I can’t believe it’s November already. I mean, I put in an order for a turkey last week for goodness sake! I know it’s incredibly boring to talk about how quickly time passes, but somehow it still amazes me. Anyway, I wanted to sneak in another pumpkin recipe before fall suddenly passes us by and we’re in the dead of January and we’re juicing kohlrabi or something. I intended to make a cinnamon-swirl bread with pumpkin, like a standard-loaf. When I went on the hunt for some inspiration I first went to my friend Megan’s blog and then I saw this number and I was like, “DING, DING, DING! We have a winner.” Not really, I don’t say that IRL, but I was liked, “YES. This. I’mma make dat” (<<< I know, not much better).
See, one of my favorite fall-time things to make is Megan’s pumpkin pizza dough. It’s not like, punch-your-face-pumpkin-city, more like subtle earthy, sweet pumpkin-ville. It’s really great and I really wanted to make a sweetly spiced bread using pumpkin and yeast. I’ve made yeasted pumpkin things before (see these Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Buns and these Pumpkin Sandwich Buns), but this braid just called me. I have recently been coming around to white chocolate (I was a non-believer in the past) and thought it would pair really well with the sweet spice of cinnamon and the just sweet, earthy pumpkin dough. This braid was so much easier than I anticipated! It was a little messy what with the cinnamon filling and white chocolate chips rolling about, but came together so nicely. This bread is so moist, not too sweet, with lovely streaks of sweet cinnamon filling braided throughout and sweet, buttery bites of white chocolate. It’s also impressive, so definitely feel good about bringing this to the neighbors to flex your fall-time baking skills. They don’t have to know it’s easier to make than it appears. .
- Dough:
- 2¼ teaspoons active, dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ cup warm (not hot) milk
- ½ cup pumpkin
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons soft butter
- Filling:
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 3 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¾ cup white chocolate chips, divided
- Egg Wash:
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 2 tablespoons raw sugar (granulated is okay, too)
- Stir the yeast, milk, and sugar in a measuring cup and set aside until foamy. Meanwhile, Whisk together the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla. Once the yeast-milk mixture is foamy, whisk it into the pumpkin mixture.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer stir together the flour and salt. Rub the butter into the flour until distributed throughout. Pour in the pumpkin-milk mixture and mix using the dough hook on medium-low speed until a sticky dough forms. Turn out the dough onto a flour-dusted surface and knead for a few minutes. Shape the dough into a smooth ball and place in a oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for about an hour, or until doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease 2, 6-inch round, baking pans or 10-inch cast iron skillet (or cake pan).
- Divide the risen dough in half and roll each half into a 9×6 inch rectangle (18×12 for a large loaf). Stir together the melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Spread over each rectangle. Sprinkle ½ cup of the white chocolate chips between the two rectangles of dough. Roll up the dough (from the longer side) into a tight roll and pinch to seal. With a sharp knife, cut each roll in half, lengthwise, and twist two of the pieces together into a braid. Repeat with the other two pieces. Form into rounds and pinch to connect the ends. Carefully and quickly moved each round to the greased pans and gather any stray white chocolate chips and sprinkle over the top. Whisk the egg and milk together to make the egg wash. Brush each braided loaf with the wash and sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes, until deeply golden and set in the center. Remove from the oven and cool in the pans for at least 15 minutes before turning out. Melt the remaining ¼ cup of white chocolate and drizzle over the bread.
This looks amazing. I love white chocolate, maybe more than any other…am I allowed to say that in a world full of dark chocolate lovers? I really like the idea of it with pumpkin as well.
I seriously need this!! So gorgeous and perfect for breakfast or a snack!! Crushing HARD.
I’ve always wanted to make a braid, but have been too intimidated to try one just yet. Loving that pumpkin, cinnamon, and white chocolate combo though — sounds like a winner to me!
Uh, YES to this all the way! I’ve been wanting to do something doughy and braid-y because watching The Great British Baking Show makes me wanna! This looks incredible, Cindy!
THIS is a showstopper. Stunning.
I love the idea of pumpkin and white chocolate! And these photos are stunning, lady!!
What a gorgeous braid you have there. We love this kind of sweet breads here, in Romania. They are traditional, but I never tried one with pumpkin and white chocolate. It’d definitely a mix that I wanna try!
Well done!
Helooooo gorgeous! This looks SO good! And it would make an awesome Thanksgiving morning breakfast – a meal so often overlooked!
Whoa!! This is a killer!! I love the white chocolate you added in there. That is one beautiful braided loaf.