Pumpkin and Pepita Square Bread

This soft pumpkin bread is wonderful toasted with butter and blackcurrant jelly.

Ingredients make 1 loaf

225 g pumpkin puree

150 ml lukewarm milk

20 g melted butter

50 g brown sugar

1 egg

520 g white bread flour

1 packet instant dried yeast (7g)

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

100 g pepita kernels

Method

Place pumpkin puree, milk, butter, sugar and egg in a large mixing bowl, mix until evenly combined. Add flour, yeast, salt, ginger and cinnamon. Mix until dough is formed. Knead the dough by hand or machine until smooth and add the pepita kernels. Rest the dough covered in the bowl for approx. 60 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a lightly floured kitchen table. Shape the dough into a log shape and place the dough in a greased 10 x 10 x 28 cm Pullman tin. Place a towel on top and let the dough rise until 1 cm from the top approx. 70 minutes. Preheat oven to 200ºC. Remove the towel and place the lid on the tin. Place the tin in the middle of the oven and bake for approx. 30 minutes. Remove the bread from the tin and allow cooling for at least 30 minutes on a wire rack before cutting.

Note: Try rolling the dough in seeds or grain such as sesame seeds or oats.