Erin’s Recipe Rundown
Texture: Moist, tender cake with a smooth, creamy filling.
Taste: Spiced pumpkin and rich cream cheese are the perfect pairing.
Ease: This recipe requires a few steps but is totally doable! See the step-by-step instructions in this post for mode details.
Top Tips: Generously coat the towel with powdered sugar before rolling up the cake. Make sure the cake cools rolled up in a tea towel to get the perfect structure and prevent cracking!
Recommended GF Flour: For best results, use a high-quality flour blend that contains xanthan gum. King Arthur Flour is my top pick for this recipe.
Would I make these again? Definitely! It’s an understatement to say I love this recipe — it’s one my very favorite treats and perfect for when my family gathers on Thanksgiving!
xoxo erin
This post was originally published in November 2014. It was updated with new photos and instructions in October 2024.
Everyone always goes crazy for a pumpkin roll! It definitely has that wow factor that makes it perfect for holidays, parties, and other celebrations.
This gluten-free pumpkin roll has the perfect texture and balance of fall flavors, all while looking really impressive. It’s a showstopper that all will love — even those who don’t need gluten-free! Plus it earns bonus points for being easy to make dairy-free too!
Check out this full collection of gluten-free thanksgiving recipes!
Featured Comment
From Victoria: “This was my first every pumpkin roll that turned out looking like a pumpkin roll! And it’s gluten free!! The recipe was so simple that I had doubts it would turn out, but it is perfect. My kids absolutely love it. Thank you so much for such an easy and delicious recipe!”
Table of Contents
- Erin’s Recipe Rundown
- Ingredients You’ll Need
- How to Make the Perfect Gluten-Free Pumpkin Roll
- Make-Ahead/Storage/Freezing Instruction
- Can this gluten-free pumpkin roll be made dairy-free?
- Can this cake be made sugar-free or reduced sugar?
- Can I add pumpkin pie spice or other spices to this recipe?
- More Gluten-Free Pumpkin Desserts
- Perfect Gluten-Free Pumpkin Roll (Dairy-Free Option) Recipe
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are a few notes on some of the key ingredients to make this gluten-free pumpkin roll. Jump to the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
- Gluten-free flour: I highly recommend using a high quality gluten-free measure-for-measure flour blend that contains xanthan gum. King Arthur Flour Gluten-Free Measure-For-Measure Flour is my favorite for this recipe!
- Canned pumpkin: Make sure to use 100% pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling! Besides creating the pumpkin flavor, the canned pumpkin also adds moisture, sweetness, and richness to the cake. This cake needs the right amount of moisture to make it easy to roll!
- Eggs/sugar: Two typical ingredients for a cake, but super important for one that gets rolled up! The eggs and sugar provide the right structure for the cake so that it bakes thin and moist.
- Cream cheese/powdered sugar: The cream cheese adds tangy flavor that balances the sweetness of the powdered sugar. Their combined creaminess makes the filling spreadable too. Use dairy-free cream cheese, like Kite Hill, to make it dairy-free!
- Butter: The butter creates a smooth consistency for the filling. Use vegan butter when making this dessert dairy-free.
How to Make the Perfect Gluten-Free Pumpkin Roll
Here’s an overview of how to make this pumpkin roll. You can jump to the recipe for the full instructions!
- In a medium bowl: Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon.
- Make it smooth: Whisk the eggs and canned pumpkin into the dry mix until smooth.
- Pour in prepared pan: Pour the cake batter into the pan. I recommend using a 15×10 jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper and lightly greased. Make sure the parchment paper hangs over the short ends of the pan by at least an inch!
- Bake: With the oven on 350°F, bake the cake for 16-18 minutes. You want the edges to pull away from the sides of the pan and the center to be done.
- On a tea towel: The key is a thin towel without any texture — a tea towel works best! Spread a thick dusting of powdered sugar all over the towel and then turn the cake upside down onto it as soon as the cake comes out of the oven.
- Roll it up: Peel off the parchment paper. Start at the short end and roll the cake up with the tea towel.
- Let it cool: The cake needs to cool completely in the rolled up tea towel.
- Make the filling: I like to use a stand mixer, but a bowl with a hand mixer works too! Whip the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar together. You want to mix it until it’s light and creamy.
- Unroll and fill: Once the cake is cool, unroll it gently. Use an offset spatula to carefully spread the filling evenly all over the cake.
- Roll up and refrigerate: Roll the cake back up. This time without the tea towel. Wrap the roll tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least an hour before serving. Slice and enjoy!
Make-Ahead/Storage/Freezing Instruction
To Make-Ahead: You can definitely make the icing a day or two ahead and store it in an airtight container in the fridge. It’s best to bake the cake the same day you assemble the roll.
To Store: Store the pumpkin roll wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. It will keep in the fridge for up to 2 days.
To Freeze: Wrap the pumpkin roll in plastic wrap then foil and freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, refrigerate overnight or let sit at room temperature for roughly 30 minutes before serving. You can also freeze slices of pumpkin roll by wrapping them individually before freezing.
Can this gluten-free pumpkin roll be made dairy-free?
Absolutely! Swap the cream cheese for a dairy-free version, like from Kite Hill. Use vegan butter in place of the regular butter. Enjoy!
Can this cake be made sugar-free or reduced sugar?
Unfortunately, there isn’t a great sugar-free option for this recipe. Sugar is key as it gives the cake its needed structure.
Can I add pumpkin pie spice or other spices to this recipe?
You can definitely spice up the cake with pumpkin pie spice, a little nutmeg, or a pinch of cloves. I like to keep it simple with cinnamon, but this cake adapts well to extra spice!
More Gluten-Free Pumpkin Desserts
Perfect Gluten-Free Pumpkin Roll (Dairy-Free Option)
Ingredients
For the Cake Roll:
- 3/4 cup (113g) gluten-free measure-for-measure flour
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 large eggs
- 2/3 cup (151g) canned pumpkin
- powdered sugar for rolling
For the Filling:
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1 tablespoon butter melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 15×10 jelly roll pan. Cut parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan and leave an inch overhang on each of the short ends of the pan. Lightly grease the parchment paper and sides of the jelly roll pan.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the gluten-free flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Whisk to combine. Add the eggs and canned pumpkin and whisk until smooth.
- Once mixed, pour the mixture over the parchment paper. Bake for 16-18 minutes, until the edges pull away from the sides of the pan and center is done.
- Lay a large tea towel on the counter top (it is best to use a thin towel without any texture a tea towel or similar towel works best). Starting at one of the short ends, spread a thick dusting of powdered sugar all over the towel.
- When the cake comes out of the oven, turn the pan upside down on the powdered sugar-laden towel so the parchment paper is on the top. It is best to turn it out right on the short edge of the towel. Peel off the parchment paper. Starting at the short end near the edge, roll the pumpkin cake up with the towel to cool.
- While the roll is cooling, make the filling. Using a hand or stand mixer, whip the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar together until it is light and creamy.
- Once the roll is cool, unroll and with an offset spatula, carefully spread the filling in an even layer over the cake. Roll it up without the towel and wrap tightly in plastic. Refrigerate for about an hour before serving. The roll will be good in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Made this for Thanksgiving yesterday and it was a real crowd pleaser! The only issue I had was that the outside of the roll was sticky and wet, so that when you touched it the cake stuck to your fingers and it left unsightly indentations on the outside. I used a stand mixer and am wondering whether I maybe overworked the dough, or maybe I put too much powdered sugar on the towel when I rolled it? I’m making it again this weekend so any tips are much appreciated!
We’re so glad it was a hit, Jessica! Both of your ideas are definitely valid for the moisture/stickiness issue. The pumpkin could have had a little extra moisture in it too. Or the cake could have been slightly underbaked, but if the toothpick came out clean then it was done. We’d recommend trying your ideas first and just keeping an eye on the pumpkin before adding it to see if the brand you’re using seems to have excess liquid. We hope this helps!
Made it today. Recipe is perfect. However, I did something incorrect. Rolled my cake out of the oven as described and let cool. Unrolled it and my cake is all cracked. Used King Arthur GF flour and baked cake for 17 min using jelly roll pan. Hmm…suggestions? Still looks and tastes great. Just cracks and fissures. Still going to serve.
Hi Jennifer, we’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Sounds like you did everything right, it just needs a few minor tweaks to be perfect for your kitchen. Try scaling back the baking time by 1-2 minutes and/or only letting it cool to just room temperature, but not all the way cool. Sometimes ovens bake hotter and it might have dried just a tiny bit too much. And letting it cool a little less can help it retain more flexibility. We hope these ideas help!
Hi, can I use a 12×17 half sheet pan to make this roll? I don’t have a jelly roll pan and google said you could use a half sheet pan as many people don’t have a jelly roll pan. Would I have to up the batter any as it’s a little bigger than the one you said to use?
Hi Payton, thank you for your question! You can try it with a 12×17 with some adjustments. The batter would be thinner in that size pan since it’s larger so the cake will bake faster and be more delicate to roll up. Increasing the batter by 1/3 will get you closest to the same thickness as the recipe in the jelly roll pan. We hope this helps!
It’s now a fall tradition! Everyone loves it and it is so easy to make.
Aww, we’re so glad the recipe has been such a hit! Thank you for sharing your kind feedback with us, Michelle!
This was absolutely delicious! Could not tell this was GF. Will definitely be making again. Thank you so much for helping us keep our holiday favorite foods after Celiac diagnosis.
Hi Ashley, we’re so excited to hear you loved the recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback!
I used to make pumpkin rolls for the holidays somewhat frequently, but lots of family members are now gluten free. I have a question my husband and a few other relatives are also egg free. Have you ever tried with substitute egg of any kind? I usually use applesauce in other things. Just curious about the texture to roll.
Hi Meghan, thanks for your question! We haven’t tried egg replacers in this recipe. The eggs are important for the structure of this cake so that it can handle being rolled up. If you decide to give egg replacers a try, we’d love to hear how it goes!
This is delicious and easy to make. I just added a bit of extra powdered sugar to the icing to thicken it up. I also wanted an extra fall flavor, so I added a splash of maple flavoring to the icing.
Hi Kara, thank you for sharing your positive experience with us! We’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Hey Meghan, not sure if you have made it yet or not, but I do a lot of consulting for local health food stores, especially when people are looking to take some thing out of their diet whether it be to see if it helps them or they learned they have an allergy. That being said, for this particular bake, I would go with an egg replace that is meant to mimic an egg in every way, as Christie mentioned, it’s important for the structure. So, check out Bobs Red Mill egg replacer OR the “flax egg”. So just look up how to make a flax egg and it’s really easy and both of those options will definitely help the structure that eggs are used for. I’ve used applesauce in many things, but with things like this, I prefer to use a one of those. Hope that helps
hey there. I’ve made this pumpkin roll countless times (and absolutely loved it) but the only pan I have access to at the moment is 13”x9” I understand the roll will be a little thicker than usual, do you think it’ll still be rollable?
Hi Devanie, good question! The thicker cake will make it harder to roll. To use the 13×9, you could scale back on how much batter you use so that the cake remains thin enough to roll without difficulty. We hope this helps!
I am excited to try this, but I was wondering if you had a specific brand of tea towel you use or a link to your favorite? Thank you!
Hi Stacey, we don’t have a go-to tea towel. Any will work! We hope you enjoy the pumpkin roll!
Do you ever substitute the sugar for monk fruit or other sugar alternatives?
Just curious, as I try to be sugar free when I can.
Thanks and be blessed,
Michele
Hi Michele, thank you for your question! We don’t typically use sugar substitutes. Some of the recipes can adapt to such substitutions and we have great readers that share which ones worked for them, but in this recipe specifically, we don’t recommend using sugar alternatives. The sugar provide the right structure for the cake so that it bakes thin and moist which is needed for it to roll up properly. We hope this helps!
This was my first pumpkin roll I ever made, and I have to eat GF. This was pretty simple to make, and absolutely delicious! Literally no one could tell it was GF. The only thing I added was 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice.
The only time I had trouble was after I unrolled it to add the cream cheese and roll it back up, it cracked a little bit. It was totally salvageable, though. When we cut through it, it looked exactly like the picture! I’ll definitely be making these again and I’m sure my rolling skills will get better with practice 🙂
Absolutely delicious
I have made this recipe many times and it is amazing! I got a very fancy, fall themed molded mini loaf pan and wanted to try it for Thanksgiving. Do you think this cake recipe could be used in that form? Thank you!
I used Better Batter gluten-free flour, Simple Truth dairy-free cream cheese, and Earth Balance dairy-free soy-free butter. My husband has raved that the pumpkin roll is the best I had ever made!
So helpful to know your dairy-free substitutes! Thanks for sharing 🙂
This was a major hit especially for the people who can have gluten. I was hoping you may have a chocolate cake roll recipe? My husband loves Black Forest cake and I thought a version done gluten free so our daughter can enjoy her dad’s birthday cake would be wonderful. Thank you in advance.
Hi Debbie, we’re so glad everyone enjoyed the pumpkin roll! We don’t have a chocolate cake roll on the website currently, but we’ll keep that idea in mind. Thank you for taking the time to share with us!
My daughter follows a Gluten, dairy and sugar free. Do you have a recommendation to make this sugar free? A sugar substitute recommendation?
Unfortunately I don’t have a sugar substitute. The sugar is needed for the structure of the cake.
Used this recipe for the first time making pumpkin rolls. Added 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice and a couple dashes of nutmeg. Was told it was the best pumpkin roll ever had! Wonderful recipe!! Thank you!!
Those are great spice additions. I’m so glad it turned out for you!
Hello Erin,
I made the pumpkin roll for a Thanksgiving gathering and everyone was amazed (couldn’t believe it was gf and df). I’ve never made a gf df chocolate version for Christmas and would love to hear if you have a recipe or ideas for substitutions. I really liked the overall texture and I could use the same filling but I don’t know how to substitute the pumpkin for a chocolate based cake roll. Thanks in advance for your advice!!
My two GF daughters can hardly wait for the next Holiday since I put this on the desert cart. I started making double batches and freezing them as this turned out to be THE Favorite dessert at my last two Holiday dinners. Everyone loves the texture but do think they are a bit bland with only cinnamon so we amp it up a bit with the other traditional pumpkin pie spices. Saves the holidays at our house!
I’m so happy your GF daughters like the pumpkin roll! Great idea to amp up the spices. Thanks for the comment! 🙂
I’m in the process of making it to serve today. I didn’t add the pumpkin pie spice but I’ll sprinkle it on top with a little powdered sugar!