A gluten free holiday dessert sure to please! This pumpkin cake roll is gluten free, but is fluffy, and spongy, and spot on with flavor!
It’s my go-to Thanksgiving dessert when someone at the table is eating gluten free. You can find the rest of the meal on my Thanksgiving Menu.
Eating gluten free is not something I have to do. And so I rarely read labels, and worry about allergies. None of my kids have food allergies or intolerance, and neither my husband nor I do. However, my sister-in-law is Celiac, and our intern, who lives with us, has allergies to almonds, hazelnuts, and apples. So I have had to be more careful in my cooking.
I have found cooking regular meals is not too challenging for these modifications, but desserts get tricky, especially for gluten. But I am here to say that you can have an awesome pumpkin cake roll even with a gluten allergy because I have tried and tested it twice, and it works. Mostly because I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 baking flour in place of regular flour.
I did notice that my cake roll was not as easy to unroll, in fact it split the first time, so it is not as pliable, but when it comes to eating it, it is just as spongy and soft as I want. And the flavor is excellent. I highly recommend using this flour for the gluten free goodies you want to make!
Why This Gluten Free Pumpkin Roll Works
The secret is a good 1 to 1 gluten free flour. It swaps in cup for cup, so you don’t need a special blend or any extra ingredients. The cake comes out a little more dense than the regular version, but it is still spongy and soft, and it has all the pumpkin spice flavor you want this time of year. Nobody at my table could tell it was gluten free!
Tips to Keep Your Pumpkin Roll From Cracking
- Roll it while it’s warm. Turn the cake out onto a thin kitchen towel dusted with powdered sugar and roll it up right away. The cake “remembers” that shape as it cools.
- Don’t overbake. Pull it at 16 to 18 minutes, when the middle doesn’t jiggle and the edges are just starting to brown. A dry cake is much more likely to split.
- Unroll it slowly. Gluten free cake doesn’t bend quite as easily, so take your time when you unroll it to add the filling.
- Don’t stress about small cracks. Once it’s rolled and dusted with powdered sugar, nobody will see them.
Make Ahead and Freezing
This is a great make-ahead dessert. Wrap the filled roll tightly in plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge for a day or two, or freeze it for up to a month. It slices most cleanly when it’s cold, so slice it straight from the fridge (or after it has thawed in the fridge) and dust with powdered sugar right before serving.
Tools I Use for This Recipe
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Gluten Free Pumpkin Cake Roll
Ingredients
- Powdered sugar to sprinkle on towel
- 1 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 baking flour
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp Pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 6 Large eggs
- 2 cup Granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
Filling
- 5 ounces Whipped cream
- 4 ounces Cream cheese
- 1 cup Powdered sugar
- 1 tsp Pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F.
- Line a 17 x12.5 -inch jelly-roll pan with wax paper.
- Lay a thin cotton kitchen towel on counter and sprinkle with powdered sugar
- Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large bowl until thick. Add in pumpkin and beat until smooth.
- Stir in flour mixture.
- Spread evenly into prepared pan.
- Bake 16-18 minutes, until middle doesn't jiggle and edges are barely starting to brown.
- Pull out of pan, and turn over onto prepared towel.
- Peel off parchment paper and sprinkle cake with powdered sugar. Be careful when peeling paper
- Roll up the cake in the towel,
- Cool on a wire rack
Filling
- Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, whipped cream and spice until smooth.
- Once cooled, carefully unroll cake.
- Spread cream cheese mixture over cake.
- Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate/freeze at least one hour.
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
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Dessert is sorted
Holiday dinners to finish with pumpkin roll
- Roast Turkey Breast
A smaller holiday turkey - How to Smoke a Turkey
Frees up the oven for dessert - Honey Baked Ham
A glazed holiday ham - Classic Roast Beef with Gravy
A beef option
More holiday menus: Thanksgiving · Christmas
Let me reiterate the flavor and texture were both great! It was a little more dense then the non-gluten version, but was still spongy and great! 
Be sure to check out the non-gluten free version which uses a cake mix, and is eazy peazy, if you don’t need to be gluten free. Pumpkin Cake Roll
Serving It on the Holiday Table
Slice it into rounds and set it out with the other holiday pies. It looks so pretty next to my Pecan Pie and Classic Pumpkin Pie, and gives your gluten free guests a dessert of their own.
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