Making the dough

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees
• Place the water in a glass bowl and pop in the microwave for 1-2 minutes until bathwater warm. Add your yeast and sugar and allow the yeast to activate for 5 minutes. It should get foamy.
• Now add the bread flour (you can use reg. white flour), cinnamon, pumpkin spice, pumpkin puree, honey or maple syrup, salt and oil. Combine until it comes together. It will be shaggy and sticky. Add more flour as needed, but the more flour you add and the more you work the dough, the dryer your bread will be. Add the flour gradually.
• Turn off oven. Place back into the bowl and cover with a towel. Place in the preheated oven with the door open. Allow it to rise until doubled in size, 20 mins or more.

Shaping the bread

• Transfer the dough from the bowl to a counter dusted with flour. You’ll want to stretch out each side and fold it over and work around until you have it in the shape of a ball. (Don’t worry you can’t mess this up). The more you touch the dough the more firm the final product will be. Don’t overwork the dough. Fold in the chopped pecans a little at a time spreading them out evenly. Save some for the outside if desired, but they may burn.
• Flip it over to where the smooth side is up. Cover with the towel and let it rise for roughly 20 minutes (or until the oven is preheated)

Heating the dutch oven

• Place the dutch oven in the oven. Preheat your oven to 450F and let it come to temperature. Your bread will rise while your dutch oven heats up.

Baking the bread

• Using oven mitts, take the dutch oven out of your oven and place it on top of the stove. Lift the bread using the parchment paper and transfer it to the dutch oven. Score the bread to let steam escape while it bakes. I just did a simple slash down the center with a knife, but you can make it pretty with designs if you’d like.
• Cover with the lid and transfer it to the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. When it’s done the color will be pale. Place it back in the oven without the lid for another 2-5 minutes, or until is golden brown of to your liking.
• Remove from the oven and lift the bread out of the dutch oven using the parchment paper. Let cool for at least 30 minutes.