If you’re looking for a new sourdough flavor to try this fall, pumpkin pecan sourdough bread is a great place to start. It combines pumpkin purée with pecans for a loaf that’s full of seasonal flavor and texture. Enjoy a slice toasted with butter, serve it alongside a cozy fall meal, or add it to your fall baking rotation when you want something a little different from a classic sourdough loaf.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Seasonal flavors – This adds a cozy, fall twist to your classic sourdough recipe. You can enjoy the traditional fall spices and flavors we all love during this time of the year without needing to recreate your usual sourdough routine.
No new recipe needed – The pumpkin purée, pecans, and spices enhance your classic sourdough loaf not make it more complicated. If you don’t have time to learn a new recipe, but still want to get into the cozy, holiday spirit this one is for you.
Subtle fall flavors – Lots of recipes around this time of year are super sweet or overly pumpkin-y. This pumpkin pecan sourdough bread is subtle with it’s pumpkin flavor and doesn’t have to be sweet if you don’t want it to be. The flexibility of sourdough recipes is much appreciated during the busy fall season.
Tips
- This recipe does not make a sweet bread. If you want your sourdough to have a touch of sweetness, and a tablespoon of granulated sugar or brown sugar to the wet ingredients.
- Add your pecans to the last stretch and fold so they are evenly distributed through the dough.
- If you’re having trouble knowing if your dough is done bulk fermenting/doubling in size, take your dough’s temperature 30 minutes after the last stretch and fold. This chart will show you how long you should ferment your dough based on its temperature.
Common Questions About Sourdough Bread
Technically yes. It won’t ruin your loaf if you don’t proof it, but it will help your loaf stay tall and springy.
A couple of things:
1. Your dough might be on the colder side and you might not know it. During the colder months our homes are colder and that causes bulk fermentation to take longer. Adding certain inclusions can also make fermenting take longer. Instead of figuring out if your dough has doubled in size, take your dough’s temperature 30 minutes after the last stretch and fold. Depending on how warm or cool your dough is will determine how long you should wait before cool proofing it. Check out Sourdough Journey’s Bulk Fermentation Chart to see how long your dough should wait.
2. It can be hard to recall what your dough looked like after your stretch and folds after a long day. Try taking before and after photos. The comparison might shock you!
3. If you are using a relatively new starter (between 2 weeks and a month old) it might not be very active yet. This could cause bulk fermentation to take awhile. Continue feeding your starter multiple times a day to build up that strength if it’s new.
Whole wheat flour has more nutrients than AP flour and it ferments faster. This will strengthen your starter and help give your dough a quicker rise.
Tools you May Need
To Feed Your Starter:
Food scale – for accuracy
Making the Dough:
Danish dough whisk – This whisk is much easier to use if you are mixing your ingredients by hand.
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Pumpkin Pecan Sourdough Bread Ingredients
Here is everything you need to make this cozy pumpkin pecan sourdough bread:
To Feed Your Starter:
Whole wheat flour – 1/2 cup
All-purpose or bread flour – 1/2 cup
Warm water – 1 cup
For the Dough:
All-purpose or bread flour – 511g
Salt – 10g
Active sourdough starter – 112g
Warm water – 307g
Pumpkin purée – 77g
Granulated sugar or brown sugar (optional) – 1 tbsp for added sweetness
Inclusions:
Chopped pecans – 110g
Spices – Cinnamon (1/2 tablespoon), pumpkin pie spice (1 teaspoon), and nutmeg (1/2 teaspoon)
How to Make Pumpkin Pecan Sourdough Bread
1. Feed Your Starter (Before bed)
Feed your starter 4 – 6 hours before you need it. The key to your starter rising quickly is using warm water. If you plan on making the dough in the morning, feed your starter room temperature water before bed and it should be ready to use in the morning.
Tip: After you feed your starter, make sure it is the consistency of thick pancake batter.
2. Mix the Dough (First thing in the morning)
In a large bowl, mix the flour (511g) and salt (10g) together and set aside.
In your stand mixer, add your warm water (307g) and active sourdough (112g) and whisk together. Next add your pumpkin purée (77g) and whisk again.
Add all of the dry ingredients to the stand mixer and mix using the dough hook attachment for 3 – 5 minutes.
Once the dough has come together, let your dough rest for 45 minutes.
3. Stretch & Folds with Pecans
To build strength in your dough without kneading, do three rounds of 4 – 5 stretch and folds about 30 minutes apart.
During your last stretch and fold add your chopped pecans and cinnamon (1/2 tablespoon), pumpkin pie spice (1 teaspoon), and nutmeg (1/2 teaspoon). By allowing your inclusions to be incorporated into the bulk fermentation, everything is going to be evenly distributed into the dough.
Tip – If you need to do more than 5 stretch and folds in any of your three rounds to create more shape that’s okay. If each round is a little more than 30 minutes apart that’s okay too. Nothing in the sourdough process has to be exact in order for it to turn out. These are just guidelines if you need them.
4. Bulk Fermentation (During the day)
Once the pecans and spices are folded into the dough, let it bulk ferment overnight for 8 hours or until it’s doubled in size. If you find it difficult to determine whether your dough has doubled in size I recommend taking your dough’s temperature and letting it ferment based on this bulk fermentation chart.
5. Final Shape & Chill Overnight
After your dough has doubled in size, pour the dough onto a floured surface and begin the final shape.
There are many ways to shape your dough, however I recommend doing the envelope method since it’s the easiest. Stretch the dough into a rectangle shape. Then fold the top of the rectangle down creating an upside down triangle.
Fold the sides of the rectangle towards the center making them overlap each other. It should create a “seam” down the middle.
Then roll the dough into a burrito from bottom to top to create tension. You’ll notice some of the seams stick out at the ends. Push them back inside the dough burrito and pinch the ends closed.
Place the dough seam-side down into a banneton basket and cover with a plastic bag.
Let the dough proof in the fridge overnight or for 12 – 16 hours.
6. Final Proof (The next morning)
If you can, let your loaf rest for 30 minutes to an hour before baking. Letting your loaf rest on parchment paper on top of your oven while it preheats helps warm things up.
This relaxes the gluten and helps hold it’s shape.
7. Score & Bake
Preheat your oven and your dutch oven to 425 degrees.
Spread flour on a piece of parchment paper and place your loaf seam-side down.
Score your loaf with one score down the middle.
Place in your dutch oven and bake for 25 minutes with the lid on and 25 minutes with the lid off.
Allow the loaf to completely cool for a minimum of 3 hours to avoid giving the inside of the bread a gummy texture.
Storage
This pumpkin pecan sourdough bread can be stored in the fridge (sliced) for up to 5 days, and stored in the freezer (sliced) for up to one month.
Pumpkin Pecan Sourdough Bread
Equipment
- Measuring cups
- Silicone spatula
- Food scale – for accuracy
- Danish dough whisk – This whisk is much easier to use if you are mixing your ingredients by hand.
- Stand Mixer
- Large bowls
- Banneton basket
- Dutch oven
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
To Feed Your Starter
- ½ cup Whole wheat flour
- ½ cup All-purpose or bread flour
- 1 cup Warm water
For the Dough
- 4 cups + 2 tbsp All-purpose or bread flour (511g)
- 1⅔ tsp Salt (10g)
- ½ cup Active sourdough starter (112g)
- 1¼ cup + 1 tbsp Warm water (307g)
- ¼ cup +1 tbsp Pumpkin purée (77g)
- 1 tbsp Granulated sugar or brown sugar (optional) (12g)
Inclusions
- 1 cup Chopped pecans (110g)
- ½ tbsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Pumpkin pie spice
- ½ tsp Nutmeg
Instructions
1. Feed Your Starter (Before bed)
- Feed your starter 4 – 6 hours before you need it. The key to your starter rising quickly is using warm water. If you plan on making the dough in the morning, feed your starter room temperature water before bed and it should be ready to use in the morning.
2. Mix the Dough (First thing in the morning)
- In a large bowl, mix the flour (511g) and salt (10g) together and set aside.
- In your stand mixer, add your warm water (307g) and active sourdough (112g) and whisk together. Next add your pumpkin purée (77g) and whisk again.
- Add all of the dry ingredients to the stand mixer and mix using the dough hook attachment for 3 – 5 minutes.
- Once the dough has come together, let your dough rest for 45 minutes.
3. Stretch & Folds with Pecans
- To build strength in your dough without kneading, do three rounds of 4 – 5 stretch and folds about 30 minutes apart.
- During your last stretch and fold add your chopped pecans and cinnamon (1/2 tablespoon), pumpkin pie spice (1 teaspoon), and nutmeg (1/2 teaspoon). By allowing your inclusions to be incorporated into the bulk fermentation, everything is going to be evenly distributed into the dough.
4. Bulk Fermentation (During the day)
- Once the pecans and spices are folded into the dough, let it bulk ferment overnight for 8 hours or until it’s doubled in size. If you find it difficult to determine whether your dough has doubled in size I recommend taking your dough’s temperature and letting it ferment based on the bulk fermentation chart linked above.
5. Final Shape & Chill Overnight
- After your dough has doubled in size, pour the dough onto a floured surface and begin the final shape.
- There are many ways to shape your dough, however I recommend doing the envelope method since it’s the easiest. Stretch the dough into a rectangle shape. Then fold the top of the rectangle down creating an upside down triangle.
- Fold the sides of the rectangle towards the center making them overlap each other. It should create a “seam” down the middle.
- Then roll the dough into a burrito from bottom to top to create tension. You’ll notice some of the seams stick out at the ends. Push them back inside the dough burrito and pinch the ends closed.
- Place the dough seam-side down into a banneton basket and cover with a plastic bag.
- Let the dough proof in the fridge overnight or for 12 – 16 hours.
6. Final Proof (The next morning)
- If you can let your loaf rest for 30 minutes to an hour before baking. Letting your loaf rest on parchment paper on top of your oven while it preheats helps warm things up.
- This relaxes the gluten and helps hold it’s shape.
7. Score & Bake
- Preheat your oven and your dutch oven to 425 degrees.
- Spread flour on a piece of parchment paper and place your loaf seam-side down.
- Score your loaf with one score down the middle.
- Place in your dutch oven and bake for 25 minutes with the lid on and 25 minutes with the lid off.
- Allow the loaf to completely cool for a minimum of 3 hours to avoid giving the inside of the bread a gummy texture.
Notes
Storage
This pumpkin pecan sourdough bread can be stored in the fridge (sliced) for up to 5 days, and stored in the freezer (sliced) for up to one month.Tips
- This recipe does not make a sweet bread. If you want your sourdough to have a touch of sweetness, and a tablespoon of granulated sugar or brown sugar to the wet ingredients.
- Add your pecans to the last stretch and fold so they are evenly distributed through the dough.
- If you’re having trouble knowing if your dough is done bulk fermenting/doubling in size, take your dough’s temperature 30 minutes after the last stretch and fold. This chart will show you how long you should ferment your dough based on its temperature.
If you try out this Pumpkin Pecan Sourdough Bread, please rate it and leave a comment below. This helps other readers decide if this is a great recipe to make. Also, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @goldenhourgrains so I can see what you’re making!
More From Golden Hour Grains:
How to Always Present the Perfect Gift
Holiday Cranberry Orange Whipped Ricotta
Autumn Harvest Salad with Apples and Sweet Potatoes
Oven Roasted Carrots with Lemon and Thyme
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