Ingredients

• Dough:
• 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
• Pull-apart Bread:
• 1/3 pumpkin bread dough
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, loosely packed
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 6 tbsp butter, melted, divided

Directions

1. n 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. DIRECTIONS (PULL-APART BREAD)

4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray loaf pan with cooking spray, coating entire inside. Once the dough has risen, divide with a sharp knife into three sections. Make sure you cover each section so it doesn’t dry out.

5. Flour your countertop and lightly flour your rolling pin. The dough isn’t sticky like most I’ve handled, so rolling will be a cinch.

6. Using 1/3 of the pumpkin dough, pat into rectangle and roll out to approximately 18″ x 10″ (large rectangle). Mix together the sugars and cinnamon in a small bowl. Mix four tablespoons of butter with the sugar, reserving the rest for the topping.

7. Cut in half lengthwise and stack the two strips. Cut stacked strips in 2″ sections. Stack these and place in well greased loaf pan. Drizzle remaining butter over the loaf and sprinkle reserved sugar over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until top crest the pan about 1/2″ to 1″, about 45 minutes.

8. Bake for approximately 30-40 minutes, until internal temp of bread is 190°F. Top will get dark. Cover after 20 minutes to prevent it from burning or getting too dark.

9. Remove the bread from the oven and let it rest on wire rack for 1-2 minutes, so the caramelization cools down. Run a knife around edges of pan to make sure it’s not sticking, then turn out onto foil or parchment paper. Let the bread sit for a minute or so the juices can distribute. Flip again (using the foil as a guide) so the top is upright. Let cool slightly (5-10 minutes) before diving in. The sugar will be hot and basically like caramel so it’s easy to get burned if you devour immediately.

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