This yeasted bread, made with pumpkin puree, brown sugar and a hint of cinnamon, is sure to become a fall favorite. Thanks to a few cleverly-placed pieces of kitchen twine that shape the dough as it rises, the resulting loaf looks just like a pumpkin—complete with a fragrant cinnamon-stick stem. Serve it with maple-spiced pumpkin butter.
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 2 hr 25 min |
| Active: | 40 min |
| Yield: | 1 loaf |
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup whole milk, warmed to 110 degrees F
- Two 1/4-ounce packets active-dry yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
- 3/4 cup pure pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus more for greasing the bowl
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting (see Cook’s Note)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 cup pure pumpkin puree
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Kosher salt
Instructions
- For the pumpkin bread: Pour the warm milk into a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast over top. Let the yeast activate until foamy, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, 1 large egg and the oil until smooth. Whisk together the flour, ground cinnamon and salt in a separate bowl, then stir into the pumpkin mixture until a shaggy ball forms.
- Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Turn out the dough and knead until very smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Transfer to another large bowl lightly greased with oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Punch down the dough, then reroll it into a smooth ball about 6 inches wide. Cut three 24-inch-long pieces of kitchen twine and lay them on a clean work surface, crisscrossing at the center to create a star-shaped pattern. Place the ball of dough in the center, then tie the ends of the twine up over the dough and secure in a knot, leaving about 1 inch of space between the dough and knot so it has room to proof and expand. Do not tie the twine too tightly. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet, insert the cinnamon stick in the center of the dough for the “stem.” Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise until the kitchen twine has tightened and the dough is starting to take the shape of a pumpkin, 15 to 30 minutes more.
- While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Whisk the remaining egg with 1 teaspoon water in a small bowl, then brush over the entire exterior of the bread with a pastry brush. Bake until well browned and an instant-read thermometer registers 190 degrees F at the center, about 30 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.
- For the spiced pumpkin butter: Combine the pumpkin puree, heavy cream, brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar melts and the mixture thickens slightly and turns a deep orange color, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until chilled.
- Carefully cut and remove the kitchen twine from the bread. Cut into slices and serve with the spiced pumpkin butter.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 10 servings |
| Calories | 269 |
| Total Fat | 6 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Carbohydrates | 48 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Sugar | 15 g |
| Protein | 7 g |
| Cholesterol | 49 mg |
| Sodium | 287 mg |
Reviews
Very easy…used stand mixer than mixing by hand. Had to add more pumpkin to get the ball to form, and would like more pumpkin flavor, but still is very good flavor. Also had to bake about 10 minutes longer to get to the target temp.
In this recipe it says to stir the pumpkin mixture into the flour until a shaggy ball forms. Oooops I didn’t really see that and put ALL of it into the flour. I ended up having to add a bunch more flour, some salt and cinnamon again. My bad but, it also turned out absolutely gorgeous! It rose beautifully! Much easier than it looks! I made the pumpkin butter and it’s so yummy! Also, I took a step out and instead of taking the ball of dough on a “clean surface” and placing the dough ball on the strings there, I placed the strings on the parchment topped baking sheet, then tied the string. I didn’t have to move my ball of dough around which made more sense to me. I baked it as recipe said and took it out at 190 degrees. That took me about another 10-12 min longer but the bread has a beautiful shiny crust! Wish I could post a photo! I’m serving this with dinner at my cooking group’s Fall Harvest inspired meal. Making Katie Lee’s Pork Chops with Pumpkin BBQ sauce (again!). It’s realllllly good!
Zero flavor. So bad we had to toss it, not salvageable.
Tried making this twice, failed both times. Dough will not rise. Bought new yeast and it still failed. No idea where I’m going wrong.
Great bread. Easy to make. I do think that if you aren’t making the dip it could use maybe a cinnamon/sugar swirl or maybe up the sugar/spice a bit. I did not use the twine – was short on time so made a regular loaf. Let rise in a turned-off oven that had preheated to 200 degrees. Used my KitchenAid with dough hook attachment. Best part: made bread pudding with the leftovers!!
I skip the twine. I feel it’s easier to make single cuts straight down with a knife – don’t go through the center like a pizza – rather like cutting to make petals on a flower, center intact. When I make this bread as dinner rolls, I use a scissors to snip the wedges.
Very heavy bread
Great flavor but heavy.
I upped brown sugar to 1/3 and added 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice. Lightly sweet and soft pumpkin flavor. Pumpkin helps it stay very moist too