Pumpkin Sourdough Bread

1. Stage

Mix the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk 2 1/3 cups (280g) bread flour, whole wheat flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Set it aside.

2. Stage

Mix the sourdough starter: In a medium bowl, use a rubber spatula or your fingers to dissolve the sourdough starter in the water.

3. Stage

Make the dough: Add the sourdough mixture into the flour mixture. Use a rubber spatula or your fingers to stir the mixture until it’s fully combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set it aside in a warm place (ideally 78°F) for 30 minutes.

4. Stage

Fold in the pumpkin purée: Working inside your bowl, spread a third of the pumpkin purée on top of the dough. Use your hands to fold the dough onto itself and over the pumpkin purée, until it is fully incorporated into the dough. Repeat with the remaining pumpkin purée, a third of it at a time until fully incorporated. If the dough is too wet (it sticks to the bowl and your fingers making it impossible to work with), add more flour, one tablespoon at a time up to 1/3 cup (40g), mixing it in well with each addition. The dough should be wet, but not so sticky that it’s hard to work with.

5. Stage

Let the dough rise: Form the dough into a round ball in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise for 30 minutes.

6. Stage

Strengthen the dough: Strengthen the dough by performing a series of coil folds. Working over the bowl, lift the dough up with both hands, gently holding the sides of the dough. Allow gravity to pull some of the dough downward, stretching it. Lower the dough onto itself to create a coil-like pattern, then turn the dough 90 degrees. This is considered one coil fold. Do four or five coil folds then cover the bowl with plastic wrap to rest the dough for 30 minutes. Repeat these series of coil folds and rests until the dough looks smooth, feels airy, and is slightly tacky (not overly sticky).

7. Stage

Let the dough rise: After your last coil fold, allow the dough to rise inside the covered bowl undisturbed for 1 hour. Don’t let your dough double in size or it may be over-proofed.

8. Stage

Prepare the dough for shaping: Dust your countertop lightly with all-purpose or bread flour. Without deflating it, turn the dough out and gently form it into a tight ball. The goal here is to create surface tension in your dough while being as gentle as possible as to not knock any air out. Let it rest uncovered for 15 minutes.

9. Stage

Prepare the banneton: While the dough rests, place a clean tea towel inside an 8-inch banneton or bowl. The tea towel should be large enough to line the bottom of the banneton and hang over its sides. Later, the sides will be used to cover the top of the dough. Lightly dust the towel with rice flour (or another non-gluten flour).

10. Stage

Shape the dough: Pick up the left and right side of the dough and fold them towards the center of the dough, one on top of the other like you’re folding a letter. Pick up the side of the dough furthest away from you towards the center of the dough and then flip the dough over so that the seam is now on the bottom. Use your hands to lightly tuck the outer edges of the dough under itself. This will create tension on the surface of the dough. Transfer the dough into the prepared banneton seam-side up. Lightly cover the dough with the hanging sides of the tea towel.

11. Stage

Rest the dough overnight: Transfer the banneton into the refrigerator and allow the dough to rest overnight (at least 8 hours) to deepen the flavors.

12. Stage

Preheat the oven: With the oven rack positioned in the middle, preheat the oven to 500°F with a 5-quart lidded round Dutch oven inside. If you don’t have a Dutch oven, you could set your oven up to create steam by placing a pizza stone on the top rack of your oven and cake pan filled with water on the bottom rack. If your Dutch oven has a lid with a black knob, wrap some aluminum foil around it since it may not withstand the hot oven.

13. Stage

Prepare to decorate the dough: Take the dough out of the refrigerator while you get your decorating materials ready. Cut four 24-inch pieces of butcher’s twine. Fill a small bowl with grapeseed oil (or any neutral flavored oil). Dunk the twine into the bowl to coat them with oil.

14. Stage

Place the strings across the dough: While the dough is still in the bowl or banneton, place one piece of oiled twine across the center of the dough, then place a second piece across the dough in the opposite direction to form an X. You will have four quadrants. Repeat the pattern dividing each quadrant in half. Make sure they are evenly spaced. It should look like an asterisk.

15. Stage

Flip the dough out of the banneton and decorate the dough: Place an 8-inch square piece of parchment on top of the strings. Flip the banneton to turn the dough out on top of the parchment paper on your countertop. Bring the twine up toward the top of the dough and tie them together. Snip off any excess twine. The pattern should look like the same crisscross pattern you created on the bottom. If you’re a confident bread baker, use a sharp knife or a bread lame to score the dough between each section by making a few shallow cuts on the surface to make the pumpkin bread even more decorative. This is totally optional but feel free to have fun and be creative with your patterns.

16. Stage

Bake the loaf: Carefully remove the hot Dutch oven from the oven and transfer the dough with the parchment paper into it. Place the lid on the Dutch oven, put it into the oven, and turn the temperature down to 450°F. Bake the loaf for 30 minutes. Remove the lid off the Dutch oven and bake the loaf for 10 to 15 more minutes, until the crust has browned to your liking. 

17. Stage

Cool the loaf: Carefully transfer the loaf onto a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Cut the twine off and stick a cinnamon stick in the middle of your loaf to make it look like the pumpkin’s stem. Allow the loaf to cool completely before slicing, about 2 hours.