Vegan Pumpkin Pull Apart Bread

My Grandma used to make the most wonderful thing in the world (at least to my five year old self), monkey bread.  In case you have never heard of it, it is  bread that is shaped into little balls, all baked together with cinnamon sugar that becomes gooey and caramel like, and pecans.  It was good stuff, and I always got excited when Grandma had some sitting on her counter when I came over.  Which she often did.  I have since made a few versions of it as an adult, and I think they would have made Grandma proud.  I decided this week that I wanted to make some again, because I was craving it.  I had been given some lovely sprouted whole wheat flour  that I could use in my recipe too! I don't use a lot of wheat in my baking, but when I do, I make sure it is organic.

This time I made a pumpkin pull apart bread.  Since I had pumpkin on hand as well, and tis the season.  I wanted a smaller loaf than Grandma used to make, so I made the recipe about half as large, and baked it in a loaf pan instead of a bundt.  I used maple sugar and maple syrup  instead of all of the brown sugar, which also gave it an awesome maple flavor.  It smelled amazing, and the caramel lover that I am, I fully enjoyed this!  I think it would be the perfect treat for a weekend morning, especially if it is chilly and you want to warm the house while baking something delicious.

Vegan Pumpkin Pull Apart Bread

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp maple sugar

1/2 cup pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin

2 Tbsp coconut oil

1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

2 tsp maple extract

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cloves

4 cups organic sprouted whole wheat flour (plus additional as needed)

3/4 cup chopped pecans

Coating:

1/2 cup maple sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Topping:

2/3 cup pecan butter

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup maple sugar

1/4 cup filtered water

good pinch sea salt