Salty Cinnamon Crunch Pumpkin Focaccia
I’m putting together a last-minute costume for my nephews’ Halloween birthday party today, so let’s just get right into this week.
Updates:
THE 2025 BAKING GAY HISTORY CHAMPIONSHIP
I’m finally doing what I was meant to: judging people. Join me Monday, October 27 6:30PM - 8:00PM at Stonewall Inn where I’ll be on a distinguished panel of judges for a bake-off thrown by Making Gay History podcast. Click here to buy $20 tickets.
The Great Community Bake Sale was a hit!!
Last Saturday, 200 of some o fNYC’s coolest bakers and chefs (and also me, I was there) as well as more than 2,000 baked goods lovers, gathered to raise money for some great charities. Thanks to the wonderful organizers, chef and cookbook author Natasha Pickowicz and Project Gather, the sale raised $115,000 in proceeds! All profits will be evenly donated to four incredible NYC organizations: Heart of Dinner, Make the Road New York, One Love Community Fridge and The Teaching Kitchen at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House. I talked to so many of you there who said you read the ‘stack so if you came out to support, I can’t thank you enough and I hope you’ve recovered from your sugar coma!
This Week’s Recipe
I’ve had two seemingly unrelated things on the brain. One, focaccia: with flavors like grape and sausage? Italian antipasto? And the other thing: the topping on Panera’s cinnamon crunch bagels, which also appears on my recently-released zucchini bread cheesecake muffins. Canned puréed pumpkin lends a bright orange color color and plush tenderness to this bread, and a bit of flavor, and keeps it from drying out for at least 2 or 3 days. (It is revived beautifully with a five-minute toast in the oven.)
The salty-sweet layer on top takes this to dessert-for-breakfast territory, and I’ve even been tempted to slather some cream cheese on it — it would be a star at your next brunch. That being said, feel free to leave the topping off and simply drizzle with olive oil and flakey sea salt. I’m saving those naked test batches, cut up and frozen, for sandwich bread.
This is high-hydration dough, so it’s sticky. That’s why you always want a thin layer of oil or water on your hands, bowls and scrapers to avoid tearing it as much as possible. The addition of pumpkin interrupts some of the gluten formation, which is why we really have to work the dough out — you’re much more likely to under-knead/fold it than the opposite.
I used Libby’s pumpkin purée to develop this recipe because it’s the most common in American grocery stores. Canned pumpkin’s water content can vary pretty widely, and Libby’s has the lowest I’ve come across as it’s pretty thick. Because of that, if you pick up some pumpkin from another brand, or you make your own, you might have to decrease the water in the recipe by 25 grams or so.
To make this recipe the night before and bake it off in the morning, here’s what to do. Complete the directions through Step 5, then gently press the dough down to de-gas it. Cover the bowl with oiled plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight. Take a look at it an hour or two later and press it down again if it is rising significantly — it just needs to cool down more. The next morning, transfer the dough to a very well-oiled 9x13-inch pan. Attempt to stretch it out gently so that it covers the bottom of the pan but if the dough is contracting, stop. Cover with an oiled sheet of plastic wrap and allow to rise again in a warm spot until it is bubbly and jiggly, about 1 hour. Continue to Step 7.
Salty Cinnamon Crunch Pumpkin Focaccia
Makes one 9x13-inch pan
Ingredients
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