Sourdough Pumpkin Roll

This is the best sourdough pumpkin roll made with real pumpkin puree, sourdough discard, pumpkin spices like cinnamon, and filled with brown butter cream cheese.

My mom always had pumpkin rolls on hand in the fall growing up because it’s the perfect bake-and-slice make-ahead dessert. This sourdough discard pumpkin roll can be refrigerated for days or frozen ahead of time so you have an easy, convenient, and beautiful dessert to serve to Thanksgiving or holiday guests.

Making a sourdough pumpkin roll is surprisingly easy, as the moist sponge cake is baked in a jelly roll pan and simply shaped into a roll with a caramely brown butter cream cheese filling that pairs exceptionally well with the earthy pumpkin.

The detailed recipe will guide you through every step of the process, including how to bake, roll, and store the sourdough pumpkin roll with lots of pro baking tips.

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👍 Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Moist and tender sourdough pumpkin sponge cake.
• Easy to make with bowls, a whisk, and a spatula with no special tools required.
• This is a perfect make-ahead fall sourdough dessert that stores well in the refrigerator for days or can be frozen ahead of time.
• Made with real pumpkin puree and pumpkin spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
• The brown butter cream cheese has a caramel, nutty flavor that pairs exceptionally with pumpkin. It’s a similar filling to the cream cheese frosting on my brioche Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls.

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🔍 Pro Tips for Making Sourdough Pumpkin Roll

• Don’t over-mix the sponge cake, or it will be tough instead of tender and light, just like making Lemon Blueberry Sourdough Pound Cake or muffins.
• Roll the sourdough pumpkin cake while hot in a towel dusted in powdered sugar to prevent cracking.
• Let the rolled cake cool completely before spreading the cream cheese filling, or it will ooze out of the cake.
• Chill the sourdough pumpkin roll for at least an hour before serving so the cream cheese filling can set.
• Only bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. The times may vary depending on the color of your sheet pan and your oven temperature. Don’t overbake, or it will be dry and crack when rolling.

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🛠 Tools Needed

• Baking scale
  • Flour and sourdough starter can weigh differently from person to person, so weighing your ingredients will make your baking more consistent and accurate. It’s the most important sourdough tool you can have!
• Whisk and Spatula, for mixing and spreading the filling
• Jelly Roll Pan
  • A jelly roll pan is 10×15″ and made specifically for rolled cakes like this. The sheet pan can be used for baking or roasting smaller amounts than a half sheet pan.
  • If you use a 9×13″ pan, don’t use all of the batter, or it will be too thick.
• Tea towel, for rolling the cake
  • I found in testing that a clean tea or kitchen towel dusted in powdered sugar made a tighter and easier roll for the cake than rolling it in parchment paper. Plus, the cake didn’t sweat as much during cooling.

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🛒 Ingredients Needed

• All-purpose flour
  • You can substitute with a gluten-free flour to make a gluten-free sourdough pumpkin roll, such as cup-for-cup or measure-for-measure.
  • Use whole wheat flour for a heartier, denser cake.
• Baking Soda helps the cake rise and give it a spongier texture.
• Salt
• Pumpkin Spices
  • Use pumpkin pie spice or a combination of warm spices like cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, and clove.
• Pumpkin Puree
  • I use canned Libby’s pumpkin for consistency. Some canned pumpkin purees will have more or less moisture, so it may be helpful to dab any excess water out if it seems runny.
  • Alternatively, you can make your own puree by roasting a pumpkin.
• Eggs provide structure, rise, binding, richness, and moisture.
• Granulated sugar
  • For sweetness, moisture, and structure. The pumpkin roll is not too sweet, so don’t reduce this amount, or it may crack.
• Vanilla Extract
  • Use real vanilla extract or vanilla paste, not imitation.
• Sourdough Discard
  • If you don’t have an active sourdough starter, learn how to make one in a week following my how-to guide. See my top sourdough starter tips and other sourdough discard recipes.
• Unsalted butter
  • Melt, brown, and cool the butter for an easy burst of caramel, nutty flavor to the filling.
  • I use brown butter in other favorite recipes like these Brown Butter Sourdough Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Sourdough Hot Cross Buns with Brown Butter, and Sourdough Oatmeal Cream Pies.
• Cream Cheese
  • For the best tangy flavor and texture, use Philadelphia full-fat cream cheese. Low-fat cream cheese will not have the same consistency and may not set and hold its shape as well.
  • Two other sourdough pumpkin recipes that use cream cheese are my popular Sourdough Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins and these decadent Sourdough Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Chai Cream Cheese Frosting.
• Powdered Sugar, to easily mix into the creamy filling and to prevent sticking to the tea towel.

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🎃 How to Make Sourdough Pumpkin Roll

Follow this detailed recipe guide as you make the best Sourdough Pumpkin Roll.

1. Mix the Wet Ingredients

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC) and line a 10×15″ jelly roll pan with parchment paper and grease it to prevent sticking.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, pumpkin puree, sugar, vanilla extract, and sourdough discard together until incorporated. Set aside.

2. Mix in the Dry Ingredients

In a small separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin spices.

Then, pour the dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients and mix with a spatula just until combined, and only a few lumps remain, like making Sourdough Pumpkin Pancakes.

3. Bake

Pour the batter into the prepared jelly roll pan and bake for 12-14 minutes or until the center is springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

4. Pre-Shape the Sourdough Pumpkin Roll

As the cake bakes, generously dust a clean tea towel with powdered sugar (image 1 below).

While the cake is still hot, wear oven mitts and confidently flip it out onto the dusted towel (2). It’s important to pre-roll the cake while it’s warm so it will easily roll back up without cracking. This creates a “memory” for the sponge cake.

Carefully roll the sourdough pumpkin cake up from the short end (3) and let it cool completely seam-side down on a wire rack (4). It will take an hour or two for it to completely cool.

5. Make the Brown Butter Cream Cheese

You can make the brown butter cream cheese filling as the sourdough pumpkin roll cools.

To brown the butter, heat half a stick of butter in a small skillet or saucepan on medium heat and stir constantly for 4-5 minutes. At first, it will sizzle and foam with small bubbles, and then the milk solids will quickly start to brown with a caramely aroma.

Remove from the heat and pour the brown butter into a mixing bowl to cool before mixing in the cream cheese.

Once cooled, add the softened cream cheese and mix with a hand mixer or spatula until combined into a thick consistency. Then, add the powdered sugar and mix until you have a thick but spreadable cream cheese frosting.

6. Fill and Re-roll

Finally, when the cake has cooled completely, gently unroll it from the towel. It will memorize some of its rolled shape.

Use a spatula or offset spatula to spread all of the brown butter cream cheese filling over the cake, leaving a slight border on the edges.

Re-roll the cake (it should release easily because of the powdered sugar on the towel) into a log.

Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator (or freeze) for at least an hour for the filling to set before slicing.

Before serving, you may want to trim the edges of the sourdough pumpkin roll to look neater and dust the top with more powdered sugar.

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How to Store

This sourdough pumpkin roll is one of my favorite, easy make-ahead fall desserts.

It stores well in the refrigerator if wrapped tightly in plastic wrap for up to 5 days.

To freeze, wrap well in plastic wrap and aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight to soften properly.

Serve the sourdough discard pumpkin roll cool or at room temperature, and dusted with more powdered sugar. It’s excellent as a sweet breakfast treat with coffee or a fall dessert- it always looks elegant on a Thanksgiving dessert table.

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❓ Frequently Asked Questions