Homemade Pumpkin Yeast Bread
This homemade pumpkin yeast bread is incredibly soft and fluffy, like a warm sandwich loaf, infused with genuine flavor from homemade or canned purée.
Servings 1 loaf
Calories 2246kcal
Ingredients
- 70 ml/grams (⅓ cup) whole milk, warmed to about 110°F (43°C)
- 70 ml/grams (⅓ cup) water, warmed to about 110°F (43°C)
- 7 grams (2 ¼ tsp) instant or active dry yeast
- 25 grams (2 tbsp) brown or cane sugar
- 240 grams (1 cup) pumpkin puree
- 420 grams 3 (½ cups) bread or all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
- 8 grams (1 ½ tsp) sea salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅓ teaspoon ginger
- ⅓ teaspoon nutmeg
- 37 grams (3 tbsp) extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Prepare the dough: Whisk the warmed liquid (whole milk + water), yeast, and cane sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer. Cover and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes or until foamy and frothy on top. *If you do not own a stand mixer, you can do this step in a large mixing bowl and in the next step mix the dough by hand or with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon.
- Add the pumpkin puree to the yeast mixture and whisk together until everything is combined. Add the flour and spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger). Using the dough hook, beat for 4 minutes on low speed until the dough comes together and gathers around the dough hook. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure all the flour is incorporated. If the dough is too sticky and clings to the bottom of the bowl, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time until the dough pulls away from the bottom while remaining tacky.
- Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer (and switch the mixer to medium speed), and beat for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes. Stop the mixer midway through this step and remove the dough from the hook to ensure an even knead throughout. If the dough becomes too sticky during kneading, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add too much flour, as the dough should remain smooth, not dry. After this step, the dough should feel smooth, uniform, and elastic. Poke the dough with your finger. If it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: Pinch off a small piece of dough and gently stretch it out. If it stretches thin enough to let light through without tearing, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading for 1 minute intervals until it passes the windowpane test.
- Incorporate the oil: With the mixer running on low speed, add the olive oil, just 1 tablespoon at a time. Wait until the dough completely incorporates the tablespoon of olive oil before you add the next one. Use a spatula to help ensure all the oil is picked up by the dough. This whole oil incorporation process should take about 2 minutes total. You might notice about half of the dough adheres to the bottom of the bowl, while the other half clings to the dough hook— that's okay. Once all the oil has been added, continue mixing on low speed for another 3 minutes until the dough becomes very soft and shiny. The dough should then gather around the dough hook and slap the sides of the bowl again.
- 1st Rise: Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or use nonstick spray. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise in a relatively warm environment for 1.5-2 hours or until doubled in size.
- Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan.
- Shape the bread: When the dough is ready, lightly flour a work surface. Punch the dough down to release the air. Here you have many different ways to shape a bread loaf, but here is what I do with this pumpkin yeast bread: Use a floured rolling pin, roll the dough out into a large rectangle, about 8x16 inches. Then, roll it up into an 8-inch log and place in the prepared loaf pan.
- 2nd Rise: Cover the shaped pumpkin yeast loaf with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rise in a relatively warm environment for 1-1.5 hours. The bread is ready to bake when it's about 1 inch above the top of the loaf pan.
- Adjust an oven rack to a lower position and preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Bake the bread: Bake for 27-30 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Turn the pan halfway through. If the top browns too quickly, cover the bread with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
- Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool for 5 minutes in the pan on the wire rack before removing it from the pan and slicing. (It’s best to let the bread cool completely on a wire rack for at least 1 hour before slicing.)
- Cover leftover pumpkin bread tightly and store at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
The temperature when I made this recipe: 59 Fahrenheit (15 Celsius).
Overnight Instructions: Follow the recipe through Step 5. Instead of letting the dough rise in a warm environment in Step 5, place the dough in the refrigerator for up to 16 hours. When you need it the next day, let the dough come to room temperature for at least 30 minutes before you continue with Step 7. Alternatively, you can shape the pumpkin sandwich loaf, then cover the shaped loaf and refrigerate it at 40°F (4°C) for up to 16 hours. The next day, remove the shaped loaf from the refrigerator, keep it covered, and let it rise for about 1.5 to 2 hours or until it sits about 1 inch above the top of the loaf pan. before baking.
Freezing Instructions: There are many methods for freezing yeast bread for up to 3 months, but the best one is to freeze the dough after you incorporate the fat. Thaw the dough in the refrigerator overnight, then let it rise for 1.5–2 hours in a warm environment before shaping. The second method involves shaping your loaf and placing it in the baking pan.
Special Tools (affiliate links): Kitchen Scale with Liquid measuring cups / Measuring Cups & Spoons | Stand Mixer / Steel or Glass Mixing Bowl with a Silicone Spatula or Wooden Spoon | Bowl Scraper | Bench scraper | Rolling Pin | 9x5-inch Loaf Pan | Pastry Brush | Wire Rack.
Flour: You can use bread or all-purpose flour. All-purpose flour is convenient for most people, but bread flour produces chewier bread. The bread is still soft and fluffy, no matter which one you use. Either flour is fine, and there are no other changes to the recipe if you use one or the other.
Fat: I prefer using extra virgin olive oil as the fat in this recipe. However, you can use butter if you prefer, but keep in mind that you must use 25% more by amount.
