This classic gluten free pumpkin roll is full of pumpkin flavor, with a sweet cream cheese filling and plenty of warm spices. Perfect for your holiday table and just to make any day feel special. Learn how to make it without any cracks!
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Why I love this gluten free pumpkin roll recipe
- Tons of flavor: Pumpkin puree doesn't really taste like pumpkin, but pumpkin pie spice definitely does and we use 4 teaspoons of it in this flavorful cake.
- So tender: The crumb of this cake is the super moist kind that you pick up with the tines of your fork. So moist, even before you add the filling.
- Beautiful presentation: Even though it's a simple no-butter cake with a classic cream cheese frosting/filling, this rolled cake has a creamy white filling against a dark orange-colored cake in a gorgeous swirl. So impressive on your table!
- Stays fresh for days: If you're making a pumpkin roll, it's probably for a gathering. You can make this up to 3 days ahead of time and it will stay perfectly fresh in the refrigerator.
Ingredients you need & substitution suggestions
- Gluten free flour blend: Be sure use one of my recommended all purpose gluten free flour blends, like Better Batter's original blend, Cup4Cup, or Nicole's Best, plus xanthan gum.
- Baking powder/baking soda: For rise and even browning in the oven.
- Salt: Balances sweetness and brightens the other flavors.
- Pumpkin spice: A blend of warm spices like cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg that taste and smell like you want pumpkin to. If you don't have this blend or the component spices, you can use apple pie spice, or just mostly cinnamon and nutmeg, if you have it.
- Granulated sugar: For a sweet, tender pumpkin roll.
- Eggs: I almost always bake with large eggs, which each weigh 50 grams without the shell, but I find that in this cake roll, extra large eggs weighing 60 grams each make for a slightly fluffier cake that is less likely to crack during rolling. If you're egg-free, you can try 3 “chia eggs” (3 tablespoons ground white chia seeds + 3 tablespoons lukewarm water, mixed), but I'm honestly not sure if it would work here.
- Pumpkin puree: Canned pumpkin puree is perfect here. Roasted sweet potato puree would probably also work, as would roasted and pureed butternut squash.
- Powdered sugar: It helps keep the cake from sticking to the tea towel when you roll up the cake; we also use it to make the sweet filling. Confectioners' sugar, with added starch, works equally as well.
- Cream cheese: Make sure you're using full fat block-style cream cheese here, or the filling will be too soft. If you're dairy-free, try Tofutti's Better-Than-Cream-Cheese or Miyoko's Creamery vegan cream cheese.
- Butter: Adds flavor, some stability, and texture to the filling. If you're dairy-free, try Miyoko's Creamy vegan butter or even Earth Balance buttery sticks.
How to make a gluten free pumpkin roll
Make the pumpkin roll batter & bake
Whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate small bowl; beat the eggs, pumpkin and granulated sugar until smooth and foamy; add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk to combine. Spread the batter into an even layer in a well-prepared jelly roll pan and bake at 375°F.
Shape the hot cake & cool
While the cake is baking, sprinkle powdered sugar on a tea towel; turn the hot cake over onto the towel and peel back the pan liner. Sprinkle the cake with more sugar, and roll it up carefully in the towel. Let the cake cool, rolled and not filled, for 1 hour.
Make the filling & fill the cake
While the cake is cooling, beat butter, cream cheese and powdered sugar into a smooth filling. Unroll the cooled cake, spread out the filling, reroll the cake, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour. Slice the chilled cake and serve.
Recipe tips & tricks
Use extra-large eggs
I have made this cake using 3 large eggs (50 grams each, weighed out of the shells) and using 3 extra large eggs (60 grams each), and I really like the cake a lot better with the extra large eggs. It makes a fluffier cake that bakes really evenly. If you only have large eggs, you can use them as is, or beat a 4th large egg and measure out 180 grams of eggs total.
Roll the cake while it's hot
We use the classic method of rolling the unfilled cake right out of the oven by turning it over on top of a tea towel dusted with powdered sugar, dusting the cake with sugar, and rolling it in the towel. Let it cool rolled up in a towel for 1 hour, then fill, reroll and chill. It will actually really set when you chill it in the refrigerator.
Line the pan properly
No matter how nonstick your jelly roll pan really is, you still need to grease the pan, line it, grease it again, then tap around some extra gluten free flour. When you take the cake out of the oven, you have to work quickly to turn it over onto the tea towel. If the cake doesn't come out of the pan easily, you're in trouble!
Spread the filling thinner at the far edge
The filling is softer than a regular cream cheese frosting, which matches the tender cake perfectly but does tend to get squeezed forward as you roll the cake. So spread the filling thicker toward the near edge that you begin rolling first, and thinner at the far edge.
Storage instructions
This cake has to chill for at least 1 hour after filling so it sets before you slice it and serve it. It will actually stay fresh, wrapped tightly and unsliced, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The filling helps keep the cake moist and tender.
Freezing for longer storage
I haven't frozen the cake whole, but I think it would work well. Just wrap it very tightly in freezer-safe wrap (Glad Press ‘n' Seal is my favorite wrap), and defrost in the refrigerator just until it's soft enough to slice but not completely defrosted. I have frozen individual slices, wrapped tightly, and it works great. Defrost in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
Frequently asked questions
Yes! It's an imperfect method of making a rolled cake since it makes a mess when you turn out the hot cake onto a tea towel with powdered sugar and the cake is a bit fragile while hot. But I tried the “Stella Parks jelly roll method” of just letting the cake cool under aluminum foil before filling and rolling it, and it cracked badly every single time.
Yes! The cake itself doesn't have any butter or other dairy, so it's naturally dairy-free. The filling has butter and cream cheese, but it should work well with your favorite dairy-free alternatives. I like Miyoko's Creamy vegan butter and Tofutti Better-Than-Cream-Cheese for frosting and filling.
I haven't tried this cake without eggs, and it has 3 eggs, which is a lot of eggs to replace. The eggs do a lot of work in keeping this cake firm enough to roll, unroll, and reroll, but you might be able to make it with 3 “chia eggs” (3 tablespoons ground white chia seeds + 3 tablespoons lukewarm water). If you try, please share your results!
If you underbake the cake by a couple minutes, it may be kind of tacky to the touch, causing it to stick to your fingers when you touch it. Just try dusting it with more powdered sugar before you touch the cake so it doesn't stick and next time bake it another few minutes.
If your cake was overbaked, or you didn't roll it when it was hot out of the oven, it may crack when you roll it. If you let it cool too long after the first roll before you unroll, fill, and reroll it, it may crack. But don't worry too much about cracks. Just use the filling to hold it together, and dust it liberally with powdered sugar.
No, this cake recipe can only be made as a thin, single layer sheet cake. You can choose not to roll it, but you can't bake it as muffins. You can instead make our recipe for gluten free pumpkin muffins for the perfect muffin companion to this cake, though!
Gluten Free Pumpkin Roll
Equipment
- 10-inch x 15-inch x 1 inch jelly roll pan
- Tea towel for rolling the cake
- Stand mixer or handheld mixer for the filling
Ingredients
For the cake roll
- ¾ cup (105 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; please click thru for full info on appropriate blends) plus more for sprinkling
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 3 (180 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs at room temperature
- ⅔ cup (163 g) pure canned pumpkin puree at room temperature
- ¼ cup (29 g) powdered sugar for sprinkling, plus more for the top of the cake
For the filling
- 8 ounces cream cheese block (full fat) at room temperature
- 2 cups (230 g) powdered sugar sifted, plus more as needed
- 4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract optional
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon optional
Instructions
Make the cake roll
- Preheat your oven to 375°F.
- Grease a 10-inch x 15-inch jelly roll pan. Line it with wax or parchment paper, then grease again. Sprinkle some extra flour on the greased paper, tap it around to evenly distribute it, and discard any excess. Set the pan aside.
- In a medium-size bowl, place the flour blend, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt, and whisk to combine. Set the bowl of dry ingredients aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, place the granulated sugar, eggs, and pumpkin, and whisk until well-blended and a bit foamy. You can use an electric mixer here to beat the mixture well, but it's not necessary.
- Add the dry ingredient mixture to the large bowl of wet ingredients, and whisk until well-combined. The batter should be smooth and soft.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and use an offset spatula or silicone spatula to spread it into an even layer. Smack on the counter to break any trapped bubbles.
- Lay the tea towel out on a flat surface and sprinkle the separate 1/4 cup powdered sugar evenly across it.
- Place the pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until the top of the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center.
- As soon as the cake is done baking, turn it over immediately onto the prepared towel, matching the shape of the cake to the shape of the towel. There's no real way to do this without making a bit of a mess since the cake will scatter some of the powdered sugar when it falls out of the pan onto the towel.
- Carefully peel back and discard the paper that lined the pan, and is now lining the cake.
- Sprinkle the exposed top of the cake (which was the underside during baking) with more powdered sugar to prevent the towel from sticking to it as you roll the cake.
- Fold a short edge of the towel over the edge of the cake, and, starting with the short end, roll the cake and towel together into a spiral.
- Transfer the rolled cake and towel onto a wire rack to cool for 1 hour, or until it's set but not cold. If you let the cake cool until it's actually cold to the touch, it is more likely to crack as you unroll and reroll it with filling.
Make the filling.
- While the cake is wrapped and cooling, make the filling. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a medium-size bowl with a handheld mixer, beat the cream cheese, 2 cups sifted powdered sugar, butter, and optional vanilla extract and cinnamon on high speed until smooth.
- For a thicker, stiffer filling that is less likely to squeeze out of the cake roll, beat in about 1/2 cup more sifted powdered sugar.
Fill the cake.
- Once the cake is cool, carefully unroll it. Remove the towel, and spread the filling in a mostly even layer over cake, leaving a 1 1/2 inch clean border all around.
- Spread the filling less thickly at the far end, the one that will be rolled last, since the filling will push toward the end a bit as you roll it. Carefully reroll the cake enclosing the filling inside.
Chill the cake before serving.
- Transfer the rolled and filled cake to a piece of plastic wrap, wrap it tightly, and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days.
- Remove the cake from the refrigerator, unwrap, and slice thickly by cross-section into about 10 equal pieces.
- Dust lightly with some more powdered sugar before serving.
Nutrition
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Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!
Lauri Arnett says
Can the baked pumpkin roll be frozen and if so, how long will it last in the freezer?
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Lauri, yes! Most definitely. In recipe testing and shooting the photos, I made 7 pumpkin rolls, and sliced and froze them as I describe in the text of the post under the heading “Storage instructions.” They freeze and defrost really well, but remember that you cannot heat to defrost or you’ll melt the filling! They freeze so well and we will probably be eating them through and including Thanksgiving. :)
Hazel L Hamlin says
I’ve made Pumpkin Rolls for years with regular wheat flour. I’m ready to try the GF one. The recipe sounds great except for the filling which has 2 cups of sugar. I’m off sugar as well. How can I make the filling without 2 cups of sugar–also no CoolWhip?
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Hazel, I’m afraid I don’t really know how to suggest you make the filling without sugar, except that you might be able to make it with an alternative sugar like Lankato brand powdered sugar. You’ll also need to replace the sugar in the cake as well, which you could try to do with Lankato brand granulated sugar alternative. But these sugars do tend to be drying, so you may have to add more moisture. Pay particular attention to the step by step photos so you can mimic the texture of the raw cake. Eliminating sugar entirely is pretty difficult, I’m afraid.