Crusty Pumpkin Rosemary Bread for #twelveloaves

#TwelveLoaves is a monthly bread baking party created by Lora from Cake Duchess and run with the help of Heather of girlichef, which runs smoothly with the help of our bakers.

 Our host this month is Renee from Kudos Kitchen by Renee, and our theme is Pumpkin. For more bread recipes, visit the #TwelveLoaves Pinterest board, or check out last month's tempting selection of #TwelveLoaves Apple Breads!

This was my first time making and using a biga, also called a poolish. It takes a little bit longer, but made for a softer crumb. Delicious...and worth the effort!

Ingredients makes 2 loaves

Biga (a pre-ferment)

• 3 1/2 C bread flour
• 2 C water, room temperature
• 1/2 t instant dry yeast

Whisk all the ingredients together and allow it to stand for at room temperature for between 6 and 36 hours; mine fermented for over 24 hours. The biga will begin to ferment, getting gassy and bubbly. You'll use 1-1/2 C biga for this bread recipe. The remaining biga can be stored in the fridge, covered. You can keep the biga alive by discarding some of the biga every couple of days, and adding an equal amount of water and bread flour and giving it a firm stir.

The Bread

• 1 1/2 C biga
• 1 1/2 C pumpkin puree (click here for how to make your own puree)
• 3/4 C water, room temperature
• 1 T fresh yeast
• 1 T raw agave nectar
• 4 1/2 C organic bread flour
• salt for sprinkling
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary, stem discarded for sprinkling

Procedure
In a large mixing bowl, mix together all of the ingredients except for the salt and rosemary. Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. It took me about 8 minutes.

Place the dough in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, cover the bowl with a towel, and let the dough to rest for an hour.

After an hour, divide the dough in half. Roll the dough into a cylinder, tucking the ends of the dough neatly underneath to form a chubby baguette. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and transfer the log of dough to the sheet. Sprinkle the top with salt and rosemary. Space the loaves so they have room to rise. Let bread rise for 2 to 3 hours.

After three hours, the dough should be nicely puffed but not quite doubled in size.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Slash diagonal cuts into the top of your bread. Drizzle with olive oil.

Place a pan of water on the bottom rack. Bake the bread for about 50 minutes. The crust should be browned and crisp. When you pick up the loaf, give it a thump on the bottom. It should sound hollow. Allow the bread to cool before slicing and tasting.

Now for the fun part. Here's what everyone else packed in our bread basket this month...

• Cranberry Pumpkin Rolls from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Muffins from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Crusty Pumpkin Rosemary Bread from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Giant Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Rolls from girlichef
• Pumpkin Challah Bread from Cake Duchess
• Pumpkin Chocolate Pocky Muffins from NinjaBaking.com
• Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls from A Shaggy Dough Story
• Pumpkin Seed Breadsticks from Never Enough Thyme
• Savory Ginger Pumpkin Spice Bread from Kudos Kitchen by Renee
• Spice Pumpkin Bread from Basic N Delicious

If you’d like to add your bread to this month's #TwelveLoaves collection, here’s what you need to do...

1. Post your Twelve Loaves bread on your blog, making sure to mention the Twelve Loaves challenge in your blog post (this helps us to get more members as well as share everyone's posts).
2. Please link your post to the linky tool at the bottom of this blog. The bread MUST meet the Twelve Loaves theme (enter theme). 
3. Share your Twelve Loaves bread (must be baked and posted this month) on your blog by enter the last day of the month.