Pumpkin Spice Bread

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Pumpkin Spice Bread
Each piece of this yummy Pumpkin Spice Bread is covered in melted butter, sugar, spices and chopped pecans. It is best when still warm from the oven, or if it’s already cooled try heating briefly in the microwave before serving. This is a monkey-type bread, so you can just pull the pieces off with your fingers to eat, or slice into pieces if you prefer.
Recipe type: Dessert | Yeast Bread
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: One 10" Angel Food Pan Prep: Greased Oven Temp: 350° Yield: One Cake Storage: Tightly Wrapped, Room Temperature

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Dough:
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground allspice
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees) (preferably whole milk)
  • 2 packages active dry yeast
  • 1¼ cups granulated sugar, divided
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, melted, divided
  • 1 cup cooked or canned pumpkin
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 5½ cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for work surface
  • ½ cup pecans, finely chopped
Instructions
Dough:
  1. In a small mixing bowl, combine cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, combine warm milk and yeast; stir and let sit until yeast is dissolved, about 10 minutes. Add ½ cup sugar, 3 tablespoons melted butter, pumpkin, and salt; beat until mixture is smooth. Add 2 cups flour and 2 teaspoons of the spice mixture; stir until well mixed. Stir in remaining flour to form a soft dough.
  3. Turn dough onto a lightly floured pastry mat or pastry board; knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
  4. Place dough in a well greased bowl; turn dough over once to grease the top. Cover bowl with a small kitchen towel and let dough rise is a warm place until doubled in size, 1½ to 2 hours.
  5. Prepare one 10 inch Angel Food tube cake pan; lightly grease the pan with shortening. Stir the remaining ¾ cup sugar into the remaining spice mixture.
  6. Punch dough down then knead dough briefly, 4 to 5 times. Divide the dough into thirds. Roll each third into an 18 inch long rope. Cut each rope into 18 1 inch pieces, and then roll each piece into a ball.
  7. Roll the balls in the remaining melted butter, then roll in the sugar and spice mixture. Place 18 balls in the bottom of the prepared pan, spacing evenly (place 12 balls around the outer edge and 6 balls around the middle.) Sprinkle ⅓ of the pecans over the top. Place a second row of 18 balls on top, staggering the balls over the empty spaces, then sprinkle ⅓ of the pecans over the top. Add a last row of 18 balls, sprinkle with any remaining sugar and spice mixture and sprinkle the remaining pecans over the top.
  8. Cover and let dough rise is a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
  9. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  10. Bake: Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until golden brown. Remove pan from oven. Place pan on a wire cooling rack to cool. Cool in pan for 20 minutes.
  11. Tip: Use an instant read thermometer to test your bread for doneness. The temperature should be between 200 and 210 degrees F.
  12. Run a thin kitchen knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the sides. Invert the pan to remove the bread; place bread onto a serving plate, right side up. Best served warm. The bread can be pulled apart or sliced into pieces.
Source: Clements, Carole, Baking, Hermes House, New York, 2001

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

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Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
When the mornings have frost on the ground, the pumpkins are getting ready. With a little pumpkin and spice you can bake some wonderfully delicious, fragrant, and sticky pumpkin cinnamon rolls. In case you can’t decide between a cream cheese or caramel icing, I’ve included a recipe for both.
Recipe type: Dessert | Yeast Bread | Pumpkin
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: One 13"x9"x2" inch oblong or Rimmed Baking Sheet Pan Prep: Greased Oven Temp: 375° Yield: 12 Rolls Storage: Tightly Wrapped, Room Temperature

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapenaccurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Dough:
  • ½ cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees) (preferably whole milk)
  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • ¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 4 to 4¼ cups all-purpose flour
Filling:
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ¼ cup raisins (optional)
  • ¼ cup chopped pecans (optional)
Caramel Icing:
  • 1½ cups confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
  • ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 to 4 tablespoons milk (preferably whole milk)
Or
Cream Cheese Icing:
  • 2 cups confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • ¼ cup cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 to 4 tablespoons milk (preferably whole milk)
Instructions
Dough:
  1. In a large mixing bowl, combine warm milk and yeast; stir and let sit until yeast is dissolved, about 10 minutes. Add brown sugar, eggs, melted butter, pumpkin, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; beat until mixture is smooth. Add 2 cups flour; stir until well mixed. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
  2. Turn dough onto a lightly floured pastry mat or pastry board; knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes, adding additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time if dough is too sticky.
  3. Place dough in a well greased bowl; turn dough over once to grease the top. Cover bowl with a small kitchen towel and let dough rise is a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
  4. Prepare one 13x9x2 inch oblong pan, or large rimmed baking pan; lightly grease the pan with shortening.
  5. Punch dough down then turn onto a lightly floured pastry mat or pastry board; knead dough briefly, 4 to 5 times. Roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 18 inches by 14 inches.
Filling:
  1. Using a pastry brush, brush the top of the dough with melted butter to within ½ inch of the edges.
  2. In a small bowl, stir together sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle sugar cinnamon mixture evenly over buttered dough to within ½ inch of the edges. Sprinkle with raisins and pecans (optional). Roll-up dough jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch the seams together to seal. Slice dough into 1½ inch pieces and place about 1 inch apart in baking pan.
  3. Cover and let rolls rise is a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
  4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  5. Bake: Bake rolls 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove rolls from oven. Place pan on a wire cooling rack to cool.
Caramel Icing:
  1. In a small bowl, combine confectioner’s sugar, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and enough milk to make a good spreading consistency. Spread icing onto still warm rolls.
Or
Cream Cheese Frosting:
  1. Make this icing instead of the caramel icing if you prefer. In a small bowl, combine confectioner’s sugar, butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and enough milk to make a good spreading consistency. Spread icing onto still warm rolls.

Caramel Pecan Monkey Bread

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Caramel Pecan Monkey Bread
Sticky, gooey, pull-apart Monkey Bread is simply the best. Start with little balls of sweetened yeast dough, then a dip first in melted butter then cinnamon and sugar. Add a little caramel and sprinkled pecans and this bread goes one step beyond delicious.

The origin and name of Monkey Bread is not agreed upon. Theories include the fact that you can pull it apart with your hands; it takes a bit of “monkeying around” to prepare the bread; the bread resembles the monkey puzzle tree. One thing we do know is Sometime over the past 35 years, monkey bread morphed to include a caramel-and-nuts coating. It showed up in American bakeries in the 1950s and 1960s, and enjoyed a brief resurgence in popularity during the 1980s, when Nancy Reagan had monkey bread served in the White House during Christmas.
Recipe type: Dessert | Yeast Bread
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: One 10" Angel Food or 9" Fluted Tube Pan Prep: Greased Oven Temp: 350° Yield: 1 Loaf Storage: Tightly Wrapped, Room Temperature

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapenaccurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Dough:
  • 1¼ cups warm milk (110 to 115 degrees) (preferably whole milk)
  • ¼ cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ⅓ cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 large eggs
  • 5½ cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for work surface
Topping:
  • 1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Caramel:
  • ⅔ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • ¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter
  • ¼ cup whipping (heavy) cream
Instructions
Dough:
  1. In a large mixing bowl, combine warm milk, warm water, and yeast; stir and let sit until yeast is dissolved, about 10 minutes. Add sugar, salt, melted butter, and eggs; beat until mixture is smooth. Add 2 cups flour; stir until well mixed. Stir in remaining flour to form a soft dough.
  2. Turn dough onto a lightly floured pastry mat or pastry board; knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
  3. Place dough in a well greased bowl; turn dough over once to grease the top. Cover bowl with a small kitchen towel and let dough rise is a warm place until doubled in size, 1½ to 2 hours.
  4. Prepare one 10 inch Angel Food tube cake pan with a non-removable bottom, or a 9 inch fluted tube pan; lightly grease the pan with shortening.
  5. Punch dough down then knead dough briefly, 4 to 5 times. Divide the dough into fourths, and then cut each fourth into half. Cut each half into 5 pieces, and then roll each piece into a ball. You will have 40 dough balls total; don’t worry if each piece isn’t exactly the same size. Set aside while preparing topping and caramel.
Topping:
  1. Chop pecans to a small to medium coarse texture. Set aside.
  2. In a medium size bowl, large enough to roll the dough balls in, combine sugar and cinnamon, stir to mix. Set aside.
  3. Pour melted butter in a medium size bowl, large enough to roll the dough balls in. Set aside.
Caramel:
  1. In a medium saucepan over medium low heat, combine brown sugar, butter, and cream. Heat and stir until the butter is melted. Increase heat to medium and bring mixture to a boil; cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula for 3 minutes. Pour half of the hot caramel into the bottom of the prepared pan and sprinkle with half of the pecans. Set remainder of caramel aside.
Assembly:
  1. Roll the dough balls in the melted butter, and then roll in the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Place 20 balls in the bottom of the prepared pan on top of the caramel and pecans. Don’t worry about getting it to look perfect, just randomly arrange the balls in the pan. Drizzle the remaining caramel over the balls and sprinkle with the remaining pecans. Arrange the remaining 20 balls over the caramel and pecans. If there is any remaining sugar and cinnamon mixture, sprinkle over the top.
  2. Cover and let dough rise is a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  4. Bake: Bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and place on a wire cooling rack to cool for 5 minutes. Tip: Use an instant read thermometer to test your bread for doneness. The temperature should be between 200 and 210 degrees F.
  5. Run a thin kitchen knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the sides. Invert the pan onto a serving plate. Leave the pan in place one or two minutes before lifting to let the caramel drip down onto the bread. Carefully lift the pan off of the bread. If any caramel or pecans have stuck to the pan, remove and place it back on the bread.
Serving Suggestion: Best served warm. The bread can be pulled apart or sliced into pieces.

Pumpkin Bread

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Pumpkin Bread
The taste and feel of fall is in the air when you smell Pumpkin Bread baking in the oven. Full of rich pumpkin, warm spices, toasted nuts and sweet raisins. This bread will be one of your favorites.
Recipe type: Dessert | Quick Bread
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two 9"x5"x2¾" Loaf Pans Pan Prep: Greased Oven Temp: 375° Yield: 2 Loaves Storage: Tightly Wrapped, Room Temperature

Help: Toasting Nuts and Seeds

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Batter:
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1½ teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¾ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 15-oz can pumpkin
  • 2⅓ cups granulated sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup toasted walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped
  • ½ cup golden raisins
Topping:
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare two 9x5x2¾ inch loaf pans; lightly grease the pans with shortening. Tip: to make baked bread easier to remove from pan, lightly grease the pan, line with parchment paper, and then lightly grease the top of the parchment paper.
Batter:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, sugar, eggs, and oil; whisk together until well blended. Add flour mixture; stir just until blended. Add nuts and raisins; lightly stir to mix in.
  3. Pour batter into the loaf pans, dividing the batter evenly between the 2 pans.
Topping:
  1. In a small bowl, combine ¼ cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Sprinkle tops of batter with sugar cinnamon mixture.
  2. Bake: Bake 55 to 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove pans from oven and let cool about 15 minutes. Grabbing the top edges of the parchment paper, lift bread from loaf pans and place on a wire cooling rack to finish cooling. Remove parchment paper and discard.
Testing for doneness: Use the baking times given in the recipe as an estimate as some ovens bake faster or slower than others. Insert a wooden toothpick or long wooden skewer near the center of the bread and remove it. There should be a few moist crumbs attached to the toothpick or skewer, but not batter. Or, insert an instant read thermometer into the middle of the loaf; the internal temperature should range between 195-205 degrees F. Tip: I like to use a combination of the toothpick test plus a temperature reading using a Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer for an accurate test of doneness.

Gingerbread Loaf

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Gingerbread Loaf
Molasses and warm spices mix together to make a delicious, aromatic bread. This bread is very moist and stores well, and the walnuts sprinkled on top make a pretty topping.
Recipe type: Dessert | Quick Bread
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: One 9"x5"x2¾" Loaf Pan Pan Prep: Greased and Floured Oven Temp: 350° Yield: 1 Loaf Storage: Tightly Wrapped, Room Temperature

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapenaccurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Batter:
  • 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup whole wheat flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 cup buttermilk, chilled
  • ¾ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
  • ½ cup light or dark molasses
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • 3 tablespoons commercial applesauce
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ cup golden raisins
Topping:
  • 2 tablespoons walnuts, finely chopped
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare one 9x5x2¾ inch loaf pan; lightly grease the pan with shortening and dust with flour. Tip: to make baked bread easier to remove from pan, lightly grease the pan, line with parchment paper, and then lightly grease the top of the parchment paper and dust with flour.
Batter:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, combine buttermilk, brown sugar, molasses, oil, applesauce, and eggs; whisk together until well blended. Add flour mixture; stir just until blended. Stir in raisins.
Topping:
  1. Pour batter in the loaf pan. Sprinkle walnuts on top, down the center of the loaf.
  2. Bake: Bake 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove pan from oven and let cool about 15 minutes. Grabbing the top edges of the parchment paper, lift bread from loaf pans and place on a wire cooling rack to finish cooling. Remove parchment paper and discard.
Testing for doneness: Use the baking times given in the recipe as an estimate as some ovens bake faster or slower than others. Insert a wooden toothpick or long wooden skewer near the center of the bread and remove it. There should be a few moist crumbs attached to the toothpick or skewer, but not batter. Or, insert an instant read thermometer into the middle of the loaf; the internal temperature should range between 195-205 degrees F. Tip: I like to use a combination of the toothpick test plus a temperature reading using a Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer for an accurate test of doneness.
Recipe Adapted from Cooking Light May 2006

Ginger Date Pumpkin Loaves

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Ginger Date Pumpkin Loaves
Pumpkin bread loaded with dates and lightly spiced with ginger. Drizzle Ginger Glaze over the top for added spicy sweetness.
Recipe type: Dessert | Quick Bread
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two 9"x5"x2¾" Loaf Pans Pan Prep: Greased Oven Temp: 375° Yield: 2 Loaves Storage: Tightly Wrapped, Room Temperature

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Batter:
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1½ teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped crystallized ginger
  • 1 15-oz can pumpkin (2 cups)
  • 2⅓ cups granulated sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup pitted dates, coarsely chopped
Ginger Glaze:
  • ½ cup confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 to 3 teaspoons water
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare two 9x5x2¾ inch loaf pans; lightly grease the pans with shortening. Tip: to make baked bread easier to remove from pan, lightly grease the pan, line with parchment paper, and then lightly grease the top of the parchment paper.
Batter:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and crystallized ginger; whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, sugar, eggs, and oil; whisk together until well blended. Add flour mixture; stir just until blended. Add dates; lightly stir to mix in.
  3. Bake: Pour batter into the loaf pans, dividing the batter evenly between the 2 pans. Bake 55 to 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove pans from oven and let cool about 15 minutes. Remove bread from pans and place on a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
Ginger Glaze:
  1. In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, ginger, vanilla, and 2 teaspoons water; beat together until mixture is smooth. Add additional water if necessary to make a soft consistency. The glaze should be partially thick, but thin enough that it will run down over the sides of the bread. Add additional powdered sugar if too thin or a little more water if it seems too thick.
Testing for doneness: Use the baking times given in the recipe as an estimate as some ovens bake faster or slower than others. Insert a wooden toothpick or long wooden skewer near the center of the bread and remove it. There should be a few moist crumbs attached to the toothpick or skewer, but not batter. Or, insert an instant read thermometer into the middle of the loaf; the internal temperature should range between 195-205 degrees F. Tip: I like to use a combination of the toothpick test plus a temperature reading using a Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer for an accurate test of doneness.