Pumpkin Cinnamon Swirl Yeast Bread

Are you thinking about Halloween yet?  Well, I am and I started really early digging into the pumpkin recipes.  I made some pumpkin quick bread and I wanted something a little different.  When I saw this idea with more details here (who got her's from this recipe), I was sold.  I had all the ingredients that I needed in the house so it was perfect!  I pulled them all out to double check.

I measured out the pumpkin which is the hardest step.  I was using the last of the can which I had already made quick bread from so there wasn't enough and I quickly thought that I had some homemade pumpkin puree frozen.  I promise that this recipe is super easy and you don't have to use pumpkin puree but I wanted to explain why mine is two different colors.

I put the pumpkin in the bread machine first.

Then I added oil and water. 

Added the milk.

Then added the egg and stirred everything around so that I didn't have to mix up the egg before I put it in.  I added the seasonings and the brown sugar.

Add the flour to the top and then flatten it out a little to make sure all the good stuff underneath is covered.

Topped it all with the yeast.  The instructions say to make a well but as long as the flour is flat, it turns out great.

I use the Fleischmann's Bread Machine Yeast normally but the price of it got so expensive at the store that I looked into other options instead of paying $6 per small jar.

My parents bought me a two pack of these bricks of yeast.  They sort of looked like shorter packages of coffee where they are compacted and look like you are going to open it and see a brick but luckily, it is exactly the same yeast so I get to fill a small mason jar and the old yeast jar with each package.  My dad got it the first time and showed up with them and I was totally freaked and made him return them.  After the yeast prices went up again, I decided to figure out how to use it if it killed me.  I have already opened my second one and I am excited to say that they work exactly the same.

 The bread machine ran the dough cycle and I got a huge mound of pumpkin bread.  This would have been great cooked just like this because of the great flavor and moisture but there was another step that I thought was amazing!

Roll it out on a floured surface with a rolling pin.  It helps to get all the bubbles out.  If you are better than me, yours will be square or even.  I stink at that but it really doesn't matter too much to the final bread.

Then, spread butter or margarine over the top of the dough.  I used to use melted butter but it is way easier to spread and use softened butter because it doesn't run off the end of the dough.  It is way easier to keep your cinnamon and sugar away from the edge....I didn't do a great job of that this time but leave an edge on yours.

Spread lots of cinnamon and sugar over the top of the buttered dough.  Next time I would use even more but leave a little more at the edge because this needed a little more room then my cinnamon rolls do at the edge because you need to seal the bread dough.

After it is totally topped, you roll the bread into a big long tube just like with cinnamon rolls.

My dough was so long that I decided to make one good sized loaf and one smaller one by cutting the dough in half.  Here are the two loaves that I got.

One rose all the way up like a big loaf of bread so I was wondering how I would have made this into one loaf as the recipe called for but I am glad that everything stayed in the pan while rising.

I baked the loaves and the larger one rose even more and you can see the side layers were sealed as well as I could have.

After they cooled off, I took one out of the pan to test it out.  It smelled amazing so I couldn't wait to test it out!!!

When I cut into the loaf, I was a little sad because the top came up far from the top of the loaf.  I didn't do a great job securing the layers so I think that it rose a little differently but everything was cooked evenly so that it all that mattered.

I ate the heel of the bread while waiting for two other pieces to toast.  The top got a little brown but it was totally perfect to see this yummy cinnamon swirl through the whole toast.

If you look close up, it was even harder to butter because the layers were a little separated.  I think that I had the most fun unrolling and eating the bread just like those little store bought cinnamon rolls of my childhood.

My husband wasn't a big fan because he said it didn't have enough cinnamon in the bread which I can't disagree but we are a really cinnamon family.  I would top it with lots more cinnamon and try to seal it better so that it doesn't rise unevenly.  I am hoping to make this age around the holidays and hope that it lasts long enough for some french toast.  YUM!!  It would make the more perfect french toast.

I hope that you try this recipe to and see how you like it because it is really worth the little bit of time that it takes to make a homemade loaf of something just a little different.  It has all the benefits of the cinnamon roll without the tons of added fat and calories.  Here is hoping you enjoy it too!!  Check out this recipe and more on Eat Cake for Dinner because she has some amazing recipes including this one.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Swirl Yeast Bread

Ingredients

Bread:

• ¾ c. canned pumpkin puree, room temp.
• ¼ c. warm water
• ⅓ c. warm milk (microwave for 20 seconds)
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• ¼ c. brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. nutmeg
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 3 c. bread flour, approximately
• ¾ Tbsp instant yeast 

Cinnamon Sugar Swirl:

• 1½ Tbsp butter
• ½ c. light brown or white sugar mixed with 2 tsp. cinnamon

Instructions

1. Add pumpkin, water, warm milk, vegetable oil, brown sugar, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and egg to the bread machine pan (Add ingredients to bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer if different from before). Add the flour. Make a well in the top of the flour and add the instant yeast. Turn the bread machine on the dough cycle and let it do all of the work (my dough cycle takes 1½ hours). You will want to check it at first while it is mixing, to make sure you have enough flour. The dough should be slightly sticky to the touch, but will stay in a ball as the bread machine mixes. I used exactly 3 cups of flour and it was perfect. If your dough is way too sticky, add a little extra flour, but don’t over-do it.
2. Once the dough cycle has finished and the bread has risen, punch down dough and remove from bread machine pan. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead a few times, just to release the air bubbles. Roll out dough to a 9”x22” rectangle. Spread top with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture, leaving a ½-inch border around the edge.
3. Roll up tightly, beginning with the short end and pinch end together to seal. Place in a greased 9”x5” bread pan (or two); cover with a moist kitchen towel and allow to rise until almost doubled. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for 30 minutes. Tent with foil for the last 10 minutes to prevent the crust from browning too much (of course if you forget like me, you get a little darker bread). If you tap on the bread, it will sound hollow when it is finished. When finished baking, run a knife around the edge of the pan and remove bread to cool.