Pumpkin Swiss Roll with Cream Cheese Frosting (It’s Actually Easy to Make!)
Savor your favorite fall flavors with this pumpkin Swiss roll recipe! This easy pumpkin roll is always a hit with guests!
This pumpkin roll recipe makes the perfect fall dessert, and it’s easier than it looks to make… promise!
Welcome to the season of pumpkin everything! This classic pumpkin roll recipe is the ultimate fall dessert. Not only is this pumpkin cream cheese roll beautiful for serving to guests, but it’s decadently delicious, too.
The moist pumpkin cake is rolled around a sweet cream cheese frosting that’s absolutely to die for. This would be a perfect pumpkin dessert idea to bake for Thanksgiving, or even to enjoy as a brunch style treat on a weekend with coffee!
Eating keto? Be sure to check out our keto pumpkin roll recipe on Hip2Keto.com that’s similar to this one, but low in carbs and sugar!
Best of all, this pumpkin Swiss roll recipe is surprisingly easy to make at home!
Honestly, I’ve always been a little bit intimidated by the rolling aspect of this dessert, so I had never tried making a pumpkin roll until my husband requested one. This was his childhood favorite, so I called my mother in law and had her talk me through it!
Here are my tried and true tips for making a perfect pumpkin Swiss roll:
- The perfect sized pan for this is a 15″x10″x1″ jelly roll pan. I tried a larger pan and it was too thin and was a fail, just FYI! 😂 By the way, the USA pan I’m linking to is amazing. My sidekick Amber actually did a whole review of these pans over on our sister site, Hip2Ket.com.
- Getting the cake to form into a roll can be a little tricky, but still easy. Don’t skip the step of rolling up the cake while it’s still warm using parchment paper. This allows the cake to cool and hold the roll shape, making sure it doesn’t crack when re-rolling it together with the frosting.
- Interested in creating your own pumpkin spice seasoning blend for all your fall baking? Check out this homemade pumpkin spice recipe I used in my cake!
- Need ideas on what to do with the leftover open can of pumpkin puree? Consider whipping up a warm homemade pumpkin spice latte, or making some pumpkin chocolate chip granola bars!
- Want to add in chopped nuts to the cake? My husband actually prefers this easy pumpkin roll recipe with 3/4 cup of chopped walnuts to the cake batter. That’s a great add-in to consider!
Pumpkin Swiss Roll with Cream Cheese Frosting
yield: 10 SERVINGS
prep time: 20 MINUTES
cook time: 15 MINUTES
total time: 35 MINUTES
Bake this delicious and easy pumpkin roll with cream cheese frosting for your fall holiday celebrations, or even for a cozy night in.
Ingredients
Pumpkin Roll:
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice seasoning
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 cup 100% pure pumpkin puree
- 3 eggs
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup of butter
Directions
1
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2
Mix flour, salt, baking powder, pumpkin spice blend, and set aside.
3
Using an electric mixer, mix together sugar and eggs for about a minute until the eggs are fluffy.
4
Add pumpkin puree and then mix in the dry ingredients.
5
Pour batter into a 10"x15"x1" jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper. Spread evenly and bake at 375 degrees for 14 minutes.
6
While the cake is cooking, make the frosting: Use an electric mixer to cream together softened cream cheese, confectioners sugar, vanilla extract, and butter.
7
Immediately after the cake is done baking, slip it out of the jelly roll pan (while still on the parchment) and flatten the sides of the paper. Tightly and carefully roll it up while it’s still hot in the parchment paper. Let it cool while still rolled up.
8
Once cool, gently unroll the cake, still on the parchment paper. Spread the frosting while the cake is flat. Carefully roll it back up. This time when you roll it up, roll it off the parchment paper carefully. If any of it gets stuck, use a knife to scrape it, but in general, the pumpkin roll should come off of the paper easily.
9
Sprinkle the pumpkin Swiss roll with a little powdered sugar on top. I also cut a little off the ends to make it look fancy.
10
Slice, serve, and enjoy! That's it my friends! 🙌
Additional Notes
Recipe adapted from AllRecipes.com
Put this pumpkin roll on your fall bucket list!
What a beautiful pumpkin recipe, and it doesn’t take a ton of ingredients and effort either!
Bake a yummy pumpkin roll, grab a cup of coffee, and enjoy this luscious, creamy, classic fall treat!
This is what my teammate Jenna had to say after baking this pumpkin roll:
I have honestly never made a roll cake because I found it rather intimidating. But oh my goodness, this was so easy and FUN! And the flavor is awesome! All of the kids loved it, too. The steps are super helpful. Even with being new to roll cakes, this turned out perfectly thanks to the in-depth directions!
Don’t forget to check out ALL of our awesome pumpkin recipes!
This looks so delicious!! I cant wait to try it!
YES!! Thanks so much <3
I love making these. I WANT SOME RIGHT NOW! 😋
Yes, me too! It disappeared fast in my house! ha
I so want to try this but the roll up part scares me. I think I need more detailed directions for Step 8. How are you removing the cake from the parchment paper? Are you flipping the cake and pulling the paper off, or pulling the cake up and away from the paper? And you are doing this before frosting the cake for the re-roll? How are you keeping the cake from cracking as you remove it from the paper?
Remove from oven after baking: 1.flip cake out of pan 2.roll up 3.cool 4.unroll 5.Peel parchment paper off cake 6.frost 7.re-roll.
Sometimes the cake cracks but it is usually during the roll-up. Important not to let the cake over-bake because that increases chances of cracking.
We’ve always added a cup of chopped walnuts before baking also. Hope that helps. 🙂
Hi T- I just went back and sort of reworded a little. The reason it won’t crack is that we have rolled it up while still warm out of the oven and let cool. Once it cools in that shape, you can continue.
Thanks, the rewording helps!
The recipe for Libby’s pumpkin roll cake gives detailed instructions for the cake. Try checking there, I’ve made it before and it’s very simple and delicious. Good luck!
I have always wanted to make this but was intimidated by the rolling. Thanks for the directions Lina. I will definately be trying this soon.
Is there a keto version of this???
Yes! There sure is! https://hip2keto.com/recipes/easy-keto-pumpkin-roll-recipe/
Thank you!!!!
You’re so welcome!
These things are amazing! My family has them every Thanksgiving/Christmas! They make Great gifts and freeze well too!
This looks yummy! I got a large pumpkin roll with cream cheese at Sam’s Club for $8!
One of my favorites! I have made these for many years! 1 suggestion: when it comes out of the oven, have a lint free kitchen towel laid out on the counter, shake powdered sugar all over it, flip the cake part out with the parchment paper on top, remove parchment paper and roll up in the towel. The parchment doesn’t let the cake cool properly and therefor can make for a soggyish cake. The towel allows it to breathe and unrolls perfectly too. Enjoy pumpkin friends!
PS I have also made this subbing banana for the pumpkin, and I have done a chocolate version also. 🙂
What kind of banana filling did you use Kelly?
I LOVE Lina’s recipes. I made this two weeks ago when you posted the pumpkin recipes. It was gone in a day! I am making it again today!
Very easy instructions and delicious! And we loved the pesto sheet pan. What a great way to get the kids to eat their veggies!
My only question is can I leave on counter or refrigerate because of the cream cheese? I refrigerated it and warmed it up in the microwave for 20 seconds.
Yes we did that too! I kept mine wrapped up in the fridge after initially serving too. So great with coffee 💕🙌
And thanks so much for your sweet comments!
I actually just made this same recipe today. It was so easy and turned out very moist. I never made a pumpkin roll before because I wasn’t sure about the rolling part but will definitely make again
Oh nice! Thanks for sharing 👏
do i have to have a jellyroll pan to make this roll? can i use another sheet type pan to bake it in? i want to try it but i dont have that pan and im on the fence if i should buy a jelly roll pan…
You can try another similar size pan, and it could work. I tried a slightly larger regular sheet pan and it tasted great but was a fail for me when rolling, so I then bought a jellyroll pan and redid everything and it worked.
Yum! Im making this today!
Oh fun – enjoy!