Pumpkin Swirl Bread

Sweet Challot weren't the only thing I baked for Rosh HaShana last week. With the chill of fall definitely upon us, I decided to put a can of valuable pumpkin to use and make a pumpkin bread with a cinnamon swirl inside. Instead of making them into buns or loaves, I'd shape them into round, coiled loaves as is traditional for this time of the year. That's exactly what I did. I adapted a recipe from Marcy's A Passion for Baking and I love the way it turned out! The breads turned out to be perfect with a healthy slather of apple butter.
I cut back the yeast in the recipe and used oil instead of margarine. I think I would make a few changes so that the loaf itself would be slightly moister and improve it's keeping quality when frozen. As for the swirl, I pretty much just used the amounts of brown sugar and cinnamon called for in her recipe. I allowed the dough to rise overnight (obviously!) and shaped them the next morning. The dough handles beautifully and bakes up to a beautiful orangey-brown. Next time, I just might decide to flavor the dough with some classic fall spices. Definitely goes on the Rosh HaShana bread rotation. These are headed off to Yeastspotting!

Pumpkin Swirl Bread
adapted from A Passion for Baking

Dough:
5-6 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp salt
2/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp instant yeast
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1 cup water
1 cup pumpkin puree

Swirl:
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon

egg, for glazing, optional

To make the dough, place all of the dry ingredients into a large bowl and whisk thoroughly.

Add all of the wet ingredients and stir to make a shaggy dough.

Allow to rest in the bowl about ten minutes.

Knead the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic, about seven minutes. Place in a greased bowl and cover with plastic. Refrigerate overnight.

Here is my risen dough.

Scale the dough into three pieces. Roll each piece out into a rectangle. Spray with pam and sprinkle a third of the cinnamon mixture over the dough. Roll up jelly roll style and coil it.

Should look like this! Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.

Place the loaves on a parchment lined baking sheet and set aside to proof. Let them proof until well risen and puffy. This depends on the temperature of your kitchen, so just use your judgment.

These are my proofed loaves. Towards the end of proofing, preheat the oven to 350.

Glaze with egg wash, if desired.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until the loaves are golden brown. A thermometer should register about 190. Cool completely on a wire rack and store in plastic bags.