Pumpkin-Spiced Sugar Loaf
Something Sweet and Warming for the Season…
I love baking for the seasons, especially during the Autumn/Winter. It’s a time of the year that demands cosiness and baking makes this happen. Especially when you’re baking something like this pumpkin-spiced sugar loaf. I have so much fun making this, it’s a great way to kill a rainy Sunday. It’s super simple and easy to make, most of the time is taken in the raising time.
This recipe incorporates a lot of the season with cinnamon and pumpkin spice. If you can’t find pre-packaged pumpkin spice, it’s so simple to make. Combine equal parts of nutmeg, cloves, allspice and ginger. Simple and easy to do so.
The one thing I love about this bake is that there’s no real accuracy when it comes to making up the loaf. Once you’ve cut the mini loaves, you can place them into the loaf tins in any fashion. Create different patterns, it’s going to look amazing once they rise. Trust me, they look great to photograph for Instagram.
Pumpkin-Spiced Sugar Loaf.
When it comes to making your pumpkin-spiced sugar loaf, there’s a little manual labour when it comes to making up the mixture. I used my hand-mixer for the most part, however, I feel like this is definitely a recipe for a mixer. This mixer would look amazing and sleek on your countertop.
The recipe is very much bread based when it comes to mixing and rising, so don’t be afraid of it. Bread can seem complicated, but it really isn’t. Just don’t overwork it and give it enough raising time and you’ll be winning.
Pumpkin Spiced Sugar Loaf
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups whole milk, warmed
- 1 tbsp instant yeast
- 2 tbsp honey
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp salted butter, room temp
- 1 cup salted butter, cold in small pieces
- ½ cup caster sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp pumpkin-spiced seasoning
- 1 egg, beaten for brushing
Instructions
- In a bowl or a mixer, combine the milk, honey, 4 1/2 cups flour, yeast, and salt. Using the dough hook, mix until the flour is completely incorporated, about 4-5 minutes. Then, add the room temp butter and mix until combined, about 2-3 minutes more, adding the additional 1/2 cup flour as needed, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- Cover the bowl with cling film and let sit at room temperature for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- Next, punch the dough down and roll out onto a lightly floured surface, creating a large rectangle that’s about 12×18 inches big. Layer the thin slices of cold butter down the middle third of the dough, pressing gently to adhere and layering the slices together to create a rectangle of butter. Gently push the butter together with your hands.
- For the first fold: Fold 1/3 of the dough over the butter, then fold the other 1/3 over top of the first layer so you have 3 dough layers, like an envelope. Roll the dough out again into a large rectangle, fold into thirds. Wrap the dough in cling film and transfer it to the freezer for 20 minutes.
- For the second fold: Remove the dough from the freezer. Roll the dough into a rectangle and fold it into an envelope. Wrap the dough in cling film and transfer to the freezer for 20 minutes
- Meanwhile, butter two bread pans. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon and pumpkin spice mixture.
- Remove the dough from the freezer. Roll the dough into a rectangle. Spread the dough with 2 tablespoons of softened butter and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the butter. Starting with the edge of the dough closest to you, roll the dough into a log, keeping it tight as you go. When you reach the edge, pinch along the edges to seal.
- Cut the dough log into 10-11 mini swirls. Arrange each roll into the prepared bread pans. Cover and let rise 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 220 degrees. Brush each loaf with the beaten egg. Transfer to the oven and bake 35-40 minutes or until dark brown on top. Let cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then flip out onto a cooling rack. Slice and serve warm or at room temperature.