WHOLE-GRAIN PUMPKIN YEAST BREAD

This recipe is from King Arthur Flour and it is not a vintage recipe. It does, however, remind me of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays at my grandparents homes so I am putting it here. It most definitely reminds me of vintage times.

While you can certainly add all of the ingredients straight to your mixing bowl or bread machine bucket as listed in the recipe, I like to break it into two stages. First add:
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons instand yeast
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup canned or puréed pumpkin
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) King Arthur Whole-Wheat Flour (white whole wheat or premium)

Mix everything together by hand and let the mixture sit for about 10 to 15 minutes. There’s a lot of moisture here, and it takes time for the flour to fully hydrate. By giving the ingredients a chance to sit, the flour can get a jump-start absorbing the liquids, which can save you from adding too much flour later on.

Once you’ve let the initial mix sit, you can add the rest of the ingredients:
1 3/4 to 2 cups (7 1/4 to 8 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Now at first I was skeptical about adding spices to the bread. I didn’t want to end up with something that tasted like pumpkin pie, as much as I love it for dessert. Happily, the spices don’t overpower but instead play lovely background notes against the pumpkin. Like a whisper instead of a shout, they get the point across right when you need it.

Continue to knead the bread by hand, in your mixer, or using the dough cycle of your bread machine. Check to be sure the dough isn’t too wet and sticky, and add more flour by the tablespoonful as needed.

This dough will still be softer and moister than that of regular sandwich bread. As long as it doesn’t stick to you like glue, you’re good to go.

Some bread doughs are going to be naturally more sticky and wet than others, and even as you work more flour into them, it will keep getting absorbed; so it’s easy to add too much. By stopping here and working the dough gently by hand until smooth, you’ll have much better control over the final outcome.

Can you keep going in the mixer or bread machine? Absolutely! For me, I still like a little hands-on during the process.

Set the dough aside to rise, covered, for about 45 to 50 minutes. Be patient as you watch the dough; it doesn’t start to rise for about 20 minutes or so, but will be full and puffy by the end of the rise time.

Gently deflate the dough and shape it into a smooth log. Place itin a greased 9" X 5" loaf pan and cover again for the final rise.

Bake the bread in a preheated 350°F oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a digital thermometer reads 190°F when inserted into the center of the loaf. Remove the loaf from the oven, and after a couple of minutes transfer it to a rack to cool.

Brushing the finished loaf with melted butter is completely optional, but yields the softest crust. Be sure to cool this bread completely before slicing, otherwise the interior can be gummy. I know it’s torture, but sometimes we just have to suffer for our art.

A baked loaf will keep in the freezer up to 3 months.