it. Note: These portions are massive, and for display only!
Sugar-Free No Bake Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake
This dessert is so rich that it’s best eaten in small portions, made simple by using shot glasses. I picked up these shot glasses at Wally World last year. Ever since then, I’ve been using them for portioning out my daily doses of dessert. Remember, even sugar-free desserts have a ton of calories if you pile ’em high on your plate. If you already have shot glasses, how ’bout you repurpose those for sugar-free desserts, and do something good for your body? 
I got the inspiration for using shot glasses as serving dishes after a visit to Seasons 52. It’s an innovative restaurant with gluten-free options and fresh, seasonal ingredients with an ever changing menu. Amazingly, all of its dishes are under 400 calories!
Yours truly, at Seasons 52! I was exhausted after taking a big, scary standardized test, but feeling much better after the delicious salmon, roasted veggies, and a chocolate chip cheesecake dessert shot.
Our server, Robert, provided us with top notch service and ton of helpful info about how the dishes were prepared. Check out the shot glasses full of a smorgasbord of low calorie delights! They were not low in sugar, but I indulged because it was a triumphant moment.
(Sorry for the pic quality! The iphone’s camera performance tanks in low light.)
Moving on from that tangent…
…oooh, la la! If you’re an inexperienced baker, you’re gonna love this recipe. Unlike with regular cheesecakes, which are notoriously finicky to make properly (see: cheesecake fail), you can’t mess this one up! There no crust to burn, or egg-based filling to overcook, so that’s one less stressor during meal prep on the big day. And less time spent in the kitchen means more time spent with your loved ones (playing Sequence and watching football, in our case). That’s what Thanksgiving is really about, right? 
Recipe Notes
-The crust comes together in a food processor. The filling is whipped up with a hand mixer. Fill glasses with crust crumbs, top with filling, and bop the dessert tray in the fridge to chill. Bada bing, bada boom!
-To keep this treat gluten-free, use gluten-free oats, which you can purchase here or at a health food store. Some grocery stores even carry Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free oats. Look for the purple label.
-To make this treat grain-free, you can substitute unsweetened, shredded coconut for the rolled oats. Keep in mind that this will increase the calories per portion, and will add a coconutty flavor to the crust.
-You can use Truvia or my homemade, all natural sweetener blend (stevia + erythritol) to make this recipe diabetic-friendly. Alternatively, substitute xylitol for the erythritol. See how to do that substitution here!
-You can use raw, mixed nuts in the crust if you’re worried about the freshness of canned mixed nuts. Just roast the nuts yourself, and let them cool before processing them in the food processor. If you go this route, you’ll need to add 1/4 teaspoon sea salt to the crust.
-If you want to get the silky smooth texture of the filling you see in the second photo, use Clover Valley brand (found at Dollar General) canned pumpkin. Libby’s brand is a bit too chunky in texture, so it clogs up the piping tip and produces uneven, erratic swirls, as seen in the top photo.You could also use a hand blender with a glass measuring cup to puree the Libby’s brand pumpkin to a smoother consistency before using it in the filling.
-To get the most accurate carb count, weigh the ingredients using a kitchen scale. I plugged the weights of ingredients into MasterCook to get the nutrition facts posted below. The high ratio of fat to carbs make this an S treat on the Trim Healthy Mama plan.
-The brand of stevia I’m currently using and recommending is Trader Joe’s Pure Stevia Powder, pictured below. Check your copy of the Healthy Indulgences Cookbook for an updated version with a photo of the new stevia this week!
- 1 can (8 ounces, 226g) roasted, salted mixed nuts OR 8 ounces raw mixed nuts**
- 2/3 cup (2.1 oz, 58g) rolled oats
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt (if using unsalted nuts)
- 1/4 cup (50g) Truvia OR natural sweetener blend
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 package cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup canned pumpkin (Clover Valley brand recommended)
- 6-7 Tablespoons Truvia OR natural sweetener blend
- 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 8 ounces (236 mL) heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- Grind up 1/4 cup Truvia or natural sweetener blend in Magic Bullet or coffee grinder into a powdered sugar-like consistency.
- Add oats, mixed nuts, cinnamon, and powdered Truvia (or powdered natural sweetener blend) to food processor. Process for 30 seconds, or until you produce a coarse meal.
- Spoon mixture into serving glasses.
- Grind up 7 Tablespoons of Truvia or natural sweetener blend to a powdered sugar consistency.
- Beat cream cheese, pumpkin, powdered Truvia (or sweetener blend), pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla with a hand mixer on medium speed until evenly blended.
- Wipe off beaters, and add heavy cream to a mixing bowl. Beat heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Be careful not to overbeat to the point that cream appears to have a grainy consistency.
- Fold whipped cream into pumpkin pie filling until white streaks disappear.
- Spoon or pipe topping into serving glasses.
- *Makes 12-14 dessert shots (this dessert is very rich!)
- **For best results, purchase mixed nuts that are peanut-free. If using raw mixed nuts, toast them in a 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 5-10 minutes, stirring twice during the process to ensure even toasting.
- Per serving (1/12): 277 Calories; 25g Fat; 6g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 48mg Cholesterol; 178mg Sodium.
- Per serving (1/14): 238 Calories; 22g Fat; 5g Protein; 9g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 41mg Cholesterol; 153mg Sodium.
- For the entire recipe: 3326 Calories; 301g Fat; 75g Protein; 126g Carbohydrate; 32g Dietary Fiber; 574mg Cholesterol; 2136mg Sodium.
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