It has been such a long time since my last post, but I have some good reasons for my absence. First, I changed my blog and second I had to wait (with loving patience) for my husband to help me design the new blog look. Needless to say I am super excited by the new blog. (Thank you to my wonderful, amazing husband!)  So now I am up and ready to post some great recipes I worked on while I was in limbo.

I have been craving homemade bread and the delicious smells it fills in my house.  There is nothing better than the smell of fresh baked bread! I keep telling my husband, if I had the time, I would only make homemade bread for us to use instead of  spending our money on store bought bread. But alas, I have to pay the bills and there goes my free time!

I decided to make the pumpkin swirl bread because I love cinnamon raisin bread and with the added pumpkin I knew I couldn’t go wrong.  The recipe is super easy and it takes very little time for preparation. But make sure to allow time for the dough to rise.

I also used a little extra brown sugar and cinnamon for the filling because I wanted to have a nice sweet cinnamon swirl in the bread. I am glad I made this the night before because this morning we were able to enjoy fresh baked bread for breakfast. Take the time to make this and you’ll be enjoying fresh bread for days!

Recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup oats

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 package active dry yeast

3/4 cup warm water

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cup raisins

Filling:

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, oats, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, salt, sugar and yeast.  Beat in the warm water, pumpkin, applesauce until moistened.  Add egg, beat until smooth. Stir in the remaining 1 cup flour until the dough is firm.  Add raisins.
2. Knead dough until smooth and elastic (about 5 mins).  Place in greased bowl, cover and let rise for 1 hour.
3. Lightly flour surface and roll the dough into about an 18×9 inch rectangle.
4. Melt butter in dish and spread onto the dough.
5. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle on top of the butter.
6. Roll the dough jelly-roll style, starting with the short side.  Pinch ends to seal.
7. Place seam side down in loaf plan, cover and let rise for 30 minutes.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, until golden. Cool for 10 minutes.