Holiday Pumpkin Bread

This festive Holiday Pumpkin Bread recipe makes two wreaths so keep one wreath for yourself and give one away; or serve one, and make the other into Pumpkin Bread Pudding.

These wreaths also make beautiful centerpieces for your Holiday dinner. I've got company coming for Thanksgiving Dinner so I plan to use one for a centerpiece and the other for bread pudding.

Holiday Pumpkin Bread
The recipe for this moist and tasty golden wreath is courtesy of King Arthur Flour.

Yield: Makes two 8-inch wreaths



Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cups (11 1/2 ounces) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour*
• 2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) White Wheat Flour*
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) brown sugar
• 1/3 cup (1 5/8 ounces) diced crystallized ginger, optional
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• 15-ounce can pumpkin
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick, 2 ounces) melted butter or canola oil (1 3/4 ounces)

* You can make this bread completely with all-purpose flour if you prefer.

Directions:
Combine all of the dough ingredients, and mix and knead them—by hand, electric mixer, or bread machine—until you’ve made a smooth, somewhat sticky dough. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl,

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set it aside to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. It should have expanded somewhat, but won’t be real puffy.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased surface and divide it in half.  Then divide each half into three pieces.

 

 

 

Roll each piece into an 18" log.

 

Working with three logs at a time, make a braid, pinching the ends together.

 

 

Coil the braid into a lightly greased 8" or 9" cake pan, shaping it into a wreath-like circle and pressing the ends together where they meet.

 

 

Repeat with the remaining logs. Cover both pans with lightly greased plastic wrap. Let the wreaths rise for about 90 minutes, until they look puffy, though not doubled in bulk.

Bake the bread in a preheated 350°F oven for 30 minutes, until lightly browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center reads 190"F.

 

Remove the wreaths from the oven, and allow them to cool on a rack.

These wreaths taste great and make beautiful centerpieces.

Happy Baking!
Cathy

 

 

Here are some additional festive bread recipes and resources:

• Festive Recipes
• Roll Recipes
• Pumpkin Bread Recipes