This is a simple, easy recipe for 100% whole wheat sourdough bread made with fresh pumpkin puree and German style bread spice mixture.

This is such a fragrant, subtly sweet, gently spiced, beautifully flavoured loaf, I think I could enjoy it any time of year! I also love the rich golden colour of the bread from all the fresh pumpkin puree I used, but you could substitute some of that for water if you want it less pumpkin-ey.

Make sure you watch the video for the full demonstration and all the details. The written recipe and further links are provided below.

Spiced Pumpkin Sourdough Bread

*All volume measures Australian metric

INGREDIENTS

• 500g whole wheat flour
  I used hard red wheat from Tuerong Farm, but any freshly milled or store bought whole wheat flour will be fine.
  I mill all of my own flours in my Mockmill 200

• 400g fresh or canned pumpkin puree
  You may need to add more, or add some water for canned pumpkin - I’ve never used it.
  Note also that used only pumpkin puree and sourdough starter for the liquid in this recipe. You could reduce the pumpkin amount and use 200g pumpkin and 200g water instead, if you want it less pumpkin-ey.

• 100g or half a cup of sourdough starter
  This page has everything you need to know about making and maintain your own sourdough starter

• 1 tbsp honey
  Use less or more to taste. You could also add a tablespoon of brown sugar, maple syrup or leave out the sweetener altogether. I don’t usually sweeten my bread doughs, but a little honey complements the pumpkin and spices nicely in this recipe.

• 2 tsp German style bread spice
  My spice mix contains caraway, fennel, coriander and aniseed. See this video for the recipe.

• 8g or about 1 and 1/3 tsp salt

• Pumpkin seeds for the top crust

METHOD

1. To a mixing bowl (machine mixer or hand mixing) add pumpkin puree, sourdough starter, bread spice and salt. Mix these thoroughly to combine.

2. Add flour to the wet ingredients and mix/knead until a smooth dough is formed. I mixed my dough in my Bear mixer, you could also use a bread machine or knead it by hand. You could also add more water to the dough and experiment with a stretch and fold technique, though I have not tried that with pumpkin dough.

3. Ferment the dough until it is visibly risen and feels light and airy to the touch. As with all sourdough bread making, fermentation time depends largely on the temperature of the dough and the individual kitchen environment. As a rough guide, my doughs normally take about 4 hours to ferment in summertime, and anywhere up to 8-10 hours (or overnight) in winter. Check out this resource for general pointers on successful wholegrain sourdough bread making.

4. Remove the fermented dough from the bowl and shape into a smooth ball shape.

5. Place the dough onto a piece of dampened non-stick baking paper and lift into a bowl for the final proof. Smooth out any creases in the paper with a spatula or the back of a spoon. Press some pumpkin seeds onto the top of the dough for more flavour and decoration.

6. Cover the dough (to prevent drying) and proof for anywhere between 30 minutes up to 2 hours, depending on how far the first fermentation was advanced and the dough and room temperature.

7. When the dough looks close to being ready to bake, preheat an oven safe baking dish (I used an old dutch oven) to 220°C / 430°F for at least 15 minutes. The dough should have visibly risen to about 1.5 times it’s original size and be soft to the touch at this stage.

8. When the oven and pot are preheated, carefully remove the hot pot from the oven, lift the dough into the pot, spray with water, cover the pot and return it to the oven.

9. Bake covered for 30 minutes.

10. Remove the baking pot lid and bake the bread for another 10-15 minutes or until it is dark golden brown. Slightly overdone is far better than under baked, especially when it comes to 100% whole grain sourdough!

11. Remove the paper from the dough and cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before cutting. Wait even longer, up to 6 hours if you can! This will give the bread a chance to cool and set completely.

12. This bread is wonderfully versatile and can be enjoyed with both sweet or savoury toppings.

Let me know if you try this, I’d love to know!

Looking for more?

• Learn more about sourdough terminology and techniques

• Visit my whole grain sourdough YouTube channel

• Learn how to make and maintain a sourdough starter

• Find out about my Mockmill 200 and where you can purchase one from just about anywhere in the world!
  (There are discounts available in some locations).

• See my state-by-state listing of grain suppliers in Australia

• If you would like to support my work you can ‘buy me a coffee’ here (big thanks to all of you who have 🌼)

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