This sourdough pumpkin roll pairs fluffy, sweet, spiced sourdough cake with a delicious, cream cheese filling. Literally, the best fall treat. 

overhead photo of a sourdough pumpkin roll dusted with powdered sugar and one slice revealing the roll and cream cheese frosting filling on a white countertop

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. Itโ€™s like adding a health benefit to ordinary foods. 

Like, “Hey, Pumpkin Cake, lets make you healthier and more bioavailable with some fermentation. Thank you.” Then you top it with sweet, cream cheese filling. 

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.

sourdough pumpkin roll with cream cheese filling swirled on the inside on a [piece of parchment paper with cut slices to the right

Benefits Of Sourdough

Sourdough has many benefits. From better digestion to better nutrient absorption, itโ€™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)

close up of pumpkin cake rolled with with cream cheese frosting filling on the inside. The roll is on parchment paper

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 donโ€™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 donโ€™t have these, regular sugar will work just fine.
  • You can use an active sourdough starter or even sourdough discard.
  • Donโ€™t want to ferment the recipe? That is totally fine. Just mix and bake.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.

a slice of a sourdough pumpkin roll with cream cheese filling rolled up in pumpkin cake. The rest of the roll is to the right and dusted with powdered sugar.
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Tools you may need:

Large bowl

Baking sheet

Parchment paper

Measuring cups and spoons

Stand mixer

Grain mill (optional)

How To Make Sourdough Pumpkin Rolls With Cream Cheese Frosting

sourdough pumpkin roll with cream cheese frosting filling dusted with powdered sugar on parchment paper with a slice of the roll to the front right

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.

top picture if pumpkin cake batter bottom picture of the cake spread evenly on a parchment lined baking sheet

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. 

top picture of a unrolled pumpkin cake and the bottom picture is of the cream cheese filling spread across the cake to roll

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.

overhead photo of slices of sourdough pumpkin rolls on parchment paper

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.

sourdough pumpkin roll with cream cheese frosting filling and dusted with powdered sugar lay on parchment paper with a roll sliced off and resting in front of the roll. A knife is to the right and two small pumpkin to the left

Find More Delicious Sourdough Recipes:

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

4.60 from 122 votes
This sourdough pumpkin roll pairs fluffy, sweet, spiced sourdough cake with a delicious, cream cheese filling.
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Additional Time: 8 hours
Total: 8 hours 35 minutes
Servings: 10
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Just enter your email and get it sent to your inbox! Plus you’ll get new recipes from us every week!
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Ingredients 

Pumpkin Cake

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup purรฉed 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 sucanat. 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.
  • Donโ€™t want to ferment the recipe? That is totally fine. Just mix and bake

Nutrition

Calories: 334kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 84mg | Sodium: 297mg | Potassium: 131mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 33g | Vitamin A: 2426IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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4.60 from 122 votes (110 ratings without comment)

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94 Comments

  1. Julie P. says:

    Iโ€™m not one to typically leave reviews but had to leave one for this gem! This is perfectly soft and sweet and so delicious! One of my fave desserts Iโ€™ve ever made. If youโ€™re looking for a review to tell you that you need to make it, YOU NEED TO MAKE IT. This is your sign. You can thank me later ๐Ÿ˜†

    1. Lisa says:

      Hahaha! How wonderful. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!

  2. Kacy says:

    I was trying to read thru the comments and find the answer, but didn’t see one. Can you still use 1 cup einkorn on this recipe or increase it to about 1 1/4 cup?

  3. Jessica B says:

    Hey Lisa. I have made this a few times and I roll it up right after taking it out of the oven but it always ends up cracking when I unroll to add the icing. Any advice?? Thanks for all your delicious recipes!

    1. Lisa says:

      I find the pre-rolling and allowing it to cool rolled up prevents the cracking for me. Sorry. If it cracked while rolling it back up, I would probably just add more icing to cover it up.

  4. Hannah says:

    I made this tonight and it is wonderful! It tastes fantastic and it’s my new pumpkin recipe! I will be making this often and with so much sourdough starter, I will make another one to share! T

    1. Lisa says:

      So glad you love it! It’s so yummy for fall.

  5. Susan Belcourt says:

    This is delicious and relatively easy.I like to transfer quickly, to a thin dish towel, gently remove the parchment and roll. Then when you unroll you have the “good side” out. And the towel seems to be better on the crust of the dessert.

    1. Lisa says:

      Love the tip. Thanks for sharing.

  6. Madison says:

    Could it mean 1/4 cup syrup for the frosting instead of 1/2 cup? I had the same issue as other commenters, the frosting is just liquid. It will not spread in the roll. I used a tub of natural cream cheese (Nancyโ€™s brand) instead of a block, does that make a difference?

    1. Lisa says:

      Yes, that does make a difference! The tub is definitely more spreadable than a box of cream cheese.

    2. Hannah says:

      I just made this and it’s the easiest and best tasking pumpkin roll ever! This is wonderful to say the least! Thank you for sharing your recipe!

  7. Maggie says:

    Just tried this today and it was amazing! Perfect fall dessert! My roll did split slightly because I was a little impatient with letting it cool rolled up, but the flavors were amazing! Thank you!

    1. Lisa says:

      That’s the perfect way to kick off fall. Glad you enjoyed it.

  8. Kelly says:

    I think the recipe instructions left out when to add the spice. I totally didnโ€™t add it and I keep looking for it in the instructions. I am going to try adding it to the cream cheese icing and hopefully that does the trick.

    1. Lisa says:

      Oops. Sorry about that. Fixed it.

  9. Kim says:

    I’m wondering if I overwhipped or underwhipped. There were curds, sort of. Little balls in the cream cheese mixture. The butter had partially melted as I left it near the stove along with the honey that had melted 1 hr prior. The cream cheese block was really cold. Anyone have an idea? I had it in the blendtec for likely 5 min then used a handheld immersion blender and didn’t seem to help so I stopped before it could get worse and looked up what happens if you overwhip cream cheese. My guess is I overwhipped it. Tasted it all with my finger and I’m waiting for cake to cool. We’ll still eat it. ๐Ÿ™‚ Tips on whipping would be great! what tools, how long… How cold or warm should items be?

    1. Sarah says:

      Cold cream cheese will mix up that way. It will be very hard to get it whipped. Try leaving the cream cheese to come to room temperature before moving up and that should help.

  10. Mary says:

    This is absolutely delicious! I love all your recipes that I have tried so far. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes. I love your blog/ website!

    1. Chris says:

      I had a terrible time with this recipe. I wrapped it as soon as it came out of the oven, and it still cracked
      The frosting was too thin and oozed out. I tried to make a torte of sorts out of it I
      see someone else had trouble with the filling and it was suggested to refrigerate it I will try again though!

      1. Emily says:

        Chris I had the same experience! Also it stuck to the parchment paper which worsened the cracking when I unrolled it ๐Ÿ˜“ Iโ€™m hoping some time in the fridge will make it edible. Right now itโ€™s a big, goopy mess.

      2. Carmen says:

        I had the same experience. As soon as I noticed the filling was not as thick as I expected I put it in the refrigerator for maybe an hr? But it still oozed out. Had the same cracking issue. It rolled beautiful just cracked on the unroll :/ Maybe it was too cool when I unrolled it to ice?