My Secret to a Flawless, Feathery Pumpkin Spice Wool Roll

Kat Lieu’s Pumpkin Spice Wool Roll Milk Bread, perfect for Autumn Baking

Hi friends! Fall will soon be here, and when the leaves turn orange, I love pumpkin spice, especially when cardamom is one of the spices! This delicious milk bread is soft, tender, and beautifully orange. If you have a fresh pumpkin, use fresh pumpkin puree instead of canned pumpkin. You can also shape the dough into a loaf instead of wool roll bread, but I just felt it looked more like a pumpkin when shaped into a wool roll. What do you think?

Note: To make this bread vegan, substitute the egg with 50 g silken tofu, and use plant-based milk instead of dairy milk. Use vegan condensed milk and vegan butter. Yeast is a fungus and perfectly vegan-friendly.

You will have extra pumpkin mixture. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 to 5 days, or freeze for up to a month. Use it to make pumpkin pies or cheesecakes!

Love pumpkin spice? Try these fun & easy Pumpkin Mochi Cookies or Pumpkin Spice Latte inspired Cookies.

How To Store

The main enemy of milk bread is air, which makes it stale, and the refrigerator, which can make it hard and gritty.

Short-Term Storage (Up to 2-3 Days)

1. Cool Completely: Let the bread cool completely on a wire rack before storing.

2. Airtight Container: Place the completely cooled loaf or rolls into a rigid, airtight container or a heavy-duty reusable plastic bag. A bread box also works well if you have one.

3. Store at Room Temperature: Keep it in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight. The texture will be at its best for 2-3 days this way.

Longer-Term Storage (2-3 Months)

Freezing is highly recommended for any milk bread you won't eat within a few days. It preserves the fresh-baked texture perfectly.

For a Whole Loaf:

1. Let the loaf cool completely.

2. Wrap the entire loaf tightly in two layers of plastic wrap, squeezing out all the air.

3. For extra protection, place the wrapped loaf inside a heavy-duty freezer bag or wrap it in aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 3 months.

For Slices or Rolls:

1. Cool completely.

2. Slice the bread if desired.

3. Place slices or rolls on a baking sheet and freeze for 1-2 hours until solid.

4. Transfer the frozen pieces to a freezer bag. This prevents them from sticking together. Freeze for up to 3 months.

To Thaw:

• Room Temperature: Let it thaw, still wrapped, at room temperature for a few hours.

• Oven/Toaster Oven (Best for Crispness): For slices or rolls, you can toast them directly from frozen. For a whole loaf, I recommend thawing at room temperature.

Happy Baking! - Sharon Hsu (@SparkleCakerie)

108 Asian Cookies: Not-Too-Sweet Treats from a Third-Culture Kitchen

By Lieu, Kat

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Pumpkin Spice Milk Bread (Pumpkin Spice Wool Roll Bread)

Yield

4 to 5 pieces of bread

Author

Kat Lieu

Prep time

30 Min

Cook time

35 Min

Inactive time

2 H & 30 M

Total time

3 H & 34 M

When fall arrives, it's pumpkin spice season. I'm so excited to present to you a pumpkin spice milk bread, shaped into a pretty wool bread, using a standard bundt pan. You can use regular tube pans for this bread. I have to say, this is the most aromatic milk bread I've made thus far, and the vibrant orange is warm and welcoming. This bread screams autumn, and it would be lovely to bring to a Thanksgiving dinner, or to enjoy during a brisk Autumn morning for breakfast. Serve with soft butter, or toast it and drizzle some honey or condensed milk. Enjoy!Note: Like with most breads, this bread kneads time to rise and proof. If you want to pre-mix the bread dough and refrigerate it overnight, you can do that in place of the first rise. Just give the dough some time at room temperature to warm up before you roll and shape it.

Ingredients US Metric

Main dough ingredients

• 350 g bread flour
• 75 to 80 g sugar (less if you want the bread less sweet)
• 1 packet of active dry yeast (7-8g)
• 1 large egg (egg replacement OK)
• 2 tablespoons or 30 g softened butter (vegan butter OK)
• Pinch of salt or a teaspoon of miso paste

For the pumpkin mixture

• 1 can of canned pumpkin
• 2 to 3 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
• 1/3 cup milk (oat milk, vegan milk OK) (add more milk if the mixture is too thick, it should be soupy like squash or split pea soup)
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cardamom (I recommend adding more, I love cardamom!)
• 1 cinnamon stick (or 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon)
• nutmeg to taste
• allspice is optional
• some freshly grated ginger, to taste, optional 
• 1 to 2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Instructions

Make the pumpkin mixture

1. Heat all the pumpkin mixture ingredients in a saucepan over medium-low heat and stir to thoroughly incorporate. Remove from heat when the mixture simmers (some bubbles form around the edges) and cool down to 110°F (43°C).

Make the milk bread dough

1. Add about 180 g of the mixture to a bowl and mix in the active dry yeast. Set aside and watch for foaming/bubbling, which tells you the yeast is alive.
2. Meanwhile, add the bread flour, sugar, egg, and miso paste (or 1/4 teaspoon salt) to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Pour in the pumpkin/yeast mixture and mix on low speed (2 on the KitchenAid) for about 9 minutes, until a smooth dough forms. It is OK if it's tacky and sticky. Cover and rest for 20 minutes. 
3. Add the butter to the dough and mix for another 10 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed with a flexible spatula. 
4. As long as the dough is elasticky, it's good. It shouldn't be too hard or tough, or too wet. Scrape the sides of the bowl and form it into a ball. If it is tooooo sticky, dust with some bread flour, and work into a ball. Cover and let rise for 60 minutes at warm room temperature or using the Proof function of your oven. 

Shape the milk bread dough

1. Divide the dough into 5 even pieces, about 146 g each. Working with one piece at a time, shape into a ball, and roll out into a long oval/oblong, about 8 inches (20 cm). Using a pizza cutter, bench scraper, or a knife, make lengthwise cuts along the top 2/3 of the dough. You will be making 1/8 inch strands of dough (imagine the teeth of a comb).
2. Roll (from the unsliced end) to form the wool roll. End with the top of the roll being the sliced strands. Repeat with the remaining dough.
3. Pan spray a tube or bundt pan and place each wool roll into the pan, around the inside to form a ring. 
4. Cover and let proof until puffy and doubled in size, about 60 minutes.

Baking time!

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) with a rack in the center.
2. Bake for about 35 minutes. Please cover the top with aluminum foil at about 15 of baking minutes to avoid burning/over darkening the top.
3. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Enjoy this bread warm! 

Recommended Products:

Modern Asian Baking at Home Cookbook

Recipe COPYRIGHT © PHILANDMAMA.COM 2020, Phil and Mama, LLC. All rights reserved. You may not use any photographs of Phil and Mama Kat without both verbal and written consent from the owners of www.philandmama.com.

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About the Baker

Kat Lieu is the founder of Subtle Asian Baking and this website modernasianbaking.com, and she is the author of Modern Asian Baking at Home. Currently, Kat is a full-time author and recipe developer. Follow her on instagram and check out her blog Phil and Mama.