This beautiful, golden orange bread hits all the autumnal notes, with pumpkin puree in the dough itself, along with a touch of pumpkin pie spice blend. Don’t be scared of the long recipe below or the form of this bread. I’ve given lots of tips and tricks on how to make it, and it’s significantly easier than it looks. I’ve even included a video to show you how to form the dough if you wish to watch it. Feel free to swap out a different dried fruit for the dried cranberries or use one of the alternative filling suggestions above.
Course bread
Cuisine American
Keyword bread, pumpkin, yeast
Prep Time 45 minutesminutes
Cook Time 25 minutesminutes
Resting Time 1 hourhour30 minutesminutes
Servings 8
Calories 281kcal
Author Irvin
Ingredients
Dough
1/4cupmilkany kind
2 1/4teaspoonactive dry yeast(see section above for substitutions)
3/4cuppumpkin puree190 grams, not pumpkin pie filling (see section above for substitutions)
1/4cuppacked golden brown sugar55 grams
1large egg
1tablespoonvegetable oil
1teaspoonpumpkin pie spice blendhomemade or store bought (see section above for substitutions)
1teaspoonvanilla extract
3 to 3 1/4cupsall-purpose flour420 grams (more if necessary, see section about pumpkin puree for more info)
1teaspoonkosher salt
Filling
3tablespoondark brown sugar
1teaspoonpumpkin pie spice blendhomemade or store bought (see section above for substitutions)
1/4cupdried cranberrieschopped fine (see section above for subsitutions and customizations)
3tablespoonunsalted buttermelted
To Finish
1large egg yolk
Powdered sugar
Instructions
Make the dough by heating the milk on the stove briefly until warm, this should only take 15 to 20 seconds or so, depending on your stovetop. Sprinkle the yeast over the milk and stir with a fork to dissolve.
Pour the yeasty milk into the bowl of a stand. Add in the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, egg, oil, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla. Using a balloon whisk, stir the ingredients together, breaking up any pumpkin or brown sugar clumps.
Add 3 cups of flour and salt to the dough. Using the dough hook attachment, slowly stir together with the mixer until the dough starts to form together. Increase the speed to medium low and knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 4 to 5 minutes.If you notice the dough is very sticky, this might be because the pumpkin puree has more liquid in it. Add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time to compensate. But don’t do this until the dough has been kneading for about 1 to 2 minutes. Often times all the flour hasn’t been incorporated yet, and dough that seems sticky will smooth out and absorb more flour, becoming less sticky in the kneading process. The final dough should be ever-so-slightly tacky but not sticky.
Once the dough has been kneaded, lightly coat a large bowl with cooking oil, then gather the dough into a smooth ball by pulling the edges of the dough down. Place the rough side of the ball of dough into the bottom of the oil bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a damp cloth, and then place in a warm area to rise. Let the dough rise until double in size, about 60 to 90 minutes.While the dough is rising, make the filling by combining the brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice blend, and chopped cranberries into a bowl.
Once the dough has risen, dump it onto a clean surface and divide it into 4 parts. Cover three parts of the dough with plastic wrap to keep them drying out. Take the fourth dough and gently form it into a ball. This seems fussy, but making it into a ball will help form a more round disk when you roll it out.Place the ball on a silicon baking mat or piece of parchment paper, then roll it out into a thin 10-inch circle. I found the silicon baking mat is easier because it doesn’t slide around on the countertop. But you can use the parchment paper, just be aware of it as you roll the dough out.
Once the thin circle is formed (use your fingers to help stretch it to form a circle if there are uneven edges), brush about 1 tablespoon of the melted butter over the circle, then sprinkle about 1/3 of the filling over the butter. It will look pretty thin, barely covering the surface. That’s to be expected. Resist the temptation to add more filling, as it will make forming the bread harder.Take another piece of dough, form a ball, then roll it out into another thin 10-inch circle of dough on a clean surface. I don’t bother to flour my surface, as I want a little bit of “grip” on the surface to help me roll it out, but if you find your dough too sticky, you can add a little flour. Move the dough to the top of the first circle, stretching out any edges to help cover the first dough and form a better circle. Gently use a rolling pin to press the dough down onto the first disk of dough, pushing out any air bubbles.Repeat the process, brushing the dough with melted butter and sprinkling the filling over the butter. Roll out the third and fourth dough pieces in the same manner, creating a 10-inch stack with 4 layers of dough, and 3 layers of filling sandwiched between. Do not put any filling on the top layer.Lift and slide the silicon mat or parchment paper onto a rimmed baking sheet.
Gently place a 2 1/2 or 3 inch round cookie cutter in the middle of the dough circle. You can use a cup if you don’t have a cookie cutter, you just need something round to guide your cuts. If your bread is on a silicon mat use a dull butter knife or plastic dough scrape to cut down into the circle, from the edge of the dough to the edge of the cookie cutter. Do this at the top, bottom and sides (12-o’clock, 6-o’clock, 3-o’clock, and 9-o’clock positions if you pretend the circle is a clock).
Now cut between each division again, making 8 pieces. Then cut each piece one more time in the middle, making 16 even strips.If your dough is on parchment paper, you can use a sharper knife or a pizza cutter if you wish. But use a dull knife or plastic scraper on the silicon mat, so as not to damage it.
Remove the cookie cutter and take two adjacent strips next to each other and twist them away from each other making one or two full twists. Then press the tips of the strips together to form a point. Repeat around the bread, continuing to twist and form points. You should have 8 points, and the center of the bread will look like a star.Cover the bread with plastic wrap, and preheat the oven to 350°F. Let it preheat for about 20 minutes while the bread rests again.
After the 20 minutes, the bread will be a little puffy but won’t rise a huge amount. Press together any ends that may have pulled apart after the rest. Beat the egg yolk with one tablespoons of water, then brush the bread with the egg wash. Bake the bread for 24 to 27 minutes, or until the bread looks golden brown on top. If you have an instant read thermometer, the center of the bread should read about 190°F.Let the bread rest on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before loosening it from the parchment paper or silicon mat with a spatula. Move the bread carefully to a wire rack to let it cool. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.