Scroll to the bottom of the page for "PRINT RECIPE" ⬇

Pumpkin is loaded with the antioxidant beta-carotene or vitamin A. Vitamin A is essential for healthy, glowing skin, strong eyesight, and our immune system. Do not know what to do with the pumpkin, try to bake bread.

This Pumpkin Loaf is very soft, fluffy and stays fresh quite well for several days too.

You may also like my other Purple Sweet Potato Bread recipe.

If you have any questions regarding this recipe or any other post, please leave me a comment in the “LEAVE A COMMENT” link and I will reply you as soon as possible. Do tag me on Instagram @Bakewithpaws if you attempt on this recipe.

How To Make Pumpkin Loaf / Bread

Yields: 1 loaf

INGREDIENTS:

310g bread flour

115g mashed pumpkin (about 250g pumpkin - peeled, cut, steamed and mashed)

15g brown sugar

1 tsp (5g) salt

1 tsp (3g) instant dried yeast

40g egg, whisked

85g milk (Reserve 10g first, add in later if too dry. I used all 85g of milk)

30g butter, room temperature

Utensil:
450g Loaf pan with lid (20 X 10 X 10 cm) or (8" X 4" X 4")

METHOD:

Mashed Pumpkin/Pumpkin Puree:

Wash, peel, cut and steam the pumpkin for about 15 minutes. Mash with potato riser. Set aside to cool.

Kneading:

Put all ingredients (except butter) into a bowl of stand mixer.
Slightly combine the mixture by hand with the hook attachment before turning on the machine so that the flour will not splash out.
Knead for another 3 minutes or until the dough comes together. Add in butter and continue knead for 10 - 15 minutes or until the dough come together and achieve window pane stage. A reasonable window pane is good enough and it can be left to rest. Gluten will continue to develop while resting. The whole kneading process, I stopped few times to scrape down the dough from the hook to be sure it is evenly kneaded and also to prevent the motor from overheating.

1st Proofing:

Form the dough into a round ball and let it rise in a warm place for 60 minutes or until double in size in a large greased bowl, covered with cling film or kitchen towel. I normally leave the dough in the stand mixer’s bowl and cover with lid.
You may also transfer dough to the fridge to retard for several hours or overnight for about 8 – 12 hours. I find the dough retard in the fridge is softer and better shelf life,

Shaping:

Punch down the dough to release the air. Transfer the dough to a clean floured surface then divide into 3 equal portions. Please use a kitchen scale if you want to be exact.
Form each portion to a ball. Rest for 10 minutes.
Flatten with rolling pin into a dish.
Fold right to centre and fold left to meet in the centre. Roll out with rolling pin into long rectangle shape. Roll up the dough like Swiss Roll until a small log is formed.
Place all dough in a lined loaf pan.

2nd Proofing:

Let it rise at warm place (room temperature around 29C - 30C) for another 40 - 60 minutes or slightly below the rim of the pan.
Brush the top with water and sprinkle some pumpkin seeds on top (optional). Put on the lid and let it proof for another 8 - 10 minutes for square loaf.

Baking:

Preheat oven at around 190C - 200C (top & bottom heat) or around 180C - 190C (fan-forced) for 10 - 15 minutes.
Bake in a preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
Remove bread from oven and pan, let it cool on rack completely before slicing.

GENERAL NOTES:

GLUTEN DEVELOPMENT & WINDOWPANE TEST

Gluten forms when flour comes in contact with water. Hydration of the flour causes the sticky and stretchy protein to form, giving structure to the bread. This makes your bread trap air and rise.

Gluten in dough can be developed by autolyse, resting, kneading or folding.

The windowpane test is used to determine whether the dough has been sufficiently kneaded. By gently pulling the dough (or you may pinch off some dough) and trying to stretch it into a thin membrane. If you are able to stretch the dough paper thin and translucent without tearing, then the gluten is fully developed. However, if you can stretch it without tearing but the membrane is not transparent, then the gluten is not yet fully developed.

However, from my experience not all the recipe can achieve a thin and translucent window pane stage easily. For example low hydration and low fat dough. For such recipes, a reasonable window pane is good enough and it can be left to rest. Gluten will continue to develop while resting. Exercising restraint to not over-knead the dough prevents the gluten from being overworked and broken. Some of you may have experienced the dough breaking during the second proofing. It is because the dough is over kneaded.

The total kneading time for me is usually 15 minutes at low speeds except brioche dough with high fat percentage or dough using liquid fat which usually takes a little longer (maybe 18-20 mins).

From my experience, I found that high hydration dough with high percentage of fat will be easy to stretch and achieve a paper thin windowpane stage.

KNEADING TIME

For kneading, please regard the timing provided as an indication only. It is only meant as a guide. Timing may differ depending on the brand of flour and electric mixer used. The protein content may vary from one brand of flour to another.

FLOUR
The right flour plays a very important role in bread making. To achieve fluffy, soft and light bread, I used Japan High Gluten Flour in most of my bread baking. The protein content is around 12 - 13%.

HYDRATION

The liquid measurement given is also a guide. It is advisable to always reserve some liquid and not add it all in one go. This would give you the opportunity to adjust if necessary. If dough is too dry, add the reserve liquid one tablespoon at a time until the right consistency. This is because each flour absorbs water and hydrates differently.

PROOFING

Please note that the proofing timing may also vary depending on your climate and environment. The humidity and temperature at your place will influence how dough rises.

If you are unable to judge by just looking at the dough, you can do the finger poke test:

First Proofing:

Lightly flour or oil your finger or knuckle, gently poke in the centre of the dough then remove your finger. If it bounces back immediately without any indentation then it needs more time.
If the indentation stays and it doesn’t bounce back or if the dough collapses, then the it is over proved.
If it bounces back just a little, then the dough is ready to be punched down and shaping.

Second Proofing:

Lightly press the side of the proved dough with your finger. If it bounces back immediately without any indentation, it means the dough is under proved and needs more time before baking.
If the indentation stays and it doesn’t bounce back, it means it has been over proved.
If the indentation slowly bounces back and leave a small indentation, it is ready to bake.
There will be a final burst of rising once the bread is placed to bake in the oven and it is called oven spring.

WRINKLE TOP OR SHRINKING

If your bread collapses or gets wrinkled on top after removing from oven, it could be because your dough over proved during the second proofing. Please proof until it rises 80 - 90% in size or is slightly below the rim of the pan.

BAKING TEMPERATURE & TIME

Do also note that the baking temperature and timing provided are what works for my oven and should also be regarded as a guide only. Every oven behaves a little differently, so please adjust accordingly for your oven.

Comments

UnknownJuly 30, 2017 at 6:18 AM
Hi!Yeanley,
I wanna try baking pumpkin loaf from your recipe but can i use 60gm canola oil instead of using 60gm butter.
AnonymousMay 25, 2020 at 7:52 PM
If i only have 450g loaf pan, how do i adjust the recipe?
Thank you.
NaysumiAugust 30, 2020 at 7:41 PM
I am trying your recipe without machine, hand kneading. I have a problem that I couldn't read the pumpkin into the dough. The dough is scatter into small pieces and a bit hard and pumpkin just coated the small piece of dough. Any suggestion? Thank you very much

By the way I just steam the pumpkin and mash it and put it in the mix ingrediat.
MayaOctober 9, 2020 at 5:18 PM
Hi, can I just omit the egg in this recipe or I need to replace it with something else? Any advice?
STOctober 15, 2020 at 7:04 PM
Hi, i used the same amount of pumpkin but the dough is very wet before i add the butter. Only used 120g of milk. Can i add more flour or reduce the pumpkin mash?