This No Knead Pumpkin Bread recipe is so easy to make and tastes sensational! A great baking recipe for beginners: simply mix the ingredients, rise and bake. Perfect for fall and holiday season baking. Serve for breakfast or as a side with soup, casseroles and stews.
Place your flour into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the yeast, salt, nutmeg and pumpkin spice, if using. Add the water, maple syrup and pumpkin purée.
4 ½ cups (570g) white bread flour, 2 tsp instant yeast (rapid rise yeast), ½ tbsp salt, ½ tsp nutmeg, ½ tsp pumpkin spice, 1 cup (250ml) lukewarm water, 2 tbsp maple syrup, 1 cup (250g) pumpkin purée
Stir well to combine using a dough whisk or a wooden spoon. The dough will be shaggy and dry at first – leave it to rest for 10 minutes and mix once again until the flour is fully hydrated.
FIRST RISE
Mist the bowl with a little olive oil (or sesame oil), cover and let rise for 60-90 minutes or until doubled.
olive oil
SHAPE THE LOAF
Mist your worktop with water or a little oil. Tip the dough onto the worktop and stretch it out gently to form a long rectangle.
Fold the dough into three sections, like a letter (letter fold). Turn the dough so that the narrow side is facing you and roll into a ball.
Shape the bread using your hands and a bench scraper into a round loaf. Keep turning on the countertop, shaping between your hands and slightly tucking under until the loaf is smooth. Dust with flour to make the shaping easier.
SECOND RISE
Place the loaf, seam side up, into a banneton dusted with rice or gluten free flour. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes. If you are not using a banneton you can place the bread in a bowl lined with well floured baking paper or a clean linen towel.
Cover loosely with a shower cap or a plastic bag and let rise again for 30-45 minutes while your oven preheats.
BAKE YOUR PUMPKIN BREAD
Preheat your oven to 450°F (230°C) half an hour before the end of proving. Place a cast iron pot (Dutch Oven) in the oven to preheat.
Invert the loaf onto a bread sling or baking paper. Carefully remove the pot from the oven using oven mitts and lower the bread into it. Score the loaf using a sharp knife, razor or lame.
Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Lower the temperature to 425°F (220°C). Take the lid off the pot and bake for 15 minutes.
Lift the bread out of the Dutch oven and place on wire rack to cool before slicing and serving,
Video
Notes
USING DRY ACTIVE YEAST
Combine 1/4 cup (60g) of the water specified in the ingredients and the maple syrup in a measuring jug. Add the yeast, stir together and leave for 5-10 minutes until bubbly (if the yeast doesn't bubble up it might not be active any more!).
Stir the flour, salt and spices in a large mixing bowl, add the remaining water, pumpkin purée and the activated yeast. Mix well until a sticky dough forms and proceed with method.