Pumpkin Sourdough Bread

Pumpkin sourdough bread is perfect for fall baking because it has both pumpkin pie spice and dried cranberries. It also includes some pumpkin puree to give the bread a rich flavor that will make your house smell amazing while you bake.

It's fall, the leaves are changing, people are pulling plaid out of the back of their closets.

Starbucks line ups are getting longer, and everything.is.pumpkin.

I'm not above admitting that I can get behind a good pumpkin spice craze.

But I like my pumpkin with a side of carbs!

This pumpkin sourdough bread is dedicated to plaid!

Jump to:

• Tips + Tricks
• Key Ingredients
• How To Make Pumpkin Sourdough Bread
• Baker's Schedule
• More Sourdough Recipes To Love
• Batch + Storage Information
• Recommended Equipment
• If you love this post
• 📖 Printable Recipe

Tips + Tricks

No. 1 --> New to sourdough? Need a starter? Check out my super EASY SOURDOUGH STARTER. It's ready in 24 hours!

No. 2 --> This recipe is written with a room temperature bulk ferment but this dough can easily be proofed in the fridge to help the baking fit into your schedule.

No. 3 --> Once I've preshaped my loaf and placed it on the parchment paper, I like to set it in a pot that is roughly the same size as the dutch oven I'm using.

No. 4 --> Grab a shower cap at the drugstore next time you're out! I use my polka-dotted shower cap a few times a week while making sourdough. It's a great, reusable cover for proofing sourdough.

Key Ingredients

Sourdough Starter: use a fed and active 100% hydration starter. The sourdough starter should be very bubbly and risen at least twice its size since feeding.

Pumpkin Puree: can't have pumpkin spice sourdough bread without the pumpkin! This recipe works using canned pumpkin puree and homemade pumpkin puree. If your homemade puree is particularly watery, it would be prudent to drain off some of the liquid.

How To Make Pumpkin Sourdough Bread

--> Printable recipe card at the bottom of the post

Feed The Starter:

1. Combine 60g hungry sourdough starter with 60g water, and 60g bread flour.
2. Stir until the starter is completely combined, then set aside to rise.
3. Once the starter has at least doubled in size and is full of bubbles, it is ready to use.

Start The Dough:

1. Combine 100g active starter with 240g water and 200g pumpkin puree, stirring until smooth and mostly combined. Add in 500g bread flour, mixing until all the flour is incorporated. I usually stir with a spoon until the dough is too thick, then I switch to a bowl scraper to help lift and fold the dough to incorporate all the flour. Cover and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.
2. Sprinkle 10g of salt over the sourdough, then perform a series of stretches and folds: with wet hands, grab the dough and gently pull it until the flap is long enough to fold over itself, then fold the flap, rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat 4 times. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes. Repeat the stretch and fold process once more. Recover at set aside for 30 minutes.
3. Combine 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup dried cranberries and 1 1/2 tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the dough. Complete 1 last stretch and fold to incorporate the added mixture. Less folding in the sugar mixture will result in pronounced ribbons as pictured above, more folding in will result in a more homogenized dough mixture.

Bulk Ferment + Pre-shape:

1. Cover the dough and set it aside to bulk ferment for 10-12 hours, or until it doubles in size. You'll see in the photos that I use a pot for my bulk ferment. This pot is almost exactly the same size as my 3 qt dutch oven so I love to use it for all my proofing.
2. Once the dough has doubled in size, turn it onto a floured surface and pre-shape the loaf into your desired shape, place it seam side down on a piece of parchment paper. Cover and allow to rise for another 60-120 minutes.

Bake:

1. While the dough is finishing the final rise, place a cast iron dutch oven into the cold oven and preheat together at 475f.
2. Once the oven is heated, score your loaf as desired. Lift with the parchment paper as handles and lower into the preheated dutch oven.
3. Bake the pumpkin sourdough at 475f covered for 30 minutes.
4. Remove the lid and continue to bake until the crust has darkened, another 15-20 minutes.
5. Remove the sourdough from the dutch oven and cool on a wire mesh cooling rack until room temperature before slicing.

Baker's Schedule

Here's an example of my schedule for baking this irresistible pumpkin sourdough bread!

• Day 1 -->
  • 12 pm: Feed my starter room temperature or cooler water. Set aside in a cooler place to activate.
  • 7 pm: Mix up the dough for pumpkin sourdough bread.
  • 8:30 pm: The stretching and folding process is complete, the sugar, cranberries, and pumpkin pie spice have been incorporated. Cover and set aside to rise for 10-12 hours, or until doubled.
• Day 2 -->
  • 8 am: Turn the dough onto a floured surface, form into a boule and place seam side down on a piece of parchment paper. Place the boule into a bowl similar in size to your dutch oven. Cover and rise for 60-120 minutes.
  • 9:30 pm: Set my favorite small dutch oven into the cold oven and preheat both together at 475f.
  • 10 am: Uncover and carefully score the surface of your boule. Then remove the dutch oven from the oven, and using the parchment paper as a sling, lower the boule into the dutch oven. Recover then bake as per the recipe.

More Sourdough Recipes To Love

Batch + Storage Information

BATCH:

This recipe bakes a nice-sized loaf of pumpkin sourdough bread. This is the perfect amount for our family of 4 to serve with breakfast for at least 2 days.

STORAGE:

If you've got leftover sourdough, you've got serious willpower!

Your boule can be kept cut side down on a cutting board for up to 12 hours before the crust becomes too crisp. I recommend transferring it to a bread bag once cooled.

Your sourdough loaf can also be frozen. To freeze, cool the loaf to room temperature, then tightly wrap in plastic wrap, slide it into a bread bag, seal it up and stick it in the freezer for 1-2 months. To use after freezing, remove the loaf from the freezer, unwrap and allow to come to room temperature (1 -2 hours) before slicing and enjoying.

Recommended Equipment

3 qt cast iron dutch oven: Much of the success of this bread depends on having a heavy ass cast iron dutch oven. It's one of those things you should already have, and if you don't have one, fix that! The little red one in these photos was my first piece of cast iron and something that started somewhat of a cooking revolution for us a decade ago.

A 3-quart CAST IRON DUTCH OVEN is a workhorse in the kitchen, and you'll find yourself reaching for it often.

Scale: It's really hard to make sourdough without a scale. Sorry, but them's the facts! bread baking and bread dough are a bit of a science. A GOOD KITCHEN SCALE will treat you well over a huge range of recipes, not just sourdough. Think of  HOMEMADE BACON!

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