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.
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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:
- pumpkin puree, salt, and melted butter
- flour and herbs
- yeast
- 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.
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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:
- Make some “glue” by whisking egg yolk with just a little bit of water.
- 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
- Press your herbs, glue side down, gently onto your loaf in whatever design you want
- Sift some flour evenly all over the top of your loaf
- Cover and let rise for about 30 minutes.
- Sift more flour over the top of your loaf right before baking.
- Carefully use a pastry brush to remove a good amount of flour, especially on the leaves themselves, so your design stays nice and crisp
- Peel each leaf off, one at a time
- 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.
Don't let its small price and small size fool you. The Escali Primo is an accurate and easy-to-use food scale that I have used for years. It's easy to store, easy to use, has a tare function, and easily switches between grams and ounces/pounds for accurate measurements.
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Savory Pumpkin Bread Recipe
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Ingredients
- 10 oz pumpkin puree 284 grams or a generous cup, homemade or canned
- 4 oz butter 113 grams or 1 stick
- 2 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 26 oz bread flour 737 grams or about 5 3/4 cups measured by aerating, spooning, and sweeping
- 2 teaspoons yeast active dry or instant
- 1 Tablespoon each minced sage and rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried poultry seasoning or substitute 1 Tablespoons poultry seasoning if you don't have the fresh herbs
- 9 oz slightly warm water 255 grams or 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons
For the Design, if Desired
- 1 egg yolk combined with 1/2 teaspoon water
- sage leaves
- bread flour as needed
Instructions
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together the pumpkin, butter, and salt.
- Add the flour, salt, and herbs to the bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top.
- Pour in the warm water, and, using the dough hook, mix until a shaggy dough comes together, about 2-3 minutes.
- Increase the speed to medium and knead for 10 minutes. The dough will be shiny, smooth and will wrap around the dough hook. You may have a little dough sticking in the bottom of the bowl, and that's just fine.
- With oiled hands, gather the dough into a ball and plop it back into the mixing bowl. Oil the top, and let it rise in a warm place (I like to use the microwave with the surface light on and a just-boiled mug of water in it) until at least doubled. This is an Ebullient Dough, so it will probably only take about an hour to 1 1/2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 425F and put a baking stone on a rack in the center of the oven. If you have a pizza stone, preheat that as well.
Shaping
- Now you have options. You can portion your dough into 16 3oz balls to make rolls, or cut it into two 1 1/2 pound pieces to make loaves. Or, as in the photo with the sage leaf imprints, cut the dough into 3 1 pound pieces to make boules.
- For 3 oz rolls: with oiled hands, shape each piece into a round and then tighten up the outer membrane by pushing each roll between your hands, using the friction of the countertop to tighten it up. Place 8 on each of two half-sheet pans and dust the tops with flour (or do the herb imprints if you'd rather).
- For two loaves: Press each piece of dough out into a rectangle shape and then roll up tightly. Fit each coil into an 4 1/2" x 8 1/2" loaf pan and dust the tops with flour (or do the herb imprints)
- For 1 pound rounds: With oiled hands, form each piece into a rough round, gathering the excess dough underneath to keep the top somewhat taut. Place each rough round, gathered side down, on its own piece of parchment on a rimless cookie sheet, cookie shovel or pizza peel.
- Regardless of which shape/s you made, cover and allow them to rise in a warm place until puffy, about 45 minutes to an hour.
To Bake
- Bake the rounds directly on your pizza stone, or place the loaf pan/half-sheet pans in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, and then reduce the temperature to 375F to finish baking. Loaves will be nicely risen, some of the flour on top will have turned beige from the heat of the oven. and the internal temperature should be right around 200F. For rolls, total baking time will be about 15-17 minutes. Loaves take about 25 minutes, and rounds about 20, but use your instant read thermometer to make sure.
- Cool to room temperature. Enjoy within a day or two. To keep longer, put in a freezer bag and suck out the air with a straw before sealing. Freeze for up to a month. Thaw in the sealed bag until the bread reaches room temperature.
To Make the Optional Herb Imprints
- Brush the back of a sage leaf with your egg yolk glue. Press it gently into place. Keep gluing and placing until you have 3 sage leaves glued onto each loaf.
- Liberally sprinkle flour all over the top of the loaves. Cover each loaf with plastic wrap and let sit out until puffy, about 30 minutes. The design on your bread won’t be as defined now.
- Put two of the loaves in the fridge. Take the remaining loaf and sprinkle some extra flour right over the leaves.
- Take a pastry brush and gently brush off a fair amount of the flour. Make sure to brush any off the parchment, because it will burn in the oven.
- Carefully peel the sage leaves off.
Did You Make Any Changes?
Notes
To Use the Entire Can of Pumpkin
I know it can be annoying to have leftover pumpkin after baking, so if you want to use the entire can, you can use the following measurements. The yield will be 4 1/2 pounds of dough, enough to make 2 loaves and 8 rolls, 24 3oz rolls, or 4 rounds.- 15 oz pumpkin puree (1 can)
- 6 oz melted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
- 3 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt (Morton’s)
- 39 oz bread flour
- 3 teaspoons yeast
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons EACH fresh rosemary and sage
- 1 1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
- 13.5 oz warm water (110F-115F) If it’s cozy feeling to you, it will be cozy for the yeast
Storing
If not serving the same or the following day, as soon as the bread is cool, slice as desired and freeze in heavy-duty zip-top freezer bags until ready to serve. Remove slices or whole loaves as necessary and allow to come to room temperature or gently thaw in the microwave.Nutrition
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If you’ve never been a fan of sweet pumpkin breads, I think you will love this yeasted savory pumpkin bread.
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Hi Jenni, I’ve made this recipe four times now (my last batch is currently rising) and I get so many compliments. It is truly delicious. The pumpkin adds such a softness to the bread and the herbs add a wonderful subtle array of flavors. I love making three small loaves so there is always one or two to give away! Thank you so much for this recipe!!! 🙂
Blessings,
Mariel
Hello! How long and what temp for making rolls?
Thanks so much!
Hey, Andrea! Bake at the same temperature for probably around 15-18 minutes. If you have an instant read thermometer, you’re shooting for 195-200F 8n the centers. Enjoy!
Excellent results. I made the bread to go with a goat stew baked in a pumpkin and the combination was delicious. Good instructions and I learned some great techniques that have improved my other bread making, like kneading longer, more rising time and not being afraid of a wetter dough.
I am so happy the meal was a success–and that stew sounds incredible, Judith! But more than that, I am gratified to know that you generalized from this recipe to bread baking in general. That is what it’s all about! Thank you so much for commenting!
These loaves look and sound delicious! I love how you’ve decorated them.
Thank you so much, Karen! I was really inspired by Heather’s post. =)
I couldn’t wait to try these and my family devoured them. The recipe does not disappoint ( as always, Jenni is very thorough and descriptive) I”m not sure if I splortted and sproinged in the right steps, but they turned out beautifully. BTW, I did use canned pumpkin and added about 1 oz. extra of water.
I really need to try it with a more vibrant pumpkin puree, or even with sweet potato. I want that gorgeous golden color that yours had, Amy! So happy that you, John and your family enjoyed the bread! <3
Just beautiful loaves and I do love that you made this with pumpkin. I must try these – such great holiday breads or everyday breads for a wonderful autumn meal (with soup! or stew!). The directions don’t seem long and scary but maybe because I like making bread. Question, three loaves is a lot for my household. How do you think these will freeze? I’ll try anyway. Beautiful. And I loved what Heather did decorating her loaves (pretty brilliant) and yours too!
Bread usually doesn’t mind freezing, so just wrap it well and stick it in there as soon as it has cooled to room temp. Should be fine for at least 3 weeks-1 month. =)