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Pumpkin Shaped Bread (with optional cream cheese filling)

Soft, lightly sweet pumpkin-spice buns tied with kitchen twine for ridges, finished in buttered cinnamon sugar, and crowned with a cinnamon-stick “stem.”
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Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 4 minutes
Servings 17 buns

Ingredients
  

Dough

  • 8 g instant dry yeast about 2¼ tsp
  • ½ cup 120 ml milk, room temperature
  • 100 g pumpkin purée about ½ cup
  • 1 large egg room temperature
  • ½ cup 100 g granulated sugar
  • 4 cups 480 g all-purpose flour, divided
  • 2½ tsp pumpkin pie spice or 1 tsp cinnamon + ½ tsp nutmeg + 1 tsp cardamom + ¼ tsp ground cloves a pinch of anise optional
  • ½ tsp fine salt
  • 100 g unsalted butter room temperature, in pieces

Cream Cheese Filling (optional)

  • 150 g cream cheese
  • ½ cup 100 g brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp 30 g pumpkin purée
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice or ¼ tsp cinnamon + ⅛ tsp nutmeg + ¼ tsp cardamom + ⅛ tsp ground cloves

Cinnamon-Sugar Finish

  • 100 g unsalted butter melted
  • 1 cup 200 g granulated sugar
  • 3 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • Short pieces of cinnamon stick for stems
  • Heat-safe cotton kitchen twine 4 pieces per bun

Instructions
 

  • Mix dough: In mixer bowl, stir yeast into milk. Add sugar, egg, pumpkin purée, spices, half the flour, and butter. Mix to a sticky mass. Add salt and remaining flour; knead until smooth, stretchy, and slightly tacky (10–15 min by mixer). Rest 20 minutes.
  • Make filling (optional): Beat cream cheese, brown sugar, pumpkin purée, and spice until smooth. Chill briefly.
  • Portion: Divide dough into 17 pieces. Flatten, add 1 tsp filling (if using), pinch to seal, and round into balls.
  • Tie: Arrange four lengths of twine in a crisscross. Set a dough ball seam-down in the center. Tie strings loosely to create pumpkin “ridges.” Place on parchment-lined sheets (about 6 per sheet).
  • Proof: Cover and rise at room temperature until puffy, 2–3 hours.
  • Bake: Heat oven to 200°C / 395°F (use 400°F if needed). Bake 10–15 minutes until deep golden. Cool until warm, then snip and remove strings.
  • Finish: Melt butter. Mix sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Brush each bun generously with butter, then spoon cinnamon sugar over all sides and into creases. Insert a small piece of cinnamon stick as a stem.
  • Serve: Best slightly warm. Store airtight (see notes).

Notes

  • Tie strings loosely; tight strings will cut the dough or bake into it.
  • For overnight proof, refrigerate tied buns on trays. Bake straight from cold, adding a couple of minutes.
  • Rewarm at 300°F / 150°C for 6–8 minutes to refresh the crumb.
  • The filling is optional; buns are also excellent plain with just the cinnamon-sugar finish.
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