Who’s jumped on the sourdough bandwagon? I’ve definitely been bitten by the bug and have gotten back into a lot more bread baking during the pandemic. And if you’ve seen some of the previous posts, when it came to sourdough, I was more in favor of getting in on the trend if not for the sole reason of having the discard to use for fabulous recipes like these crackers.
Well that might not be the case any more. Not now that I’ve been using my wonderfully ripe and active starter to turn out boule after boule of this Pumpkin Sourdough Bread with Cranberries & Pepitas. One slice of this, toasted up with a little butter, and many if not all of your worries will disappear, even if only for a moment. It’s so delicious and is a true fall treat for the sweet and savory lovers alike. There’s also not much to not love about it’s adorable shape.
The pumpkin-shaped sourdough has been pretty popular on social media the last couple fall seasons. It’s such a creative take on a sourdough boule. And I was all too happy that this month’s theme for the #sourdoughmonthlychallenge I’m a part of, hosted by the awesome, Dora of @mgracebakeshop and Doaa of @asoulfulkitchen was to get in on the pumpkin fun. I mean, anything pumpkin-shaped or flavored and I’m all in. If you want to see some of the other creative members’ of the group’s contributions head over to the hashtag #sourdoughmonthlychallenge on Instagram.
And now let’s get to the general how to for this bread and some of my tips for optimum success….
First and foremost, you need to have a bubbly, active sourdough starter. If you are just starting this step for the first time, I recommend King Arthur’s starter recipe as a good place to start. (ha, see what I did there) When I initially began the starter, after about two weeks, I was able to make a nice sourdough. But it wasn’t until the starter had a decent amount of time, maybe a month to mature that it really started to take on some of the nice and tangy flavor I love. In fact, the starter I used for this, was a gift if you will, from one of my brothers when we arrived back to the states as I had to leave my starter behind in Istanbul. His was great and ready to go.
Once you have a mature starter going and it’s got some oozy bubbles happening between 4-8 hours post feed, you can start this recipe. My preferred timing is to do a feed early in the morning, let’s say 7, then start the dough around noon or a tad earlier. This way I’m not anxiously waiting on the couch late at night to be able to do one more “turn” and then hit the hay. (I have found myself in that predicament and it never ends well.)
As far as the put together, that part is fairly simple. You mix the starter with some lukewarm water. Then stir in the pumpkin puree and molasses. Then add the flours (all purpose & rye, but bread flour would certainly work too) as well as the cinnamon and salt. Now you’ll mix all of this together with a fork or wooden spoon until it’s mostly forming a dough, but still a little shaggy. Then it gets covered and allowed to rest for an hour.
Then you’ll start a series of “folds” or “turns” over the course of about five hours. Now if you need to, you can shorten this step to 2 hours, especially if your kitchen is on the warmer side. Then the dough gets turned out onto a lightly floured surface, shaped and placed in a lightly flour-dusted bowl or proofing basket lined with a tea towel. The you’ll cover it and place it in the refrigerator overnight or for 8-10 hours.
And the next morning it’s go time. You’ll give your oven a nice pre-heat to 500 degrees Farenheit. If you have a Dutch oven, you’ll place that along with the lid in the oven for the pre-heat as well. I’ve included some notes below if you don’t have a Dutch oven.
When the oven is almost ready, you’ll remove the dough from the fridge and cut a round piece of parchment to fit the size of the bottom of your baking pot. This will help you flip the dough and the twine together. You’ll lay four pieces of twine (dipped in oil and cut about 1 1/2 times the size of the dough) over the basket in a criss-cross pattern (the way you would cut a pizza) over the seam-side-up dough. Then you’ll place the parchment circle on top and an inverted plate gently on top of that. Then flip over and carefully adjust the loaf on the parchment paper if needed. The dough will need a nice dusting of flour. Then the strings get pulled up and you’ll start to see the pumpkin shape take form as you loosely tie the strings together in the top center of the dough. And then you use a bread lame or sharp knife to score the dough as desired. (I find oiling it helps too.)
When ready to bake, place the dough by the stove. Pull out the Dutch oven, close the oven, remove the lid. And use the parchment to lift the dough up and gently lay it in the hot Dutch oven. Close the lid, close the oven and take a big sigh of relief. Phew. You did it.
You are now that much closer to enjoying some amazing bread.
After the boule has baked for about 25 minutes with the lid on, the lid comes off, the oven gets lowered to 450F and the bread bakes another 10-15 minutes until really nice and golden brown. You definitely want to go a little darker than you’d think to get that gorgeous crispy crust.
Once finished, it’s hard, but it really is best to let the hot bread cool on a baking rack for an hour before, removing the string, slicing into it and enjoying any way you’d like. My particular favorite is toasted with just a bit of butter. SO SO good.
I hope this inspires you to maybe give this a try or get a starter going so you’ll be on your way to some fabulous sourdough baking.
If not, and you happen to be in the LA area, you can always place an order right here on the site for a fresh baked pumpkin, I mean loaf.
Happy fall baking friends and cheers to making it almost to the end of the week.
Pumpkin Sourdough Bread with Cranberries & Pepitas
Ingredients
- 90 grams (about 1/3 cup) bubbly, active sourdough starter (fed about 4-8 hours before starting)
- 310 grams (just over 1 1/4 cups) lukewarm water
- 200 grams (a scant 1 cup) pumpkin puree
- 1 tbsp (18 grams) molasses
- 4 cups (512 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (62 grams) rye flour
- 1 1/2 tsps (12g) kosher salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
Instructions
-
Whisk the starter and water together in a large bowl with a fork or spatula. Add pumpkin puree and molasses and mix to combine.
-
Next add the flours, salt and cinnamon. Mix to combine using a fork or wooden spoon, finishing by hand if necessary to form a rough dough. (It's ok if it still looks a bit shaggy.) Cover with a damp towel and let rest for 1 hour.
-
After an hour, using slightly wet hands, grab a corner of the dough and pull it up and push it back into the center. Repeat until you’ve performed this series of folds (called turns) 4 times with the dough. Let dough rest for another 30 minutes and repeat the stretching and folding action every 30 minutes for 2 hours.
-
After 4 sets of turns over 2 hours, let the dough rest an hour. Then do 2 more sets of turns every 30 minutes for 1 more hour.
-
Now it's time to shape the dough. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Doing 4 lift and stretch turns ending the dough back into the center, shape the dough into a round. You can flour your hands and further help it into a round shape if necessary, then carefully lift it (a bench scraper helps with this,) and place it seam side up in a proofing basket lined well with flour or a medium bowl lined with a floured tea towel. Cover the dough with a slightly damp kitchen towel and place it in the refrigerator overnight or 8-10 hours and up to 24 hours.
-
When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 500F/ 260C. If using a Dutch oven, place the Dutch oven with the lid on inside the oven as well for the pre-heat.
-
When the oven is ready (it should preheat at least 30 minutes,) cut a round of parchment paper about the size of the bottom of the Dutch oven or a little bigger than the dough round and place it on a plate. Then cut 4 pieces of kitchen twine about 1 1/2 times the size of the proofed dough and dip them in canola oil, squeezing out any excess. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and dust the seam side facing up with flour. Then to form the pumpkin, place the 4 string across the dough in a criss-cross pattern, with an even amount on each side so you can pull up and tie the strings once we invert the dough.
-
Now place the plate lined with parchment over the stings and gently flip over. After turning the dough out, generously sprinkle and gently rub flour all over the surface of the dough. Then tie the strings in the center of the dough. You don't want to tie them too tight. They should be laying over the dough with just a tiny bit of slack. Cut any excess string.
-
Then use a sharp razor or oiled knife to score the top of the dough using your design of choice. Now open the oven, remove the Dutch oven, close the oven door and carefully take the lid off. Carefully place the dough in the Dutch oven using the parchment paper to lift the dough. (The bread will bake on the parchment.) Cover with the lid and bake at 500°F for 25 minutes. Then remove the lid and reduce the oven temperature to 450°F. Bake for another 10-15 minutes until until crust is a deep golden brown. You want it darker than you would think for that nice crust.
-
Remove the bread from the Dutch oven (you can carefully lift it by the strings,) and immediately transfer the bread to a wire rack to cool for 1 hour before cutting. (This will result in the best texture.) Cut the top of the strings and carefully peel off. You can place a piece of cinnamon stick to the center of the dough for the stem of the pumpkin if you desire. And enjoy!
Recipe Notes
*I highly suggest a kitchen scale for this recipe as well as for other sourdough and bread baking.
*If you don’t have a Dutch oven, you can use:
- an oven-safe pot covered with a lid or foil (if using a metal pot, no need to pre-heat)
- an oven-safe casserole dish with a lid or foil
