Bring the fullness of fall flavors and holiday indulgence to your senses with these mini maple pumpkin cheesecake bars.

Pumpkin cheesecake is the perfect surprise alternative to the otherwise expected pumpkin pie offering at your holiday dessert table. Cheesecake is just a bit more of everything – creamy, comforting, filling, delicious, and decadent. In this recipe, you don’t even need cream cheese to catch that drool-worthy iconic cheesecake richness – full-fat yogurt does the job well enough! The aromas offered by ground cinnamon, allspice, and ground ginger add even more warmth to the homey flavors of almond meal, pumpkin, and maple syrup. No white flour, white sugar, or butter is needed. The result is a sugar and gluten-free pumpkin cheesecake recipe that is easy on the eyes, taste buds, and figure.

Mini Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Serves 10-15

For the crust

• 2 cups almond meal flour
• 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt

For the filling

• 1 cup pureed pumpkin
• 1 cup full-fat yogurt
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons tapiocha
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• Dash of allspice
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Use coconut oil spray to coat the bottom and edges of a 9×13-inch pan.

In a bowl, mix together the almond meal, coconut oil, maple syrup, cinnamon, and salt until evenly combined. Pour the crust mixture into the pan and use clean hands to distribute the mixture evenly across the bottom of the pan. Press until the crust is firmly in place.

Place the pan in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and set aside.

For the cheesecake filling, add all the ingredients together in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture over the crust. Bake the cheesecake in the oven for 45-55 minutes or until the cheesecake has cooked through and doesn’t jiggle in the middle. Keep an eye on the pumpkin cheesecake for the last 10-15 minutes just to make sure it doesn’t overcook.

Remove the cheesecake from the oven and let it cool for at least 1 hour at room temperature before you transfer it to cool further in the refrigerator.

Slice the cheesecake into 10-15 bars and serve each with a whipped cream topping!

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Pumpkin Pie Bars Image from Shutterstock

The post Sugar and Gluten-Free Mini Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars: Decadence Meets Figure-Friendly appeared first on EcoSalon.

Learn what’s hiding in your favorite fall dessert, and make it healthy with this pumpkin pie recipe.

‘Tis the season for all things pumpkin, but sometimes the wholesome goodness of this squash gets lost in the onslaught of sugar, creams, butters, white flours, and other unhealthy ingredients.

Nutritional Breakdown: Pumpkin Pie

Traditional pumpkin pie has about 320 calories, 13 grams of fat, and 25 grams of sugar in just one slice. These aren’t so stellar stats, but shouldn’t come as a surprise. A traditional pumpkin pie recipe calls for sweetened condensed milk and eggs in the filling and butter, flour and more eggs in the crust. To get rid of the white flours and simple sugars as well as all animal-derived products, try the vegan pumpkin pie recipe.

Like our delicious vegan apple pie, this pumpkin pie recipe is just like the original, only it honors animals and opts for healthier flours and sweeteners. Serve with this homemade vegan ice cream and for a Thanksgiving dessert your guests won’t soon forget!

Vegan Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

For the crust:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2 cups pecans (raw)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon Earth Balance butter

For the filling:

• 2 cups canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
• 1/4 cup coconut butter
• 1 tablespoons Earth Balance butter
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 3 tablespoons arrowroot powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Chop the oats in a food processor until they reach a fine flour-like consistency. Add the pecans and process until the mixture begins to clump. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, melt the butter with the maple syrup. Immediately fold into the crust mixture along with the other spices. Form the crust in the bottom and edges of a greased glass pie dish. Poke the crust with a fork to allow steam to escape while the pie cooks. Bake empty for 25 minutes.

For the filling, combine the arrowroot powder with the maple syrup, stir to combine thoroughly and then add the rest of the ingredients.

Remove the crust from the oven, pour the filling into it and pop the dish back into the oven for another 25-30 minutes at 375 degrees. After about 15 minutes of baking time, cover the sides of the pie crust with aluminum foil to prevent burning. Return dish to the oven for the remaining 10-15 minutes.

This pumpkin pie recipe is done when the center of the pie is cooked through (check that a toothpick comes out clean). Let the pie cool to room temperature and then put it into the refrigerator for at least 3 hours to cool.

Related on EcoSalon:

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Photo Credit: timeless1231

The post Nutritional Breakdown: Pumpkin Pie Recipe (+ A Vegan Twist!) appeared first on EcoSalon.