Pumpkin Bread

I was scouring the internet for some more no-knead bread recipes and happened across this one for pumpkin bread:

• 1/2 cup plain pumpkin puree (use water for plain bread)
• 1 cup tepid water plus 1 tablespoon
• 1/4 tsp dry active yeast
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• cornmeal as needed

I used 1 tspn yeast so that I wouldn't have to sit around all day waiting for it to rise. I also used a bit more water than recommended. Oh, and I added 1/2 cup of ground pumpkin seeds.

Baked it in a very moist oven, throwing water at the bottom every few minutes for 20 minutes, then let the oven dry out for the final 10 to 15 minutes.

It was crunchy on the outside, and moist on the inside. I took the result to work and asked people for advice. One person suggested that I toast the pumpkin seeds before putting them into the bread. I found that it wasn't pumpkiny enough, and asked Kheng about it... he suggested using the same spices that are found in pumpkin pie - molasses, vanilla, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

So I made it again. Toasted the pumpkin seeds and chopped them coarsely before mixing them in. Added a Tbsp of molasses and a dash of vanilla extract to the wet ingredients, a dash of nutmeg, ground cloves, and cinnamon to the dry ingredients. It was much more flavorful and aromatic this time... more what I would expect out of pumpkin bread. k