• Warm the milk to around 95-104°F / 35-40°C (not hotter) and pour the warm milk into a bowl of your stand mixer. Sprinkle yeast and half the sugar over the milk. 
• If using active dry yeast, let this sit for around 5-10 minutes until it becomes foamy; if using instant yeast, this step can be skipped.
• Add flour, remaining sugar, eggs pumpkin puree, spices, and salt. Fit the stand mixer with a dough hook attachment and mix to form a thick dough.
• Add in the softened butter a few cubes at a time.
• Keep mixing on medium speed for around 10 minutes until the sticky dough is smooth and strong and pulls away cleanly from the sides of the bowl.
• Add the raisins and mix on low speed until they are incorporated.
• Once kneaded, form the soft dough into a ball. Transfer the dough to a greased large bowl and cover it.
• Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, around about 1 hour. The exact time the dough rises will depend on your room temperature.
• For extra flavor, the dough can undergo a slow cold rise instead. Cover it tightly with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for up to 16 hours. 

Shaping

• After the first rise, punch down the risen dough and pull it from the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface. If the dough has come from the fridge, it will be stiff.
• Mix sugar, cinnamon, and flour in a small bowl for the filling—grease, and line two 8.5 x 4.5-inch loaf pans with parchment paper. You could also use 9x5-inch pans for less high loaves.
• Cut the dough into two equal pieces and shape them into balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one of the pieces of dough into an 8x15-inch rectangle.
• Sprinkle over half the cinnamon sugar mixture. RolI the dough up tightly, jelly-roll style, into an 8-inch log. Pinch the edges to seal them and place the log onto a prepared pan. Repeat with the second piece.
• Cover the loaf pans loosely and let the bread rise until doubled in size. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
• Once risen, brush the tops of the loaves with milk and bake in the oven for approximately 35 minutes until deep golden brown (with an internal temperature of around 195°F.)
• Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Let the loaves cool in their pan for 5 minutes before removing and cooling to room temperature.