pumpkin sourdough

Whole wheat and pumpkin sourdough bread with dried cranberries and pepitas easily formed into a festive pumpkin shaped loaf!  Perfect for breakfast or alongside a cozy fall meal.

Whole Wheat Sourdough Pumpkin Bread

(1/2 cup) starter fed and bubbly

(1 1/4 cup) warm water 80-90°F

(1 teaspoon) salt

(1/2 cup) pumpkin purée

(2 cups + 1 tablespoon) bread flour

(2 cups + 1 tablespoon) whole wheat flour

(1/2 cup) dried cranberries

(1/4 cup) raw pepitas/pumpkin seeds

Make the dough

In a medium bowl, use a fork to whisk together the water, starter, salt, and pumpkin purée until smooth.  Add the bread flour, whole wheat flour, dried cranberries, and pumpkin seeds.  Mix together until a rough, shaggy dough forms.  Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Form the dough

After the dough rests, form it into a ball by stretching four sides of the dough gently up and over the dough, one side at a time.  Using a lightly wet hand, pull one side of the dough away from the edge of the dough and gently stretch it up and over the remaining dough, pushing it slightly into the dough.  Repeat three more times.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel.

Stretch and folds

  After forming the dough, let the dough rest for 1 hour covered, then repeat the stretch and folds.  Cover and let the dough rest again for 1 hour, then repeat the stretch and folds one last time.

Bulk rise

  After the last stretch and fold series, cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let the dough rest another 3 to 4 hours (for a total bulk rise of about 6 hours.). Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, this could take more or less time.  The dough should look about double in size and have a bit of bounce to it if poked with a finger.

Shape the dough

  Generously flour a medium bowl lined with a cotton or linen cloth or a bread basket, set aside.  Gently remove the dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface.  Very gently stretch and fold the four sides of the dough.  Using a bench scraper, flip the dough over, cover with a damp cloth and rest 15 to 20 minutes.

Using a bench scraper, flip the dough over again so the smooth side is facing the work surface.  If the dough is sticky, lightly flour your hands.  Cup your hands around the far side of the dough and pull it towards you in a circular motion.  You may find it easier to use a bench scraper to help you slightly move the dough while you shape it.  After shaping the dough, place it seam side up in the breadbasket/cloth-lined bowl.

Second rise.  Let the dough rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour or leave the dough in the fridge overnight.  Preheat the oven to 450°F with the dutch oven and lid inside.  Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the inside of your dutch oven with just enough space to lift into the pan.  I like to cut a parchment paper circle with narrow, longer pieces of two sides to use as handles, then smooth them out in the hot pan with tongs so they don’t affect the final shape of the dough.

Make the pumpkin shape

  Optional: Sprinkle the top of the loaf in the breadbasket with cornmeal (this will end up being the bottom once the dough is turned out.)  Cut 4 long pieces of kitchen string and place over the dough in the breadbasket.  Cover with parchment paper, then a cutting board or plate and gently flip over.  Tip: Just to be sure, I like to lightly pull the rested dough from the sides of the breadbasket before placing the strings to make sure it cleanly released once flipped.  After turning the dough out, sprinkle and lightly rub flour over the surface of the dough.  Tie the strings in the center of the dough with a little tension.  Cut any excess string.

Score the dough

  Use your own design or preference to score the dough.  To keep the pumpkin shape, don’t score too deep.

Bake the dough

  Remove the dutch oven from the oven and remove the lid &#8211; remember the lid will be super hot!  Carefully place the dough in the dutch oven.  Cover with the lid and bake at 450°F for 20 minutes.  Remove the lid and reduce the oven temperature to 425°F.  Bake for another 35-45 minutes until the center of the loaf reaches 205°F

Cool the dough.  The hardest part &#8211; carefully remove the dough from the dutch oven and let cool on a wire rack or cutting board for 1 hour before cutting for the best texture.  Cut and remove the kitchen string.  Add an inverted cashew or piece of cinnamon stick to the center of the dough for the stem of the pumpkin.  Slice and serve, my favorite way is with butter and honey!

Excellent!  I added some sultana raisins in addition to the dried cranberries, along with pecans (I had no pepitas), ginger, cinnamon, a little honey, orange zest and squeezed in some of the juice of the orange, maybe a couple of tablespoons.  I thought the orange would work nicely with these flavors.  I also doubled the recipe because I always like to get two loaves at a time out of a batch of dough.  They came out stunningly beautiful and absolutely delicious!  This is such a nice bread for a fall or winter breakfast!

Pumpkin Sourdough

bread flour

100 g cooked pumpkin flesh

water

extra water

g salt

sourdough starter

Welcome fall with this delicious pumpkin sourdough artisan bread. Canned pumpkin gives the dough a soft and delicious crumb with a crispy artisan crust. Make it sweet or savory with the directions in this recipe.

Pumpkin Sourdough Artisan Bread

ripe sourdough starter (bubbly/active/doubled in size, about 2 Tablespoons)

all purpose or bread flour (about 1/4 cup)

water (about 2 Tablespoons)

levain (ripe/bubbly/active/doubled in size, about 5 Tablespoons)

bread flour (about 2.5 cups)

canned pumpkin (see recipe notes, about 1/3 cup plus 1 Tablespoon)

brown sugar (see recipe notes, about 1/4 cup)

salt (1.5 teaspoons)

pumpkin pie spice (can substitute cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon)

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.

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.

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

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.

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&#39;s warmer, this process will move faster.

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

Lamination &amp; 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.

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.

Day 1: Levain/Mix/Bulk Fermentation/Shape/Cold Fermentation, 78-80ºF

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

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.

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.

Let cool completely and enjoy!

Day 2: Bake

Too wet. It doesn’t turn out right no matter how long or short I ferment the dough. Think it calls for too little flour.

I've been making sourdough for about 4 years and this is by far the BEST bread I have ever made. Thank you for this amazing recipe

Really love this recipe turned out perfect. I double the recipe and made 2 loaves.
Thanks Amy

I will definitely be making this multiple times. The best compliment I can give is that my husband who claims he doesn’t like pumpkin flavored treats loved it!

Top 3 pumpkin sourdough recipes from across the web

The most viewed pumpkin sourdough recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Whole Wheat Sourdough Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Sourdough

Pumpkin Sourdough Artisan Bread

Top 3 pumpkin sourdough recipes from across the web

The most viewed pumpkin sourdough recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Whole Wheat Sourdough Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Sourdough

Pumpkin Sourdough Artisan Bread

The most viewed pumpkin sourdough recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine