This delicious Seminole pumpkin frybread is a recipe you'll love any time, but especially in the fall when pumpkin is so popular. It's sweet and tasty, with a fluffy texture.
Various types of frybread were created among American Indian tribes in the 1800s. It's not a traditional dish; rather, one that was created based on government rations at a time when Native Americans were being forced into the reservation system. For a more in-depth look at the history of frybread, read this article at CrazyCrow.com.
I really like to eat this pumpkin frybread for breakfast, sometimes alongside a homemade Chick-fil-A Iced Coffee. If you like this recipe, another delicious sweet bread recipe you'll find on my website is Pan de Mallorca.
Ingredients
The ingredients for this dish are simple:
- Self-rising flour
- Granulated white sugar
- Canned pumpkin
- Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)
- Vegetable oil for frying
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Overall this recipe is really easy to make, from putting the dough together, through the frying step. The entire process is shown below.
Step 1 - combine pumpkin, flour, and white sugar in a bowl or mixer to form a dough
Step 2 - refrigerate 1 hour up to overnight (wrapped in plastic wrap or in a container)
Step 3 - Take small amounts of dough and form them into a patties about the size of your palm. (I think of them as oatmeal cream pie sized!)
Step 4 - Fry patties in vegetable oil until lightly brown on both sides, flipping halfway.
Hint: Try to make the patties as thin as possible. They will puff up while frying, due to the leavening in self-rising flour. But don't make yourself crazy; they don't need to be as thin as tortillas! Shaping and flattening them by hand is fine.
Variations
Various Native American tribes made recipes differently, often depending on the rations provided by the government. Some possible variations are:
- Omit the sugar for a more savory pumpkin version
- Omit the sugar, and swap pumpkin for mashed squash, for a different flavor
- Leave out the sugar and pumpkin altogether for a plain version, which could be used in recipes in place of tortillas or pita bread
Equipment
A stand mixer is helpful to mix the dough, but a hand mixer or even just a spoon (and a good bit of patience) will work! You'll also need a somewhat deep pan for frying, a pair of tongs, and a plate covered with paper towels to drain the cooked frybread.
Storage
You can store the cooked frybread in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Uncooked pumpkin frybread dough can also be frozen for up to six months. Simply thaw it in the refrigerator a day prior to frying, then follow the same instructions as with freshly-made dough.
Top tip
The pumpkin frybread dough can be really sticky. If it's too sticky, you can add more flour. Allowing it to rest in the refrigerator for an entire 24 hours will help reduce the stickiness. Also, coating your hands with flour while forming the dough into patties will also help reduce the stickiness.
That said, I've never made this without some of the dough sticking to my hands!
Recipe
Seminole Pumpkin Frybread
Equipment
- 1 frying pan
- 1 electric mixer optional
Ingredients
- 5 cups self-rising flour
- 1⅔ cups granulated sugar
- 15 ounce canned pumpkin
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar optional, for dusting
- vegetable oil
Instructions
- Mix flour, granulated sugar, and canned pumpkin by hand or in an electric mixer until it forms a dough.5 cups self-rising flour, 15 ounce canned pumpkin, 1⅔ cups granulated sugar
- Cover dough with plastic wrap or put in an airtight container, and refrigerate for an hour or up to overnight.
- Take a small amount of dough, about a quarter cup, and form it into a flat disk with your hands. It should be about 1 inch thick. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Next, heat vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Use enough oil to completely submerge one layer of formed dough.
- Add as many pieces of frybread dough as you can comfortably fit into the pan of oil, leaving a bit of room between so you can easily turn them. Fry until the edges start to turn brown.
- Flip the pieces of dough over and continue to fry until the second side is also brown.
- Remove to a paper towel-lined dish to soak up any extra oil, and allow to cool.
- If desired, sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Notes
- Don't let the oil get too hot, because it will either burn the frybread, or leave the middle undercooked.
- If the dough is too sticky to handle, coat your hands in flour. You can also add more flour to the dough itself, if needed.
- Best served immediately after cooking, but frybread can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Dough can be made ahead and frozen for up to 6 months. Simply thaw completely in the refrigerator before frying.
Nutrition
Food safety
Make sure the dough is cooked all the way through. The easiest way to test this is to cut into one (or pull it into two pieces) and check the middle. As there are no eggs, undercooked frybread isn't a big risk, but it will go bad more quickly if it's not fried thoroughly.
If you're finding that the outside gets too dark while the inside remains undercooked, lower the temperature of your cooking oil.
Susan Petracco
It's easy to make and really tasty.
Frank L.
My wife made these and I must have gained 5 lbs. they are incredibly addicting, stay away from these if you aren't ready to run 10 miles, oh who am I kidding, to heck with the mileage!