Baking Autumnal Pumpkin Sourdough Bread – A Recipe for Beginners
When pumpkin season begins, a fitting autumn bread is a must. This pumpkin sourdough bread combines an active sourdough starter with creamy pumpkin purée, dark cane sugar, and an aromatic pumpkin spice blend. The decorative pumpkin shape makes the bread a real eye-catcher on the autumn table – and the scent while baking instantly brings a cozy atmosphere to the kitchen.
The recipe is also suitable for sourdough beginners: You need an active starter, some patience, and a little practice with shaping. If you don't have your own starter yet, our Sourdough Starter Set with Express Starter makes getting started easy. Under the right conditions, you can use it to begin your first dough in just about 48 hours.
Baking your own pumpkin sourdough bread
This pumpkin sourdough bread is made particularly moist by the pumpkin purée. Pumpkin spice, vanilla, and cane sugar provide a warm, slightly sweet aroma that fits perfectly with autumn.
For a good result, your sourdough starter should be active. After feeding, it should visibly rise, form bubbles, and smell pleasantly tangy. Especially with a young starter, it is worth waiting through several feeding cycles and observing whether it reliably increases in volume.
Ingredients
- 100g active sourdough starter
- 250g water
- 7g vanilla extract
- 200g pumpkin purée
- 75g dark cane sugar
- 500g bread flour
- 10g salt
- 5g pumpkin spice
Tools
- a large mixing bowl
a dough scraper or wooden spoon
a Dutch oven or cast-iron pot with lid
food-safe butcher's twine
a little olive oil
baking paper as needed
Preparing pumpkin purée
For this recipe, you can use store-bought pumpkin purée or make it yourself. To do so, cook pumpkin—such as Hokkaido or butternut squash—until soft, then purée until fine. The purée should be as smooth as possible and not too watery so that the dough remains easy to handle.
Mixing the dough
Add the active sourdough starter and water to a large bowl. Mix both until the starter has largely dissolved.
Add the vanilla extract, pumpkin purée, and cane sugar, and mix thoroughly.
Add the bread flour, salt, and pumpkin spice. Knead the ingredients with your hands into a rough dough until no more dry flour is visible.
Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for one hour. This resting phase gives the flour time to absorb liquid and supports the development of the dough structure.
Stretch & Fold: Giving the dough structure
After the first resting phase, follow with four rounds of stretch & fold. To do this, carefully pull one side of the dough upward and fold it over the center. Rotate the bowl and repeat until you have folded all four sides.
Let the dough rest covered for 30 minutes between each round. With each round, the dough becomes more elastic and stable. Especially with a dough containing pumpkin purée, this folding technique helps build a good structure without the need for intense kneading.
Bulk fermentation and cold proofing
After the final stretch & fold, let the dough rest at room temperature for several hours. The exact duration depends on the room temperature, the activity of your starter, and the dough temperature.
The dough is ready for the next step when it has visibly risen, the surface looks airy, and the edges pull away slightly from the bowl. It does not necessarily have to double exactly in size. Observe the dough and rely primarily on its volume and structure.
Next, place the covered bowl in the refrigerator overnight. Cold proofing allows the bread to develop more flavor and makes it easier to shape the following day.
How to give the sourdough bread its pumpkin shape
The pumpkin shape is the special eye-catcher of this pumpkin spice bread. It is achieved by tying the dough with food-safe butcher's twine.
Preheat your Dutch oven with the lid on to 230 °C (upper/lower heat) for at least 30 minutes.
Soak the butcher's twine in a little olive oil for about 5 minutes. This makes it easier to remove from the baked bread later.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and gently shape it into a round, smooth ball.
Place the twine in a star pattern under the dough or carefully tie it around the dough piece to create several even segments. Do not pull the twine too tight, as the dough will still expand in the oven.
If desired, you can score the surface. Place the dough with baking paper into the preheated Dutch oven.
Make sure to use only food-safe and oven-suitable butcher's twine. After baking, the twine can be carefully removed.
Baking
Bake the pumpkin sourdough bread for the first 30 minutes with the lid on at 230 °C. Then, remove the lid, reduce the temperature to 220 °C, and bake for another 10–15 minutes until it is deep golden brown.
Let the bread cool on a wire rack for at least an hour before removing the twine and slicing into it. This allows the crumb to set and ensures the bread can be sliced cleanly.
Sourdough must-haves
Tips for moist pumpkin bread
Use an active starter: A well-fed and visibly active sourdough starter ensures sufficient leavening power.
Pay attention to the consistency of the pumpkin puree: Very watery puree can make the dough softer. If the dough is significantly too runny, you can carefully work in a little extra flour while kneading.
Plan enough time: The bulk fermentation cannot be determined by a fixed number of hours. Temperature and starter activity influence the fermentation.
Do not overfeed the dough with flour: A soft dough can still stabilize significantly during the folding cycles.
Let the bread cool completely: If it is sliced too early, the crumb may still seem sticky.
Store the bread properly: After it has cooled completely, you can store it in a suitable storage jar or a bread bag. This keeps it fresh longer without the crust becoming soft too quickly.
Pumpkin Spice Bread for the autumn table
This sourdough bread with pumpkin pairs particularly well with autumnal spreads and toppings. Serve it for breakfast with butter and honey, for dinner with creamy cream cheese, or as a side dish with a warm pumpkin soup.
If you want to make your own butter, you can find a simple guide for fresh butter made from cream in our butter recipe. To get started in the world of sourdough, we also recommend our sourdough introduction and the sourdough guide with further tips on starters, feeding, and baking.
More recipes & tips
Start baking right away with the sourdough starter kit
Do you want to bake your first sourdough bread but don't have your own starter yet? Our sourdough starter kit makes getting started particularly easy. The included quick starter supports you in building an active sourdough culture faster. In the set, you will also find the appropriate storage jar, practical accessories, and a step-by-step guide for your first steps.
This way, you can prepare your starter directly in the jar, observe its development, and approach your first pumpkin sourdough bread step-by-step. Discover the sourdough starter kit and start baking right away.
