Makeover Monday: Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Bread

I swore to myself I was done with pumpkin for a few months.  But I lied.  Recently, I used up the last of my pumpkin stash to make this pumpkin cinnamon roll bread.  In my defense, I had some pumpkin left over from my pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies, and I used pumpkin in this recipe not just for flavor, but for makeover purposes.

This tasty dish is a bit of a Frankenstein.  I don't even know what to call it!  It is a pantry clearing experiment gone very right.  I adapted it from a recipe that called itself a biscuit, but it really isn't a biscuit.  It's kind of like a cinnamon roll, but it's not rolled and it doesn't have yeast.  It's kind of like a quick bread.  But what's in a name?  What you really need to know is that this is delicious stuff!  I'm going to call it pumpkin cinnamon bread because I guess it's more like a quick bread than anything else.  It has a half whole wheat bread layer with pumpkin taking the place of cream, a layer of cinnamon roll-like filling, another bread layer, another cinnamon/butter layer, and it's all topped off with maple icing.  And it's all good!

To make this bread, start by whisking together all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, a little bit of brown sugar, baking powder, some cinnamon, and salt.

In a small bowl or a liquid measuring cup, whisk together your pumpkin puree and milk.  As I said previously, this pumpkin/milk mixture is taking the place of cream in this recipe.  I love it when I can make a dish healthier and more delicious at the same time!

Stir the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture just until combined.

Roll out half the dough into an 8x8-inch rectangle on a floured work surface.  Now, the original recipe I used instructed to cut the dough into four squares.  I did that, but I don't think it was really necessary, so I didn't include that step in my directions.  That's just one less step for you!

Spread a mixture of butter and cinnamon over the top of the bread.  The cinnamon/butter mixture I used came from my oatmeal cinnamon roll pancakes.

Roll out the other half of the bread and put it on top with the rest of the cinnamon butter mixture.

Bake at 425 for about 14 minutes.

In the last few minutes of baking, whip up the maple icing.  This maple icing was something I had leftover from my whole wheat maple pecan scones.  It makes my heart skip a beat!  Drizzle that awesomeness over the top of the yummy bread.

The directions for this original recipe said to eat this immediately.  That is the most useless direction I have ever read in a recipe.  As if you could keep from eating this immediately!  But seriously, eat it right away.  This was way better hot out of the oven than it was the next day.  And also, you don't want to keep your taste buds waiting!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Bread with Maple Icing

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup skim milk

For the cinnamon/sugar mixture:

2 Tbsp margarine

1/4 cup Splenda brown sugar blend

1 tsp cinnamon

For the maple icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp skim milk

1 Tbsp margarine, melted

Splash of strongly brewed coffee

Dash of salt

1/2 tsp maple flavoring or maple extract

Directions:

Heat oven to 425 degrees.  Lightly grease an 8x8-inch baking pan and set aside.  Melt margarine in microwave-safe bowl.  Whisk in brown sugar and cinnamon.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, baking powder, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and salt.  

In a large liquid measuring cup or a small bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree and milk.  Pour pumpkin mixture into flour mixture until just combined.  

Divide dough in half and transfer to a floured work surface.  Roll half of dough into 8x8-inch square.  Lay into prepared baking pan.  Spread on half of cinnamon butter mixture.

Roll other half of dough into another 8x8-inch square.  Place on top of first square in pan and top with the rest of the cinnamon butter mixture.

Bake 14-16 minutes, or until browned on the outside and cooked through.  Remove from oven.  

Meanwhile, prepare the icing by mixing together all icing ingredients in a medium mixing bowl or large liquid measuring cup until smooth.

Top bread with maple icing.

Recipe adapted a whole bunch from Two Peas and Their Pod