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Whole Wheat Bread with Pumpkin

You are here: Home / Food / Recipes / Autumn Recipes / Whole Wheat Bread with Pumpkin
November 8, 2015 by Wendy Hammond

whole wheat pumpkin bread

I have just about given up on baking bread. After several failed attempts a couple of years ago, I came across this recipe for Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread in Mark Bittman’s The Food Matters Cookbook: 500 Revolutionary Recipes for Better Living. I had some pumpkin on hand that needed to be used so I decided to give it a go.

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp instant dry yeast (note: If you don’t have instant dry yeast, you can substitute active dry yeast by increasing the amount by 25%. So in this case I used 1 3/4 tsp)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 cup pureed cooked pumpkin (can use canned, or other winter squash)
  • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil (I don’t have vegetable oil on hand so I substituted olive oil for baking)

Directions:

  1. Combine the flour, yeast, salt, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Add the pumpkin and water and stir until blended. The dough should be quite wet, “like a batter,” and so I did have to add some additional water. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest in a warm place for about 2 hours. The dough is ready when it is dotted with bubbles.
  2. Scoop the dough into a greased 9×5 pan and use a rubber spatula to gently settle it in evenly. Brush the top with oil. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, an hour or two. Confession: I actually went on a run at this point and asked DH to put it in the oven in two hours if I wasn’t back in time.
  3. In a preheated 350F oven, bake until deeply golden and hollow-sounding when tapped, about 45 minutes. Another confession: I also have horrible judgement when it comes to whether bread is done or not. Bittman suggests using an instant-read thermometer and that it’s done when it reaches 200F, but that took about an hour.

 

The Verdict: After guessing that it was probably done, we let it cool. DH did not like it. I decided that with peanut butter and jelly it was good, but VERY dense. I’m sure it’s because I let it rise too long or bake too long or whatever. Or maybe I’m just so used to sandwich thins that a nice hearty bread takes some getting used to again. The flavor was good, though, and someone more experience might have better luck.

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Category: Autumn RecipesTag: bread, pumpkin, squash

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Miranda T

    November 8, 2015 at 11:40 am

    I love adding pumpkin to my breads for a nice fall twist! This looks amazing!

    Reply
    • Wendy Hammond

      November 8, 2015 at 2:21 pm

      pumpkin everything is my favorite in the fall 🙂

      Reply
  2. Runaway Bridal Planner

    November 8, 2015 at 9:20 pm

    There is nothing better than fresh bread baking in your house:) This looks fabulous, thanks for sharing!!!

    Reply
    • Wendy Hammond

      November 9, 2015 at 7:23 am

      that is SO true! I saw a fresh bread candle once but decided not to buy it because it would make me hungry all the time!

      Reply
  3. Margaret

    November 8, 2015 at 9:53 pm

    This sounds delicious!! Bread is so tricky because it’s all about the consistency. For some reason even if the littlest thing is off the consistency is off.. So annoying! I tried making a gluten-free bread once and it turned out horrible so I have not attempted any bread since, haha! Maybe someday I will get the courage to try again.

    Reply
    • Wendy Hammond

      November 9, 2015 at 7:22 am

      see that’s the tricky thing, sometimes I make bread and it turns out awesome. Other times not so much. And then I’m not sure if it’s actually supposed to be like that or not. Sigh.

      Reply
  4. Rachel

    November 10, 2015 at 11:12 am

    Oh my goodness – this bread looks delicious. And like something I {who am known to burn everything!} could actually make! I love that there are so few ingredients – I think I have all of these in my pantry now! Off to bake some amazing bread!! 🙂

    Reply
  5. Katie

    April 4, 2016 at 3:56 pm

    I make this bread frequently, Any kind of winter squash works great, too. I go crazy with spices – ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice as well as the nutmeg called for in the recipe. I find that half a cup of water is way too little. It usually takes 1 1/2,to 2 cups for the dough to be wet enough so that all the flour will be incorporated. Raisins are a good addition, too

    Reply

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