This sourdough pumpkin roll pairs fluffy, sweet, spiced sourdough cake with a delicious, cream cheese filling. Literally, the best fall treat.
I love pumpkin rolls and I think they are insanely delicious, but I wanted a long fermented option.
Creating sourdough recipes is one of my favorite things to do. It’s like adding a health benefit to ordinary foods.
Like, “Hey, Pumpkin Cake, let’s make you healthier and more bioavailable with some fermentation. Thank you.” Then you top it with sweet, cream cheese filling. (And maybe serve it with a scoop of pumpkin spice ice cream on the side!)
All joking aside, this recipe hits the fall pumpkin spot. Everything you love about a fall recipe is right here.
The delicious pumpkin spice, the light tang of sourdough in a cake, all smothered with a naturally-sweetened, maple cream cheese filling and rolled up in a perfect spiral.
Plus, your house will smell amazing from baking the cake. Like a giant, spiced candle wafting through your home.
If you are new to sourdough, make sure to check out how to make a sourdough starter first.
Benefits Of Sourdough
Sourdough has many benefits. From better digestion to better nutrient absorption, it’s easy to see why it has regained popularity.
The fermentation process allows the natural yeasts in the starter to ferment the grain and break down the anti-nutrients. The anti-nutrient, phytic acid, breaks down and increases certain nutrients like folate, and helps other nutrients to be more bioavailable. (source)
Tips For Making Sourdough Pumpkin Rolls:
- To get the pumpkin roll to not crack when rolling, roll the cake up as soon as it comes out of the oven with the parchment paper and allow to cool in that position. Unroll, add icing, then roll back up.
- If you don’t have pumpkin spice, you can make your own by mixing together ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. You could also just use cinnamon.
- The cake has 1/2 cup of sugar to make it a bit sweeter, but if you want a less sweet cake, you can just leave it out.
- Use sucanat, rapadura, or even coconut sugar for a more naturally-sweetened recipe. But if you don’t have these, regular sugar will work just fine.
- You can use an active sourdough starter or even sourdough discard.
- Don’t want to ferment the recipe? That is totally fine. Just mix and bake.
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Tools you may need:
Large bowl
Baking sheet
Parchment paper
Measuring cups and spoons
Grain mill (optional)
How To Make Sourdough Pumpkin Rolls With Cream Cheese Frosting
Make The Sourdough Pumpkin Cake
The night before, mix together flour, active sourdough starter, 1/2 cup pumpkin, and maple syrup. Cover and allow to ferment for at least 8 hours, or up to 24 hours.
The next day, add to the cake mixture the salt, eggs, vanilla, and sucanat. Mix until well incorporated. A stand mixer will make this much easier.
Sprinkle baking soda evenly and mix in.
Spread evenly on a 13 by 18 inch sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.
Roll The Cake
Once done, pull from the oven and test that it has baked through with a toothpick.
In order to avoid the cake cracking later when you roll it up with the cream cheese, roll it in the parchment paper as soon as it comes out of the oven (be careful, because it’s hot). Allow it to cool while rolled.
Create Maple Cream Cheese Filling
While the cake is cooling, combine the cream cheese frosting ingredients with a mixer until incorporated and smooth.
Put Together The Sourdough Pumpkin Roll
Carefully unroll the cooled cake, spread on the cream cheese filling evenly, and roll it back up.
Slice and enjoy.
How To Store A Pumpkin Roll
Store the pumpkin roll in the refrigerator until ready to serve. It will last 3-5 days in the fridge.
You can also freeze it for up to 3 months. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and freeze.
Thaw at least 18-24 hours before serving.
Find More Delicious Sourdough Recipes:
- Cinnamon Maple Sourdough Apple Pie
- Einkorn Sourdough Bread
- Sourdough Brownies
- Easy Sourdough Banana Bread
- Sourdough Chocolate Rolls
- From Scratch Pumpkin Pie
- Sourdough Pumpkin Cookies
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you gave it 5 stars! Thank you! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone
Sourdough Pumpkin Roll
Video
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cake
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup puréed pumpkin
- 1/2 cup maple syrup or honey
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter, or discard
- 3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Filling
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
Instructions
- The night before, mix together flour, active sourdough starter, 1/2 cup pumpkin and maple syrup. Cover and allow to ferment for at least 8 hours, or up to 24 hours.
- The next day, add to the cake mixture the salt, eggs, vanilla, pumpkin spice and sugar. Mix until well incorporated.
- Sprinkle baking soda evenly and mix in.
- Spread evenly on a 13×18 inch sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.
- Once done, pull from the oven and test that it has baked through with a toothpick.
- Roll it in the parchment paper as soon as it comes out of the oven (be careful, because it's hot).
- Allow the cake to cool while rolled.
- While the cake is cooling, combine the cream cheese frosting ingredients with a mixer until incorporated and smooth.
- Carefully unroll the cooled cake, spread on the cream cheese filling evenly, and roll it back up.
- Slice and serve or place in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
Notes
- To get the pumpkin rolls to not crack when rolling, roll the cake up as soon as it comes out of the oven with the parchment paper and allow to cool in that position. Unroll, add icing, then roll back up.
- You can use homemade or canned pumpkin.
- Don’t want to ferment the recipe? That is totally fine. Just mix and bake
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I just tried this recipe for the first time yesterday and it is AMAZING!! Soooo good! And actually pretty simple. I’ve always felt intimidated by the actual rolling of the thing, but again, it turned out amazing! I’m bringing it to work to share there and I’m making another one again today for my friends and family coming over for Halloween tomorrow. Thank you!!
In your recipe you say powder sugar but you use maple syrup in the cream cheese mixture…?
Which do you use?
Also I’m out of unsalted butter is it ok to use salted butter in the cream cheese mixture?
Yes salted butter will work just fine. You can use either one but powdered sugar has more structure. I use maple syrup in the cake and powdered usually in the filling.
I always thought rolls were hard to make, so I never made one, always buying them from other bakers. This was easy enough for me to handle, and it turned out wonderfully and looked like your picture. Thanks Lisa, keep your recipes coming. Happy Fall🍁🎃🧡
This recipe is amazing (it actually came out) and delicious!!!
Lisa I love your recipe. It’s are delicious! This one is one of my favorites. Really like how you incorporated sourdough starter to make it healthier.