Pumpkin pull-apart bread

Dan claims that he isn't really into sweets.  But I made this over the Thanksgiving holiday and suggested we bring some over to his parents house. He said he'd have to think about it. :)

Pumpkin Pull-Apart Bread

Ingredients:

Dough

 - 2 Tbsp butter

 - 1/2 cup milk

 - 1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 envelope)

 - 1/4 cup sugar

 - 3/4 cup pumpkin purée

 - 2 1/2 cups flour

 - 1/2 tsp salt

Filling

 - 3 Tbsp butter

 - 1 cup sugar

 - 2 tsp cinnamon

 - 1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

*Note - instead of cinnamon and nutmeg you can use 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice

Glaze

 - 2 Tbsp butter

 - 1/8 cup brown sugar, heaping

 - 1 1/2 Tbsp milk

 - 1/2 cup powdered sugar

 - 2-3 tsp vanilla bean paste (or 1 Tbsp vanilla extract)

For dough:

Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium-high heat.  When it starts to turn brown, stir it so it doesn't burn and turn black.  This can happen rather quickly.  Once it's all golden brown remove from heat and carefully add milk.  It's best to add room temperature milk or temper the milk by adding a bit of the hot butter to it first.  Return to stove and heat through.  Pour mixture into mixer bowl fitted with a dough hook and allow to cool to approximately 100-110 degrees F.  I don't have a candy thermometer so I just test with my finger.  The mixture should be pretty warm but not too hot to stick your finger in.

Once the mixture has reached the correct temperature, add the yeast and sugar.  Give it one light stir and then let sit for about 8 minutes.  You'll know it's ready because it will be very foamy on top and cloudy.  Add the pumpkin purée, 1 cup of flour and salt and knead on low.  Continue to add the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time.  Once all flour is in, knead on low for 6 minutes.  Dough should be smooth and elastic and only slightly sticky.  If the dough is too sticky, add additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time. {When it's cool outside I don't need to add any additional flour, but I've found on hot days I've needed up to 4 Tbsp more. Go figure.}

Place dough in greased bowl.  Make sure to roll dough over in the bowl so all sides get covered. Cover with clean towel and leave in warm place (i.e. on top of dryer, in sunny window, etc. )  Let rise for 90 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

{Before rising}

{After rising. And after my mom stuck her fingers in the dough to check it}

For filling:

Brown butter following same process as above.  Combine sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in separate bowl.

On a floured surface, roll out dough into a 12 x 20 inch rectangle.  {This does not have to be perfect - as shown by my "rectangle" below.}

Brush melted butter all over dough and sprinkle sugar-cinnamon mixture on top.  Press sugar firmly into dough so that it sticks.

Cut dough lengthwise into 6 even strips.  Stack strips on top of each other and cut into 6 even portions.

Layer strips vertically into greased loaf pan (as shown below).  {Some sugar probably spilled off the strips.  I scraped this up with my knife and sprinkled it on top.  It made for a delicious crustiness. I highly recommend it.}

  

Cover loaf pan with clean towel and allow to rise again in a warm place for 30-45 minutes.  Strips should be puffed up and fill pan (as shown below).

Bake dough in preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until it's dark golden brown on top.  {Your house will smell amazing!}

For the glaze:
Heat butter, milk and brown sugar in saucepan and bring to a boil.  Lower heat and whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla, until smooth. {Instead of vanilla you can add 1/2 or 1 tsp of rum if you'd rather.}

Pour glaze over warm bread in loaf pan.  I used a knife to separate the strips a bit so that glaze gets in all the little crevices.

Full disclosure - I've had a draft of this post since May.  I never posted it because I needed photos, but whenever I was making this, I just wanted to get it in the oven and never stopped to grab a couple shots.

I know it seems like a lot of steps, but it really is so easy and so delicious.  I hope you enjoy!

I think we're adding this to our Christmas breakfast! :)

LMF
*original recipe adapted from here, initially found via.