The smell of this super-soft and delicious Pumpkin Sourdough Bread will fill your home with a pumpkin spice aroma.
In Part 1, I baked my first Pumpkin Sourdough Bread, which turned out great - it looked beautiful and tasted delicious! But me being me and obsessing about improving everything,
I decided to make adjustments and take it to the next level in terms of...well, everything: color, design, and taste. So I added a little bit more pumpkin puree to make it more orange and Pumpkin Pie Spice to add more flavor and aroma. To upgrade the look of the bread, I came up with a unique design. I also dusted the dough with bread flour just before baking, so when I score the bread, there is more contrast, and the pattern stands out.
As a result, the bread turned out even softer, the color more orange and the smell of pumpkin spice filled the kitchen. I am very happy with both versions, the first one is maybe more beginner-friendly since the dough is not as wet as the second one and is easier to handle. Please be the judge and let me know what you think in the comments. Cast your votes, I will count them and announce the winning recipe on Instagram.
As usual, I simplify my recipes, so they are easy to follow for beginners. I avoid using complex numbers and ingredients, so the recipe is more clear and less intimidating for new bakers. I list ingredients for 2 loaves so you can bake 2 and share 1 as a gift. To make a single loaf, simply divide each ingredient by 2.
Useful Tips:
Soak the cooking twine in oil to be able to remove it easily after baking the bread.
When flipping the dough out of the banneton, gently support the bottom with your hand to place it in the center of the twine.
Don't preheat your combo cooker, it's easier to handle the twine and score the bread, plus it never really made a difference in my experience.
Make a sketch of your scoring design on paper before doing it on the dough.
Recipe
Ingredients for 2 loaves:
Starter feeding 1:3:3 Ratio
50g Starter (we use Whole Wheat starter)
75g Bread flour
75g Whole Wheat Flour
150g Water (bottled or filtered)
Dough
800g Bread flour
200g Whole Wheat Flour
600g Water (bottled or filtered)
200g Starter @ 100% Hydration
400g Canned Pumpkin Puree
20g Salt
1 tsp of Pumpkin Pie Spice
Other
Rice Flour for dusting
Vegetable Oil
Cooking Twine
Parchment Paper
Instructions:
Prepare the Starter (morning 10 am)
Feed 50g of starter with 75g bread flour, 75 g whole wheat flour, and 150g water, cover, and leave it on the counter to ferment for 6 hours. It should double in size by then.
Make the Dough (afternoon 4 pm)
Combine 200g of starter with 600g of water at 85-90°F in a large mixing bowl and mix until the starter is dissolved.
Add 400g of canned pumpkin puree and mix.
Then add 800g of bread flour, 200g of whole wheat flour, 20g of salt, and 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice to the mixture and mix the dough with fingers until all of the ingredients are well incorporated with no dry bits left.
Cover and leave it on the counter for 10 min to autolyse.
Stretch and Fold
For the next 40 min perform stretching and folding technique every 10 min: take one side of the dough, stretch it as far as you can, and fold it on top of the dough. Turn the bowl counter-clockwise and do it 15 more times, stretching and folding each side.
Cover and leave the dough on the counter for 3-4 hours to rise at about 76°F room temperature.
Shape and Proof (evening 8 pm)
Mist the bannetons with water and sprinkle with Rice flour.
Gently take the dough out of the bowl, place it onto an unfloured surface, and divide the dough into 2 equal parts.
Shape the dough into the final round shape using the same stretch and fold technique as above, stretching and folding 4 sides until you see a smooth side of the dough (about 8 times).
Gently turn the dough with your hands round and round to create the surface tension and make it into a tight ball. Do not over-shape.
Flour the top with bread flour and put each piece in the banneton seam side up and dust the top of the dough with rice flour.
Place the bannetons in plastic bags and let the dough rest overnight in the fridge.
Bake (next day)
Test the dough if it's ready to bake by gently pressing it with your finger. If it springs back up slowly - it's ready.
Preheat the oven to maximum temperature (550°F in our case).
Cut 4 pieces of the cooking twine 24 inches long for each loaf. It will create 8 triangles.
Pour a little bit of vegetable oil into a bowl and dip the cooking twine in it until it's saturated with oil. Then place it on the bottom of the combo cooker (no need to preheat it).
Carefully flip the dough out of the banneton on top of the twine and tie the pieces to fit the loaf, don't make it tight. Trim if necessary.
Brush off the rice flour and dust the top of the dough with bread flour (to make your scoring design stand out more), then spread it around gently with your hand.
Score the dough with a razor blade about ½ inch deep and put the lid on.
Reduce the temperature to 475°F and bake for 30 min.
Remove the lid, reduce the temperature to 450°F and bake for another 15-20 min uncovered.
Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool completely before cutting.
Enjoy Baking!
Tools I used:
