Savory Pumpkin Bread

Today, I’m sharing with you these beautiful loaves of savory pumpkin bread flavored with fresh and dried herbs. You can also make them as rolls or rounds, and I’ll show you how.

The dough for this yeast-raised pumpkin bread is nice and soft and the finished bread is moist with a fine crumb that is fantastic for soaking up gravy or for making sandwiches.

If you’d like some other Thanksgiving bread and roll options, you may like my garlic parmesan rolls or my soft pumpkin rolls. For ease of browsing, here are all my bread and roll recipes.

Savory Pumpkin Bread, At a Glance

This is not the kind of pumpkin bread that is a quick bread that you might glaze with cream cheese glaze. No, this bread is firmly in the savory pumpkin category, and the flavor is mellow and herbaceous.

Here’s a rundown:

✅Skill Level: Intermediate
✅Skills: Straight Dough Method, Shaping, Proofing, Baking
✅Type: Loaf Bread or Rolls
✅Number of Ingredients: 9
✅Prep Time: 20 minutes
✅Cook Time: 18-30 minutes, depending on shaping
✅Yield: 3 pounds of dough: 2 loaves, 3 rounds, or 16 rolls

Jump Straight to the Recipe

Still not convinced? Take a look at the beautiful crumb and the little bits of herbs in a slice of this sunny bread.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this bread (or rolls):

• pumpkin puree: make your own or use canned. And switch things up by using other winter squash puree if you’d like. Consider acorn squash, Hubbard squash, or butternut
• bread flour: I use King Arthur. You can substitute all-purpose, but you will need to cut back on the water by just a hair
• kosher salt: Moderates yeast growth, adds to structure, and brings out all the flavor. Please do not leave the salt out!
• water: I generally use filtered water. If your water is very hard, you may want to do the same
• butter: carries flavor, softens the crumb, and just tastes wonderful. Use unsalted butter here since we’re adding our own salt. If all you have is salted, you will probably be able to cut back the added salt by about 1/2 teaspoon
• yeast: if using active dry, you can proof it in a portion of the water before adding it to the rest of the ingredients. If you know your yeast is active or if you are using instant yeast, you can add the yeast in with the dry ingredients
• fresh rosemary and sage: for flavor. You can use all of one or the other if you’d like
• dried poultry seasoning: because it smells and tastes like Thanksgiving! You can use store-bought, or make your own homemade poultry seasoning.

Procedure

This bread is made using the straight dough method, which means everything goes into the pool at the same time.

I do like to add in this order:

1. pumpkin puree, salt, and melted butter
2. flour and herbs
3. yeast
4. water poured on top

Why? I like to get most of the wet ingredients–the puree and melted butter, going first. And adding the salt in this step seasons the pumpkin well. Plus, butter carries flavor, so I often add the salt and butter together.

The flour and herbs get dumped on top of the pumpkin mixture, and the flour keeps the yeast and salt from combining too directly or in too high a concentration. Salt inhibits yeast growth, so adding the salt and yeast at the same time has potential to kill off some of the yeast.

Then I add the yeast on top of the flour, safely away from the salt until everything gets mixed together well once I add the water.

Once all the ingredients are in the mixer (or in a bowl if you’re making this dough by hand), knead for 10 minutes (or about 15 minutes by hand) until the dough is smooth and soft.

Give it one bulk rise in the pan, and then shape into your desired shape/s, let it rise again, and then bake, starting in a hot 425F oven for the first few minutes, and then lowering the heat to 375F to finish baking.

NOTE: This dough is fairly soft. Here’s a great tip for working with soft dough:

PRO TIP: When working with soft dough, always oil your hands rather than using flour. This will keep the dough nice and light and still allow you to work with it with a minimum of sticking.

Shaping

Loaves:

• Divide dough into 2 1 1/2 pound pieces.
• Press each piece into a rectangle and roll up into a tight cylinder. Place into a 4 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ loaf pan.
  OR
• Divide one or both pieces into 6-8 equal pieces, and roll each into a tight ball. Place balls, two by two, into a 4 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ loaf pan.
• Dust tops with flour, cover, and let rise in a cozy place before baking.

Rolls:

• Divide dough into 16 3 oz pieces. Shape each into a round, and then tighten up by rolling between your palms on the counter.
• For rustic rolls, place 8 on a half-sheet pan and dust with flour.
  OR
• For pull-apart rolls, place 9 rounds, 3 x 3 in a 9″ square pan and brush with butter before baking.
  Cover, and let rise in a cozy place before baking.

Boules (Rounds):

• Divide dough into 3 1 pound pieces.
• Roll each into a ball, tightening the top by using your palms to push the dough into a tighter ball using the friction from the counter.
• Follow the instructions for Imprinting the Bread with Herbs
  OR
• Leave rounds plain and dust the tops evenly with flour.

This Recipe Uses Bread Flour. What If I Don’t Have Any?

You can do one of two things:

• You can go ahead and use all purpose flour, but use one with a higher protein content such as King Arthur. Your bread will be a bit softer, and you will probably have to reduce the liquid by just a little.
• You can make your own bread flour. If you don’t know how, my friend Jen has written a great article on how to make bread flour that will help you out!

Imprinting the Bread with Herbs

I had seen an absolutely stunning loaf of Bread Baking Babe Heather‘s a few weeks ago where she decorated the top of the loaf by pressing herbs into it and then coating it with flour, like a reverse stencil.

I checked with her about exactly how she did it, because I thought sage leaves would make a beautiful impression on my loaves. Her explanation of how she achieved the look was great, so I was off and running. Thank you, Heather!

Here’s the procedure for imprinting your loaves with herbs:

1. Make some “glue” by whisking egg yolk with just a little bit of water.
2. Brush this glue on the back of your herbs–you’ll do best with herbs that lay flat such as sage, basil, or flat-leaf parsley
3. Press your herbs, glue side down, gently onto your loaf in whatever design you want
4. Sift some flour evenly all over the top of your loaf
5. Cover and let rise for about 30 minutes.
6. Sift more flour over the top of your loaf right before baking.
7. Carefully use a pastry brush to remove a good amount of flour, especially on the leaves themselves, so your design stays nice and crisp
8. Peel each leaf off, one at a time
9. Bake

To Spread Out Making the Loaves Over Two Days

If you have the time to let the dough rise over a couple of days, reduce the yeast from 2 teaspoons to 1 1/2 teaspoons.

On day one, make and knead the dough, oil it, and refrigerate it overnight.

On day two, press out the gases from the first overnight rise, cut dough into 3 equal pieces (or desired shapes) and continue with the recipe.

Freezing and Storing

Store savory pumpkin bread at room temperature for up to two days.

For longer storage, this bread (like most bread) freezes really well. You can wrap and freeze entire loaves (or rolls if you make them into rolls), or you can slice the loaves and then freeze them.

Either way, make sure the bread is completely cool. Then place in heavy duty freezer bags, pressing out as much air as you can before sealing.

You can also wrap in a double layer of plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil.

Bread will stay nice and fresh for a good 3 months in the freezer.

To thaw, remove from freezer and allow to thaw, still wrapped, at room temperature.

Do not store bread in the fridge as the fridge tends to draw out moisture, making your bread stale more quickly.

Questions?

If you have any questions about this post or recipe, I am happy to help.

Simply leave a comment here and I will get back to you soon. I also invite you to ask question in my Facebook group, Fearless Kitchen Fun.

If your question is more pressing, please feel free to email me. I should be back in touch ASAP, as long as I’m not asleep.

A Note About Measurements

My recipes are almost all written by weight, including liquids, unless otherwise specified.

For accuracy and consistency of results, I encourage you to buy–and use–a kitchen scale.

I promise that baking and cleanup will be so much quicker and easier.

This is the scale that I recommend for home use. I have owned and used one for years.

Love This Savory Pumpkin Bread? Please Rate and Review. Thanks!

If you’ve never been a fan of sweet pumpkin breads, I think you will love this yeasted savory pumpkin bread.

Thanks for spending some time with me today.

Take care, y’all.