Vegan Pumpkin Cheescake
PIN IT!Oh my god. I’m so happy it’s Friday. However, my Friday has started off REALLY freakin’ bad. I’m hoping the issue of my horrible morning will be resolved so I can stop crying at work and move on with my day.
But in more fun news, I have a fabulous recipe for you 🙂 But, before we get to that, I wanted to share some photos I snapped the other day while traipsing around outside my house. Autumn is definitely starting to descend in NOVA and the leaves are starting to fall. Plus, the temperatures are finally getting crisper, which overjoy me because I can sit outside without sweating and whip out my riding boots. Plus, I think Oscar prefers the chilly temperatures because he’s much more apt to playing outside now than during the summer.
Just checkin’ out the scene, makin’ sure no squirrels are here.
Okay mother, I’m tired. I want to go in and pee on your stuff.
IT’S FINALLY FALL! Let me rejoice for just a moment. (Note, I’m doing a happy dance). Now, let’s talk food. I made something the other night that was a first for me, a vegan cheesecake. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve made vegan things before, but this is the first time I used vegan ingredients (tofetti better than cream cheese, tofu) in something that is, typically, VERY dairy heavy. However, as I always am, I was VERY happily surprised with the turnout. I mean, to quote someone on my Facebook page, if it has pumpkin, how can it be bad?
Paired with Soyatoo, a store bought vegan whipped topping, you have yourself a completely dairy free delicious dessert. I was VERY hesitant going into it thinking it would taste like mushy tofu. However, the recipe I used, said guests would have no idea it was even vegan if they weren’t told.
If it walks and talks like the regular, it must be the same, right? I will agree with the author, it doesn’t taste like tofu or “vegan”, however, it doesn’t taste like a typical cheesecake. It has a very unique flavor. It’s really good (I mean, I’ve had 4 pieces to date), very creamy and has a deliciate, yet pronounced, pumpkin spice flavor. I added a bite more pumpkin to the recipe to make it even more pumpkiny. Honestly guys, it’s just as good as a regular cheesecake, just has a different flavor.
I know, you’re still a little hestitant. I mean, I’m asking you to put tofu into a dessert. I get it. One more picture to persuade you?
I knew I could convince you. Now read on for the recipe and make this NOW!
Adapted from this recipe.
Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake
Yields: One whole cheese
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 50-65 minutes
Chill time: Up to 3 hours
Ingredients:
For the filling:
- 8 ounces Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
- 12 ounces extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree (canned, not pumpkin pie mix)
- 3 teaspoons Captian Morgans spiced rum
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice
- Soyatoo dairy free whipped topping for garnish, plus additional spice
For the crust:
- 2 cups finely ground dairy-free graham crackers
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- ½ teaspoon of cinnamon
- pinch of salt
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- To make your crust; preheat the oven to 375 F. Lightly oil or grease (with dairy-free soy margarine) a 9”-10” springform pan, pie plate or desired baking dish, and set aside. In a food processor, combine the graham cracker crumbs, maple syrup, canola oil, cinnamon and salt, and process for just a few seconds, or until the mixture just barely holds together. Press the mixture into the prepared pan with your hands and bake for 7-10 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Allow to cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
- To make the cheesecake; put the first set of ingredients (cream cheese through vanilla) in a food processor and puree until completely smooth. [or you can beat these with a handheld mixture until blended].
- To create a two-tone look, grab 3/4 cup of this mixture into the crust and spread with a rubber spatula.
- Into the mix bowl, add the canned pumpkin, rum and spice and mix until smooth. Pour over the other mixture and spread around with a spatula.
- Bake until the center is not jiggly, which will take about 50-60 minutes.
- Chill for at least 3 hours before serving. Garnish with topping and spice and enjoy!
Nutritional information per slice: 310 calories, 8 grams of fat, 6 grams of protein and 40 grams of carbohydrates.
WIWIWEW aka What I Wish I Was Eating Wednesday
Guys, I’ve had such an exciting morning at work. The day started REALLY crappy with a crazy downpour, a little snip with my hubby, dirt somehow getting on my dress and me spilling all over myself (coffee). However, it quickly perked up. I got to do something REALLY freakin’ cool today. I’m not able to share YET but it has to do with the amazing program I work for (The Help the Homeless Program) and WUSA9. Because of how busy my morning was, I didn’t have time to upload or edit any of my photos. So I’m going to tackle what I ate Wednesday with a more What I Wish I Was Eating Wednesday. I hope you’ll forgive me, Peas and Crayons!
Breakfast:
I’m pretty sure if my day started with one of these muffins, it wouldn’t have been as crappy. They are so moist, so flavorful and are a perfect use for your fresh apple cider and newly harvested apples. Plus, they are extra spicy because of the addition of the rum. After the morning I had, a little rum could have gone LONG way.
[Photo via Alicia French]
The amazing Alicia of The Charity Wedding came up with this amazing homemade latte. I’m completely in love with Starbucks’s version, but at nearly $6 a pop, it’s definitely not wallet friendly. I would have loved to start my day with a delicious homemade one of these! (Alicia, dear, if you want to ship one to me, somehow, I wouldn’t say no).
Lunch:
I just, don’t have any words for this. It’s one of the most amazing things I’ve ever tasted. SO CREAMY. SO FLAVORFUL. I mean, it has PUMPKIN! Even had an incredible kick of spice. I made this over the weekend and it BARELY made it to Monday. No joke. I was eating it out of the dish with a fork. Not the healthiest of options, but also lighter than most b/c I made it with light cheese and light cream. Peep the recipe folks, it’s perfect for fall 🙂
Snack:
[Photo via Butter Yum]
I found this recipe on Tasty Kitchen and I’m totally making them, tonight. Another perfect way to use up your favorite fall fruit! Baking apples is, literally, one of the easiest things ever and they turn out so tasty and healthy! I love to add some pumpkin pie spice to them to give them a fabulous spicy taste! (Plus, they make your house smell like sweet, sexy heaven.
Dinner:
Chile Lime Burger with Southwestern Slaw
[Photo via Blog is the New Black]
I absolutely LOOOOVEE Liz and her blog. She’s been one of my daily reads for a while. I love her recipes, of course, but I also love how she writes. It’s like she’s gabbing about her life over a glass of wine. She’s adorable. Plus, this recipe looks AHHHMAZING. I love zesty, spicy burgers and paired with a crunchy, southwestern slaw, this would be the PERFECT dinner. Oh, how I wish I had the ingredients to make it tonight. Or Liz, why not come over to my house and make it with me? I’ll provide the wine?
Dessert:
I know, a little shameless self promoting here, but I love these cookies. {and they got me on Foodgawker, HEY-YA!] I really can’t rave about them enough. They are SO good! Plus, after a day of eating burgers, mac n cheese and muffins, the last thing I need is a heavy, high calorie cookie!
So friends, what are you eating today? Or even better, what do you WISH you were eating? Share along!
Eat Skinny Be Skinny: 42 Calorie Pumpkin Cookies
No, I’m not lying friends or playing tricks on you. Each one of these fabulous pumpkin cookies has a mere 42 calories. I know, mind boggling. And no to your next question, they don’t taste like cardboard, chalk or a foot! In fact, they are really good (albeit a bit chewy) and very flavorful. There’s just the right amount of pumpkin & spice. Plus, I love the taste and texture you get when you swap out butter, eggs and oil for applesauce.
When I first found this recipe, I was VERY skeptical. How on the earth could a cookie with just 42 calories, less than 1 gram of fat and NO eggs or butter taste good? It was sort of the same skepticism I had when I made my peanut butter chocolate cookies (oil and butter free). I was, once again, pleasantly surprised. They don’t taste like a typical cookie, though, and they have a bit, springier, of a texture because of the applesauce. You could easily eat a few of these for breakfast (yes, I’m advising you to eat cookies for breakfast) or dunk them in apple cider (so much better than the Oreo). Oh and guys, EACH ONE ONLY HAS 42 calories. Did I say that yet? 
This stack of 5 would only set you back about 200 calories and 1 gram of fat. Some cookies can have that many calories IN JUST ONE. However, I am once agian, not advising you to eat, say, 10 of them.
Hopping off the calorie bandwagon, these really are great cookies. I’d been inching to whip out my canned pumpkin and organic applesauce ( I sort of blacked out in Whole Foods, can’t talk about it).
It is apple and pumpkin season, after all! After seeing countless pumpkin recipes from y’all, I had a mean craving for the orange stuff! However, I did have to hit up 4 DIFFERENT GROCERY STORES (including Wegmen’s, foodie heaven) to find it. Apparently stores in NOVA don’t sell Libby anymore so I had to upgrade to the fancy stuff.
It tasted fine, but at $4 a can, it kinda hurt the pocket book. (Which was a little low anyway thanks to previously mentioned Whole Foods blackout). These little cookies made it worth it though. Even though my wallet was pissed, my waistline (and jeggings, don’t judge me) were happy.
Skinny Pumpkin Cookies
CLICK HERE FOR THE PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE!
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 15-18 minutes
Yields: About 32 cookies
Ingredients:
-
1 cup of whole wheat flour
-
1 cup of all purpose flour
-
1 cup of white sugar
-
1 teaspoon baking powder
-
1 teaspoon baking soda
-
2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice
-
1/8 teaspoon of sea salt
-
1/2 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
-
1 teaspoon of almond extract (you can use vanilla if you prefer)
-
1 cup of canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
-
Cooking spray
How to Make Them:
- Preheat oven to 350. Grease a cookie sheet with cooking spray.
- Cream sugars, applesauce, pumpkin and almond extract together.
- In another bowl, mix flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spice. Once mixed, add to the wet stff. (Yep, that’s what she said).
- Form little blobs and bake for 15 – 18 minutes, or until browned.
- Enjoy with cider, a pumpkin spice lattee or on their own!
Like I said, they aren’t as rich or moist as a cookie made with butter or oil, but are still delicious. Plus, who doesn’t love pumpkin flavored anything? If you don’t, I would advise not comin’ back round these parts until December. Or January. Or July? I’m sort of obsessed with it.
Nutritional information per cookie: 42 calories, >1 gram of fat, 9 grams of carbs and >1 gram of protein.
Eat Skinny Be Skinny: Whole Wheat Lemon Yogurt Bread
Before we get into the yummy recipe for today, I want to give a shout-out to my DC bloggy ladies! Y’all rock. We had a great happy hour last night and I’m just really happy to be a part of such a fabulous crew! I, literally, ate my body weight in sushi and edamame. Yum. Photos are from my lovely Gretchen.
YUMMMMMM. The orange ones were INCREDIBLE.
I could eat this stuff for the rest of my life and be happy.
One day I’ll be as good as a photographer as she is, one day. It was just so fun to connect with people who “get” me. Plus, Carly told tales of pirates, stripping money and buffalo sauce on steak, so how can you not have fun?
Recipe time! I love bread. and lamp. I love lamp. I’m a serious carbaholic. This is why I failed, miserably, at Atkins. I love all breads, don’t get me wrong, but have a very serious soft spot for loaves, especially breakfast loaves. Add in whole wheat flour, lemon zest and Greek yogurt? Mama is one verrrry happy lady.
Homemade loaves are the best and this one *might* be a new favorite. It was SO moist, soft, so flavorful and citrusy(without being overpowering) and smelled like sweet heaven. Plus, this bread is incredibly healthy, low fat and low calorie, so you can indulge in more than just one slice!
I also whipped up a light glaze with a little bit of confectioners sugar and freshly squeezed lemon juice. The glaze gave each bite even more of a tangy zest and a bit more added sweetness. This makes the PERFECT breakfast bread. I paired a slice with more Greek yogurt and was in carbaholic, healthy heaven. You can certainly omit the glaze and add more fruit too! Raspberries, strawberries, blueberries or blackberries would be a fabulous addition!
Adapted from Stonyfield.
Whole Wheat Lemon Yogurt Bread
What You’ll Need:
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
- 3/4 cup of sugar
- 1 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
- 1/3 cup of canola oil
- 1 cup of low fat plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoon of lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons of grated lemon peel
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
- 3/4 cup of powdered sugar
- cooking spray
How to Make It:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Squeeze lemon juice from a fresh lemon. Then grate the peel.
- Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda into a bowl.
- In another bowl, stir egg, oil, yogurt, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and lemon peel. Once mixed, add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix well.
- Pour mixture into a greased loaf pan.
-
Bake for 45 minutes.
-
While baking, mix together the sugar and remaining lemon juice to create a glaze. When bread is done baking and has COMPLETELY cooled, apply glaze. I do this by grabbing a spoon and weaving the glaze over the bread in zigzags.
Slice, eat and enjoy!
This bread is so flavorful on it’s own, you REALLY don’t need anything on it. No jam, no butter, no spread. Although it’s marketed as a “breakfast bread”, the glaze make it just as good for a 3pm pick me up OR dessert!
Nutritional information per slice: 195 calories, 5 grams of fat, 36 grams of carbs and 5 grams of protein.
Mad Men Outfit & What I’m Eating Wednesday
Oh Wednesday, you silly little hussy. You tease me with your close proximity to Friday. Alas, I will not be angry with you though, because today is a BLOGGY BLOG BEST BLOGGERS EVER meet up. I mean, that’s our scientific name. In lamens terms, DC blogger meet up!! I’m flipping excited to see everyone, especially my bloggy bff. I mean, we live in the same city, -1 mile away from each other and I haven’t seen her since HLS. (I WEEP). Plus, I get to see some amazing ladies I met at HLS again!
Gretchen, Beth and MUAHH (pictures stolen from Gretchen)
In addition to being excited about tonight’s festivities, I’m also pretty much in love with my outfit today. I hope that doesn’t sound conceited or anything, but I just am in love. I’m obsessed with 50’s styles, looks and fabrics and so my whole fall wardrobe is very, VERY Mad Men, Pan Am inspired. Vintage styles and shapes, to be blunt, just look better on my body type. I’m curvy, have “baby birthing hips” and broad shoulders. Hourglass outfits just flatter me. Plus, who doesn’t love lace, pearls, pencil skirts and shift dresses? With that, here’s my lovely outfit for today 🙂 Note to self, bathrooms have horrible lighting and it’s awkward taking photos of yourself posing in public.
- Top: Modcloth (gift!)
- Scarf: Modcloth (gift!)
- Skirt: The Limited: $59.95
- Shoes: DSW (gift!)
Can I just transport myself back to 1950, please? My wardrobe is ready!
Breakfast:
A delicious non fat pumpkin spice latte. Hello, lover. My morning got so busy, I didn’t have a chance to eat anything with it! No wonder I was starving at 11:30.
Lunch:
Homemade chicken noodle soup. Nothing makes me feel better or more nostalgic than a bowl of soup made from scratch.
baby carrots.
and of course, tums smoothies. Those who follow me on FB know that I’ve been having some, erm, gastro issues. To keep this from getting graphic, I’ll just say I’m having A LOT of stomach pain lately. It’s getting to the point where it’s really unbearable. I’m in the process of making an appointment with a gastroenterologist so I can figure out what’s going on 🙁 It’s really sucky.
Even though it’s only 1:30, my stomach is KILLING ME and I don’t know why 🙁 Hopefully it mans up before my blogger meet up!!
Dinner:
We are going to be indulging in sushi and other delicious Asian fare! If my stomach is still acting crazy, I’ll probably go with a very simple soup or a California roll. If I’m feeling okay, I’m going nuts! I love sushi and don’t really eat a lot of it, so I’m pretty excited!
What are y’all eating today? Join in on the #WIAW fun!
Claire
Tags:chicken noodle soup recipe, fashion, homemade soup, lace top, low fat dinner, mad men clothes, Mad Men clothing, Mad Men inspired outfits, Mod Cloth, Pan Am outfits, peas and crayons, soup from scratch recipe, what i ate wednesday
