Zach has never had a sweet tooth and desserts just aren’t his thing. But one dessert he does look forward to every year is at Thanksgiving and it’s the pumpkin roll. I love desserts and love all things with pumpkin, so obviously I have always had a thing for the pumpkin roll, too. This year, I wanted to recreate the pumpkin roll and make a healthier version of my husband’s beloved dessert. This pumpkin roll has no grains and no refined sugar and it is so much healthier than the traditional pumpkin roll that is loaded with refined sugar and flour. This recipe even has a delicious dairy free option for those who cannot tolerate dairy. And, it’s so, so good! No one will ever know it’s healthier True story: When I finished my masterpiece pumpkin roll, I put it in the fridge. Later that night, Zach went to get some water and the pumpkin roll fell out (so he says) and it was pretty much destroyed. I was able to salvage some pieces for the picture, but I couldn’t take a picture of the whole roll because it was a hot mess. My theory is that he did this on purpose so I would have to make another roll. I think I’m onto something, don’t you?

Zach ended up getting his way and I made another pumpkin roll This time, I made the maple whipped cream cheese filling. As you can see, my pumpkin roll did crack a bit on the top. It may do that as you roll it up, but don’t worry! If looks are very important to you and you don’t want any cracks showing, here’s a good and delicious option: You can save a little bit of filling and use it to frost the top of the roll with extra filling. You can also sprinkle some chopped nuts (yum!) on top of the icing topped roll to make it look extra special. You can also serve the pumpkin roll in 1 inch slices and no one will be able to tell it cracked. It’s so good, no one will care anyway

 No grains, no dairy, no refined sugar PUMPKIN ROLL

10 servings

Ingredients:

 I ½ cups roasted pumpkin or 1 can of pumpkin

1/3 cup + 1 T pure maple syrup (you can sub honey, as well)

4 free range eggs

¼ cup coconut oil

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup coconut flour (do NOT sub another flour – it will not work. This is a wonderful place to get organic coconut flour if you cannot find it)

1 heaping tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1 T pumpkin pie spice

Dairy Free Maple Coconut Whipped Cream Filling:

2 cans of coconut milk, chilled in the fridge for at least one night (do NOT use light coconut milk!)

1 T vanilla

4 T maple syrup (you can sub honey as well)

1 ½ tsp pumpkin spice or cinnamon

optional thickener: 1 T xanthan gum or arrowroot powder

Cream Cheese Maple Whipped Filling:

1 8 oz package cream cheese

4 oz of grass-fed butter

¼ cup pure maple syrup or honey

1 T vanilla

1 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice or cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

 Preheat oven to 325. In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, eggs, vanilla and coconut oil. Mix together the coconut flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin spice. Combine the wet and dry ingredients together and stir until combined.

 Line a 15×10 jelly roll style pan with parchment paper (very important!). Let some parchment paper hang over the ends. Pour your pumpkin mixture into the pan. With a spatula, even out the mixture so it’s nice and flat in the pan. Bake for 30 minutes.

 Let cool for a few minutes. Don’t let it completely cool (also very important!). You still want it to be warm.

 This is the tricky part. Using your parchment paper, start with the small side of the pumpkin roll (the 10 inch side) and roll up with the parchment paper and all. Mine did crack at a few places, but that’s ok. Just roll it up nice and tight in the parchment paper and let it cool.

 Now it’s time to make the filling.

 Dairy free whipped filling directions:

Your coconut milk will whip the best when the cans are chilled in the fridge for at least one day. I also put my bowl and mixers in the freezer for at least an hour to help it along. Get just the cream out of the coconut milk can by pouring the water out. Dump the cream into your mixing bowl and mix in the rest of the filling ingredients. Whip until smooth and soft peaks have formed. Depending on your coconut milk, you may or may not need a thickener. The mixture without a thickener will also get harder in the fridge, so you do not need a thickener if you don’t want to add one. I did go ahead and added 1 T of xanthan gum and it made it just the consistency that I was looking for. You can also use arrowroot powder if you have it.

 Cream cheese whipped filling directions:

Whip together ingredients until smooth and creamy – about 10 minutes.

 Once your roll is cool, unwrap and spread your filling all over it until there’s a nice layer on it. If you made the dairy free option, you will not use all the filling. Just spread a nice layer over the pumpkin and save the rest of the filling – you can use it on top of my oh so yummy grain free pumpkin pancakes recipe, in coffee as a special treat, on top of a sweet potato or squash, or just eat it right out of the bowl

 Once the filling is spread all over, now it’s time to roll it back up. I used the parchment paper again to help aid me in making a nice tight roll. But, this time around, do NOT roll the parchment paper up with the roll. My roll did crack in a few places, but that’s ok. Just roll it up nice and tight. I also used some plastic wrap to get it even tighter and then you want to place in the fridge for at least an hour. Because my roll cracked (and allegedly fell out of the fridge – see story above), I had to serve it by slicing it into 1 inch slices. Once it was cut, no one could tell it was cracked at all. It looked and tasted delicious! Enjoy!

ps. If your pumpkin roll cracks as you roll it up, see picture caption above for options you can do to mask the cracks! Even if it totally cracks all the way through, don’t sweat it – I got you covered ;)

 My pumpkin roll recipe is also featured on the Real Holiday Food Carnival here!

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