Pull-Apart Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Bread

If you only go all out with one fall recipe this year, THIS is the one. It is worth the effort, trust me. I have been seeing pull apart breads all over the blog world this year, and am so glad my first one was a success. The pumpkin yeast bread is delicious on its own, but the addition of browned butter and cinnamon and sugar just make this bread ooey, gooey, delicious.
Pull-Apart Cinnamon Sugar Bread
recipe from Sunny Side Up in San Diego
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk
2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups bread flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
2 Tbsp unsalted butter

Directions:In a saucepan over medium-high heat, brown 2 tablespoons of butter, letting it bubble up and turn a dark golden brown but being careful not to allow it burn. Once browned, remove the pan from the heat and carefully add the milk, return to stove and heat through.Pour the milk and butter into the bowl of standing mixer (fitted with a dough hook) and allow to cool so it is no longer hot but also not cool (about 100-110 degrees F). Once it has reached a warm but not hot temperature add the yeast and 1/4 cup of sugar and allow to proof (this can take up to 8 minutes, the top will look foamy and the liquid cloudy).Then add the the pumpkin, salt, and 1 cup of flour. Stir until combined then add the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time. Knead for 6 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic and just slightly sticky. If the dough is too moist, add extra flour 1 tablespoon at a time.
Move dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean towel. Allow to rise in a warm place for 60-90 minutes or until doubled in size. At this point, you could cover this and place in the fridge overnight and continue in the morning if you wanted to eat this for breakfast. Otherwise, continue on! Brown another 2 tablespoons of butter and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix well and set aside. Next, grease and flour a 9x5 loaf pan and set aside.
When the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and flip out onto a clean floured surface and knead with hands for 1-2 minutes. Roll dough into a 20x12 inch rectangle. Brush the surface of the dough with the browned butter, using a pastry brush.Evenly sprinkle the dough with the cinnamon sugar mixture and press into dough with palms of the hand. Cut the rectangle into 6 strips. Lay strips on top of each other. Don't worry if the cinnamon sugar mixture falls out. Cut each strip into 6 even squares (cut in half then each half into thirds). Stack strips vertically into the loaf pan. I added some the cinnamon sugar mixture that had fallen out in between the layers and over the top. Cover the pan with a clean towel. Let it rise for 30-45 minutes.
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until top is a very deep golden brown. You may want to tent the top with aluminum foil at the end of the baking time to prevent over browning. Let cool for at least 20 minutes in the pan. Remove and serve while warm. See the ooey, gooeyness inside each piece? We had this with dinner actually, and it was awesome. It was fun to eat, pulling apart each piece, like monkey bread. Happy Fall!