Libby's Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Filling ****

It's still so hard to believe that just a few years ago, I was paying someone else to make our pumpkin rolls at Christmas.  Oh, the money I could have saved if I'd only realized how easy they were to make!  True, they are a little time-intensive, but the simplicitiy more than makes up for that.  Not to mention the little bit of heaven that's in each bite, lol.  I've gotten to where I automatically buy enough to make two rolls when I make one.  It's just a given that we will need two, because the first always goes so quickly.  We normally end up fighting over the last piece.  ;-)

Photo courtesy of VeryBestBaking.com

LIBBY'S PUMPKIN ROLL WITH CREAM CHEESE FILLING
(luckymommyto2boys ~ Amy ~ VeryBestBaking.com)

¼ cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
¾ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup powdered sugar (optional)

PREHEAT oven to 375° F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.
COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.
BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. (If using a dark-colored pan, begin checking for doneness at 11 minutes.) Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.
BEAT cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.
COOKING TIP:
Be sure to put enough powdered sugar on the towel when rolling up the cake so it will not stick.

Previous reviews:
12/27/10 ~ Loved, loved, LOVED this one! Hubby has been begging me to try my hand at a pumpkin roll for years now. He just adores them. I've always kind of shied away from them, since they seemed so complicated. I had no idea how easy they were! I went with the Libby's recipe, since I'd heard good things about it, and I figured it had to be fairly basic. I'll be sticking with this one, though. No need to improve on perfection. :) I used self-rising flour and eliminated the baking soda, baking powder, and salt. I'll keep doing that, since it came out so well and is much simpler. I don't have a wire rack, so I kept it rolled in the towel on the pan and just turned it over every 5-10 minutes or so, until it had cooled. Next time, I will make the filling layer thicker and make the roll looser, to keep the filling from spilling out so much. Other than that, no changes for me!