Ingredients

• Bread:
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 tbsp rapid rise yeast
• 2/3 cup warm 2% milk
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1-1/2 cups canned pumpkin
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 heaping tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp cardamom
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 4 cups bread flour
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• Filling:
• 4oz (1/2 package) reduced fat cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 heaping tsp cinnamon

Directions

1. In bowl of stand mixer, add the bread flour, yeast, salt, spices. Mix until blended. Add water, milk, eggs, pumpkin and oil. Originally, this recipe called for 1/2 cup of brown sugar, but in one of those arcane moments of forgetfulness, I made the dough sans sugar, and it actually turned out delicious (more on this later). Beat well for approximately two minutes. Switch to the dough hook. Add the whole wheat flour, slowly, until it incorporates. Beat until the dough clears the sides (you’ll need to scrape them down once or twice) adding just a little bit of flour at a time. The dough will eventually clear the bottom as well. The dough will make a smacking sound against the mixer, but it will inevitably be smooth and elastic. This will take about 5-10 minutes, depending upon the weather (i.e. humidity or cool, dry air) and how your flour was milled.

2. Put dough in a large, oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap (spray the wrap with oil so that the dough won’t stick when it rises) and put int a warm spot to first rise, approximately an hour. Truth be told, my dough didn’t double in size. It rose, but it wasn’t an out-of-control mess and it was fine.

3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray loaf pan with cooking spray. Roll out the pumpkin dough to approximately a 10″ x 10″ square. Smooth cinnamon cream cheese mixture over dough then evenly. The original recipes called for cinnamon sugar mix on top of the cream cheese mixture, and I’m finding that entirely too sweet for my taste. Over the past year I’ve noticed that I like the hint of sweetness as opposed to lapsing into a sugar coma. I think you’ll appreciate the soft, yeasty pumpkin bread imbued with a creamy sweetness at its core.

4. Roll dough pulling tightly to avoid gaping voids. Smooth edge into roll then pinch the ends to seal and tuck under. Place in greased pan, cover and let rise about 45 minutes or until dough rises to the edge of the pan. Bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

5. Remove and place on cooling rack. Immediately turn out of pan on to rack. let cool for 5-10 minutes. before slicing and serving.

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