Pumpkin Swirl Bread

This weekend the air finally changed. You know when that time of year comes and even if it’s above 70 degrees it just feels different? That happened over the weekend. Our lows at night have gotten lower and there’s a crispness to the air.

To celebrate I made bread. Something that hasn’t happened in 14 months. And if I do say so myself, this bread is amazing. One of my favorite treats in the fall is the pumpkin swirl bread from Great Harvest. And this, well this is almost the same. It’s a tiny bit spicy, soft, heavenly toasted with butter,and tastes like fall.

And I happened upon the end result by mistake. Somehow in the rush at the grocery store I ended up grabbing pumpkin pie filling INSTEAD of canned pumpkin and I didn’t realize my mistake until both loaves were in the oven. Oops.

Well luckily for me the end result was better for it and from now on my newly altered recipe will be my go-to.

Pumpkin Swirl Bread

(adapted from this Pumpkin Yeast Bread recipe)

1/2 cup warm water
2 tablespoons instant yeast
2/3 cup warm milk
2 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups Pumpkin Pie filling
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 1/2 cups (approximately) All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Filling (mix all together in small bowl):

1/2 cup granulated sugar                                                                                      1/2 cup pumpkin pie filling                                                                                      2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

 

In a large bowl, stir yeast into water to soften. Add milk, eggs, pumpkin, oil, 4 cups flour, brown sugar, salt, ginger and cardamom to yeast mixture. Beat vigorously for a few minutes.

Gradually add remaining flour until you have a dough stiff enough to knead. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead, adding flour as necessary, until you have a smooth, elastic dough.  (I used my stand mixer to mix up the dough)

Put dough into an oiled bowl. Turn once to coat entire ball of dough with oil. Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Turn dough out onto a lightly oiled work surface. Divide dough in half. Press dough into rectangles and spread filling over rectangle. Roll up, pulling dough up to cover the ends and pressing lightly along the seam to close. Let rise again, covered gently with a dish towel for 30-40 minutes. Place on a silpat or parchment paper atop a jelly roll pan.

Bake in a preheated 375°F oven. Loaves bake about 30 minutes, rolls about 20. Check the internal temperature of each with an instant-read thermometer.

Immediately remove bread from pans and cool on a wire rack to prevent crust from becoming soggy. For a shiny crust, brush tops of bread or rolls lightly with vegetable oil. Makes 2 large loaves, or 1 large loaf and 12 dinner rolls.