Pumpkin Sourdough Artisan Bread

Step 1

Levain: Make levain by mixing together ripe sourdough starter, flour and water. Set aside for 3-4 hours at 78 degrees F.Note: Ripe, bubbly, active sourdough starter can be substituted for levain if desired.

Step 2

Mix the Dough: Mix together ripe levain, bread flour, water, canned pumpkin, brown sugar and salt. Mix together until a shaggy dough forms. Wet your hands as needed and continue to work with the dough until it is smooth and all the ingredients are mixed together about 3-5 minutes.

Step 3

Bulk Fermentation: Over a total of 1.5 hours, perform 3 sets of stretch and folds every half hour.

Step 4

To “stretch and fold,” wet your hand (so it doesn’t stick to the dough). Reach down to the bottom of the bowl of dough and pull the dough up and over the top of the dough. Turn the bowl 1/4 turn and repeat the stretch and fold. Turn another 1/4 turn and repeat. Perform one more 1/4 turn with stretching and folding the dough. Cover and set aside.

Step 5

Repeat the stretch and folds every 30 minutes for three times total. After your third set of stretch and folds, cover the dough and let rest/rise for about 2-3 hours until the dough has risen about 30-40%, has scattered bubbles around the outside and is doming toward the middle of the bowl. If the dough is not showing these signs, give it more time to rise. Sourdough is very temperature dependent. The timing of this recipe is based on a dough temperature of 78-80ºF. If your dough is colder, you will want the dough to rise more. If it's warmer, this process will move faster.

Step 6

Prepare a banneton: Prepare a banneton or small bowl. Place a kitchen towel or hair net in the bowl and liberally flour.

Step 7

Lamination & Bench Rest: On a clean counter top, stretch the dough as thin as you can without tearing it. See post for pictures and description. When the dough is fully stretched, sprinkle pumpkin pie spice over the dough. Fold the dough up and sprinkle pumpkin pie spice as you fold the dough up into a little package. Place the dough in a prepared proofing basket.

Step 8

Cold Bulk Fermentation: Cover the dough and store in the refrigerator overnight or for up to 16-20 hours. Alternatively you can let your dough rise outside the fridge for another 3-4 hours and then bake your loaves the same day.

Step 9

Pre-heat the Oven: Put a dutch oven (top and all) into the oven and preheat to 500 degrees for 30 minutes.

Step 10

Scoring: Once preheated, pull the loaf out of the refrigerator. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the bread dough. Flip the dough over so that the dough is now sitting on the parchment paper. Take off the bowl/banneton and kitchen towel. Smooth the flour over the top of the dough (add a little extra for more contrast if desired) or leave the flour off completely for no contrast. Use a bread lame or very sharp knife to score the dough.

Step 11

Bake: Carefully remove the dutch oven from the 500ºF oven with hot pads. Take the top off and place your bread into the dutch oven (including parchment paper – this helps with the transfer). Be very careful not to touch the sides of the hot dutch oven. Put your hot pads back on before you pick up the lid of the dutch oven and place it on top of the bread. Put the whole dutch oven back into your oven. Lower the temperature to 450ºF and bake for 20 minutes. Once 20 minutes are up, take the top off the dutch oven and continue baking for 20 minutes until the bread is fully baked.

Step 12

Let cool completely and enjoy!