This pumpkin pull-apart bread is the stuff pumpkin spice dreams are made of. At our house, we have a tradition of Sunday baking. We love lazy Sunday afternoons, and since I try not to do any “work cooking” on Sundays, it’s a day where where I’m generally more relaxed in the kitchen and my kids love to take on projects and help out. It’s something they look forward to, and something I hope they’ll always look back on with nostalgia. A couple weeks ago, my 10 year old passed me a note in church asking me what we could make that afternoon and I already knew it was going to be this Pumpkin Pull-Apart Bread. It’s like a fun, twisted pumpkin spice version of the average cinnamon roll. Instead of rolling up the tender pumpkin-spiked dough, you stack it into layers and squish into a loaf pan and it creates layers of gooey bread you can, well, pull-apart.
Ingredients Needed
Bread
- Milk
- Active dry yeast
- Canned pumpkin – Be sure you’re getting 100% pureed pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling.
- Butter
- Granulated sugar
- Egg yolk
- Salt
- All-purpose flour
Filling
- Butter
- Brown sugar
- Ground cinnamon
Cinnamon Glaze
- Powdered sugar
- Ground cinnamon
- Vanilla extract
- Milk
How to Make Pumpkin Pull-Apart Bread
- You start by making a basic sweet roll dough, but his one includes pumpkin right in the dough.
- After it’s risen and rolled out, it gets another hit of pumpkin with a sweet pumpkin spread and then a sprinkling of brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Now, here comes the fun part. You’ll slice that big sheet of dough into 5 slices and stack them on top of one another. Then cut them into shorter pieces as seen in the photos above.
- Then you’ll take each of those stacks and fit them into a loaf pan. Make sure to go a couple of different directions so they’re not just all lined up in a row.
- Right after that bakes up you’ll whisk up a quick glaze, and drizzle it on when it’s just warm. If you slice into this you can see all the soft squishy layers with glaze seeping through. The filling is sticky and sweet and that mild hit of pumpkin is fabulous. The best part of pull-apart bread is actually pulling it apart.
Storing and Other Tips
- Store leftover bread, covered tightly, at room temperature and consume within 2-3 days for best results.
- For a good rise, pop your dough-filled loaf pan in a cold oven with a pan of boiling water underneath it then close the door. It creates the perfect little steam room to make nice, plump rolls.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you should be able to fit a double batch in a standard mixer. However, to ensure multiple pans are even, you may want to mix up each batch separately, one right after the other.
This bread is definitely best warm out of the oven. If you’d like to plan ahead, you could prepare it through placing in the loaf pan, then cover tightly and place in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours. When ready to bake, pull the pan out and allow the dough to rise (this may take a few extra minutes since it will be cold) and bake as directed.
Pumpkin Pull-Apart Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
Bread
Filling
Instructions
- In a small saucepan heat milk just until warm (105℉ to 115℉). In a large bowl combine warm milk and yeast; stir to dissolve yeast. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes or until foamy.
- Add ½ cup of the pumpkin and next four ingredients (through salt) to yeast mixture. Beat with a mixer on medium until combined. Add half of the flour; beat on low 30 seconds, scraping bowl as needed. Beat on medium 3 minutes. Stir in remaining flour. Shape into a ball (dough will not be smooth). Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease surface.
- Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double in size (about 45 minutes).
- Butter a 9×5-inch loaf pan. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 20×12-inch rectangle. In a small bowl combine remaining ½ cup pumpkin and 3 tablespoons melted butter; spread over dough. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over pumpkin mixture. Cut dough crosswise into five 12×4-inch strips. Stack strips, then cut crosswise into six 4×2-inch pieces, leaving stacks intact. Loosely stagger pieces, cut sides up, in prepared pan.
- Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double in size (about 45 minutes).
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Bake 35 minutes or until golden, covering loosely with foil the last 10 minutes if needed to prevent over-browning.
- While baking, whisk together ingredients for Cinnamon Glaze. Set aside.
- Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Drizzle with Cinnamon Glaze.
Notes
- Store leftover bread, covered tightly, at room temperature and consume within 2-3 days for best results.
- For a good rise, pop your dough-filled loaf pan in a cold oven with a pan of boiling water underneath it then close the door. It creates the perfect little steam room to make nice, plump rolls.
- This bread is definitely best warm out of the oven. If you’d like to plan ahead, you could prepare it through placing dough in the loaf pan, then cover tightly and place in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours. When ready to bake, pull the pan out and allow the dough to rise (this may take a few extra minutes since it will be cold) and bake as directed.
Questions & Reviews
How many loaves does this recipe make?
This makes one loaf, as shown.
Hi! Have you ever tried using almond milk as a replacement in a bread recipe? If so, did it work okay? If not, what are your thoughts on whether it would substitute well? Thx!
I’ve never done that, but I know other people use almond milk in bread recipes and I think it works just fine so I’d say go for it!
Do you think this would work if I made the dough in a bread maker?
I’ve never tried that so you’d just have to try it out, but I think so?
Made it yesterday. My family loved it! What a wonderful way to celebrate that it’s October!
What an interesting recipe! I even know what holiday it is possible to cook this delicious! Thank you for the recipe.
And thanks for the great photos too!
This looks amazing. Any suggestions for prepping this ahead of time? It would be awesome to prep it on Saturday night, then bake on Sunday morning just in time for General Conference!
I think you could cover it and put it in the fridge right after it goes in the pan. take it out the next morning to rise a bit and then pop it in the oven.
This looks awesome… Is there a make-ahead option on this at all?
If it were me I’d prob cover and refrigerate right after it goes into the pan (before it rises again), then pull it out the next morning.
Making this for conference weekend!
Yum! Your cinnamon rolls and orange rolls are a huge hit in our home! I can’t wait to try this! Do you think it could be made in muffin or popover tins to make individual servings?
Ya, I think that would work!