Five Spice Pumpkin Bread

 I saw this in Better Homes & Gardens October 2023 issue and it looked too good to not try. It’s amazing! The frosting uses white miso, browned butter and vanilla for flavoring. The miso really deepens the nuttiness of the browned butter. I thought it might be too salty but once it’s mixed in it’s not even detectable. Five spice powder is a unique brilliant combo of cinnamon, fennel seeds, star anise, Sichuan peppercorns and cloves. I found it labeled “Chinese Five Spice”. I used one can of pumpkin which measures 1 3/4 c and added some leftover butternut squash to bring it to 2 cups. 

3 cups granulated sugar                                                                                   1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1¾ cups all-purpose flour

1½ cups rye flour

2 Tbsp. malted milk powder (I used King Arthur powdered milk)

2 tsp. baking soda

1½ tsp. five-spice powder 

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

⅔ cup milk

2 cups pumpkin or squash puree 

Frosting 

½ cup butter (one stick) 

2 tsp vanilla 

1 Tbsp. white miso paste (Trader Joe’s has it in a squeeze pouch)

2 cups powdered sugar

2 to 4 Tbsp. milk

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease bottoms and ½ inch up sides of two 9x5-inch loaf pans. (I use loaf pan liners) 
2. In an extra-large bowl beat granulated sugar and oil with a mixer on medium until combined. Beat in eggs and 2 tsp. of the vanilla.
3. In a large bowl stir together the flours, malted milk powder, baking soda, five-spice powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1½ tsp. salt. Add flour mixture and the ⅔ cup milk alternately to sugar mixture, beating on low after each addition just until combined. Beat in pumpkin just until combined. Spoon batter evenly into prepared loaf pans.
4. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. I tested at 1 hour, visibly not ready/jiggly. Needed an extra 20 min, altogether 1 hr 20 min to bake. Cool in pans on a wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pans to continue cooling and make the glaze to pour over.
5. In a small saucepan cook butter over medium until browned, 5 to 7 minutes.

   Remove from heat. Add miso; whisk until well incorporated.

   Whisk in powdered sugar, the remaining 2 tsp. vanilla, and 2 to

   4 Tbsp. milk to make smooth glaze. Drizzle over loaves.

   
   

   Makes 2 loaves (16 slices each). Consider making mini/tea loaves as gifts.