Aside from the obvious holiday flare, pumpkin bread is a nice occasional alternative to the usual breads we eat. This recipe can be prepared as a loaf or as a dinner rolls and uses honey for the yeast catalyst which makes it more healthy than typical recipes. Pumpkin is a very healthy, with more potassium than bananas, loads of vitamin A and other vitamins, and is high in fiber.
Ingredients
- 5 cups Flour (625 g)
- 1 can (15 oz) canned Pumpkin
- 4 oz Whole Milk (123 g) – warmed to ~105ºF
- 2 oz Honey (85 g) – divided
- 2.25 tsp Active Dry Yeast (6.4 g)
- 2 oz Salted Butter (57 g) – melted
- 1 Large Egg
- 1.5 tsp Salt (9 g)
Process
- Mise en Place – measure and prepare ingredients prior to starting.
- Pitch yeast by mixing milk and 1 tsp of the honey with yeast. Let work 10 mins.
- In stand mixer, stir flour and salt. add milk mixture and remaining ingredients.
- Mix on low (speed=1), until a moist dough forms.
- Knead on medium (speed=4), for 15 minutes. Adjust flour as needed, but dough should be sticky.
- First Proof: Put dough in a generously greased bowl, cover with film and allow to rise until doubled, about 1.5 to 2 hours.
- Shape dough: If making a loaf, shape into loaf and let rise. If making dinner rolls, flour dough and roll out flat. Divide dough into 15 to 24 pieces, depending on how large of rolls you want. Roll each piece into a ball on your work surface. Place in a greased 13×9-inch pan or 10- to 12-inch cast iron skillet.
- Second Proof: Cover dough a towel and let rise 1.5 to 2 hours.
- Half an hour before done proofing, preheat oven to 375° F (190 C).
- Bake rolls for 25–30 minutes, or until golden.
- Allow to cool in the pan for 10 mins, then invert onto a cooling rack.
Option 1: you can sprinkle pumpkin seeds to top of loaf at start of 2nd proof or mix them in during the step 5 kneading process.
Option 2: for a more dense bread with a stiffer texture you can substitute 4 cups bread flour with 1 cup whole wheat flour for the 5 cups of all purpose flour.
