We take this classic fall dessert and make it a vegan pumpkin roll. Filled with delicious vegan cream cheese frosting and topped with powdered sugar! Plus, a bonus vegan chocolate pumpkin roll option.
Okay, before you look at me sideways, some of you may be wondering what the heck a vegan pumpkin roll even is and If you need it.
The answer is yes, yes you do.
A pumpkin roll is a delicious pumpkin cake spread out onto a baking sheet and then rolled up with a cream cheese filling and sprinkled with powdered sugar.
The traditionally version has milk, eggs, cream cheese, and butter. So, we had a little work to be done, but nothing that we couldn’t handle. Am I right?
We got to work and ended up creating not 1, but two epic vegan pumpkin roll recipes.
Today, we’re going to be sharing with you how to make a traditional pumpkin roll, but also a vegan chocolate pumpkin roll.
That’s right, we also created a chocolate cream cheese frosting to make a chocolate pumpkin roll as well.
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What ingredients do I need to make vegan pumpkin roll?
Even though this may seem like a complicated dessert, we promise it is not! You don’t even need that many ingredients!
The ingredients that you need to make this dairy free pumpkin roll are:
- powdered sugar
- flour
- baking powder
- baking soda
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
- ginger
- cloves
- allspice
- salt
- unsweetened applesauce
- brown sugar
- pureed pumpkin
And then for the filling you need:
- vegan cream cheese
- powdered sugar
- vegan butter
- vanilla
If you want to make the chocolate filling, you will also need cocoa powder.
If you want to add nuts, you will also need chopped walnuts.
How do I make a vegan pumpkin roll?
We are going to first start by making the cake. Start by preheating the oven to 375 degrees F. Then, you are going to lay a piece of parchment paper down on the bottom of a 15×10-Inch jelly roll pan and grease the sides of the pan.
In a bowl, combine the brown sugar and applesauce very well. Then, add in the pumpkin and combine again.
Next, add in your flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, allspice, and salt.
Combine one last time, scraping down the sides if needed. Stir in the chopped walnuts if desired.
Spread the mixture evenly across your prepared baking sheet.
Place into the oven for 13 to 15 minutes. The cake should spring back when touched.
Remove from the oven. Sprinkle the entire thing with powdered sugar, then place a kitchen towel over top and immediately invert the pan. Carefully peel off the parchment paper. Sprinkle this side with powdered sugar also.
Starting at the narrow end (smaller), roll up the cake and towel together (see video if needed). Place on a wire rack to cool for 1 hour. *Placing on a wire rack to cool is very important.
While the cake is cooling, make the filling by beating together the vegan cream cheese, powdered sugar, vegan butter and vanilla. You want a smooth frosting. Place in fridge until ready to use.
Once an hour has passed, carefully unroll the cake. Spread the frosting onto the cake. Reroll the cake (without the towel). Wrap up tightly in plastic wrap or cheesecloth. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Sprinkle with more powdered sugar on top before serving Cut Into 1 inch slices and serve warm or cold. Store any leftovers in an air tight container in the fridge.
How do I make a vegan chocolate pumpkin roll?
If you want the inside of your vegan pumpkin roll to be chocolate filling instead, then you are just going to used some cocoa powder in place of the powdered sugar when making the frosting.
The measurements are below in the full recipe. The rest of the recipe remains the same.
Do I have to use a 15×10 jelly roll pan?
Yes! The size of the pumpkin roll is Important. That is why we want to us a jelly roll pan. If you use a smaller or larger pan, then your batter is going to be too thick or too thin to work out completely.
How long will this dairy free pumpkin cake roll last?
This cake roll is best eaten within 3-5 days, so you want to try to prepare it no more than that far in advance. For best results, leave wrapped up until read to serve.
Can I make this a Top 8 Allergen Free pumpkin roll?
Yes!
For the cake itself, you can try to make them with gluten free measure for measure flour. This specific King Arthur gluten free flour is our favorite! And leave the nuts out of the cake roll.
For the frosting, just make sure that you use a soy free dairy free butter if needed. We love the Earth Balance soy free in the red tub. And ensure that the vegan cream cheese you are using does not contain any allergens for your family. We prefer Wayfare cream cheese.
What are other vegan cake recipes that I should try?
Just because you have food allergies or preferences, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be able to have great tasting desserts. We’d even venture to say that these are better than their “normal” counterparts.
These are some other dairy free cake recipes that you should try:
- Easy Vegan Pineapple Upside Down Cake
- Vegan Coconut Cake
- Vegan Strawberry Cake
- The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Carrot Cake
- Vegan Lemon Pound Cake
- Try these vegan vanilla cupcakes in a cake pan
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Vegan Pumpkin Roll
Equipment
- Jelly Roll Pan
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, Optional
- Powdered Sugar
For the Filling
- 4 oz vegan cream cheese
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp vegan butter
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- Optional: Cocoa Powder if making chocolate filling *see notes below for amount changes
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Lay a piece of parchment paper down on the bottom of a 15×10-Inch jelly roll pan and grease the sides of the pan.
- In a bowl, combine brown sugar and applesauce very well.
- Add in pumpkin and combine again.
- Add in flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, allspice, and salt. Combine, scraping down the sides if needed.
- Stir in the chopped walnuts if desired.
- Spread the mixture evenly across prepared baking sheet.
- Place into oven for 13 to 15 minutes. The cake should spring back when touched.
- Remove from oven.
- Sprinkle the entire thing with powdered sugar, then place a kitchen towel over top and immediately invert the pan. Carefully peel off the parchment paper. Sprinkle this side with powdered sugar also.
- Starting at the narrow end (smaller), roll up the cake and towel together (see video if needed). Place on a wire rack to cool for 1 hour. *Placing on a wire rack to cool is very important.
For the filling
- Beat together vegan cream cheese, powdered sugar, vegan butter and vanilla until smooth. Place in fridge until ready to use.
- Once an hour has passed, carefully unroll the cake. Spread the frosting onto the cake.
- Reroll the cake (without the towel).
- Wrap up tightly in plastic wrap or cheesecloth. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Sprinkle with more powdered sugar on top before serving.Cut Into 1 inch slices and serve warm or cold.
- Store any leftovers in an air tight container in the fridge.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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I absolutely love the flavor of this pumpkin roll! I used almond flour to make a gluten free version and it worked fairly well. I did have parts of it crumble off when peeling the parchment paper off, but when I cut it into slices it looked BEAUTIFUL! I’m super excited to make it again for thanksgiving!
Thanks for letting us know about the GF flour! Happy you were able to enjoy it!