How To Create Pumpkin Shaped Sourdough Bread Loaves
Utilizing a beginner friendly recipe for sourdough artisan loaf, this pumpkin shaped sourdough bread recipe puts a fun fall twist on a classic recipe! These pumpkin shaped sourdough bread loaves are soft and fluffy, with that signature sourdough tang that we all know and love. This recipe yields two small loaves, making it perfect for sharing with family and friends.
Ah, October. One of the best months of the year! The mornings are cool and crisp, and the leaves are starting to change ever so slightly here in East Tennessee. It is a beautiful time of year, full of great food and perfect weather.
This pumpkin shaped bread uses my basic sourdough bread recipe, and is the perfect way to officially celebrate the arrival of fall. Let’s make it!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Ingredients You’ll Need
Rachael’s Top Tip!
Make sure you begin with active sourdough starter. This means the starter has been fed within the last 8-12 hours, is bubbly, and passes the float test. If the starter is not active, the bread will not rise.
How to Make Pumpkin Shaped Sourdough Bread
- Make the sourdough: In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, combine 100 grams of active starter, 1 1/4 cup water, 2 tbsp honey, 1 1/4 tsp salt, and 475 grams of all purpose flour. I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to measure the ingredients.
- Mix until combined and then allow to rest for 20-30 minutes. This process is called autolyse. Basically, you are allowing your dough to rest and hydrate properly. It will also be much easier to work with.
- Once the dough has rested, begin completing your first stretch and fold. To do this, grab one edge of the dough and pull up, gently stretching it out as you pull upwards. Place this dough that is in your hand back into the center, and then give the bowl a quarter turn. Then grab another edge of dough, and complete another stretch and fold. Repeat two more times. This is considered one set of stretch and folds. You will do two more rounds of stretch and folds, waiting about 20 minutes in between each set.
- Bulk fermentation: Once you have completed the stretch and fold process, cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and allow it to bulk ferment in a bowl or banneton basket for 6-8 hours until it has doubled in size. You can choose to leave the dough out at room temperature to complete the bulk ferment, or place it in the fridge overnight. I have had success both ways.
Conduct the float test to make sure the starter is active! To do this, gently drop of a spoonful of starter into a glass of water. You will find that either the starter floats or settles to the bottom. This indicates whether your starter is holding enough gas bubbles to bring about rise. If it floats, it contains lots of bubbles of carbon dioxide, the result of happy yeast that is ready to bake. If it sinks to the bottom, the starter is presumably not ready, requiring further time and feedings before it is ready for baking.
Shape, Rise, and Bake
- Once the dough has doubled in size, pull it out of the bowl and place it onto a lightly floured surface. Using a bench scraper or a sharp knife, cut the dough into two equal portions.
- Begin shaping each loaf by folding the sides of the dough onto itself, and roll up. Shape into a tight smooth ball by gently spinning it toward you.
- Allow to rest one final time while you preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place a Dutch oven into the oven while it preheats.
- While the oven preheats, prepare the pumpkin shape by cutting 4 strings about 10″ in length. I used twine because that’s all I had on hand, but I would recommend using food-safe cotton string instead.
- Arrange the strings in a crisscross pattern on top of a piece of parchment paper.
- Right before baking, transfer the cold bread dough upside down onto the strings. Tie each string around the bread dough until you have 8 equal sections, cutting off any remaining excess string as you go.
- Lightly flour the surface of the dough and score a pattern into it with a razor blade or lame, if you prefer.
- Take the preheated Dutch oven out of the oven. Carefully lower the dough, parchment paper and all, into the Dutch oven.
- Place the lid back on and bake for 20 minutes with the lid on. Remove from oven and then bake another 5-10 minutes with the lid off until the dough is golden brown. I usually start checking for the dough to be done around the 5 minute mark. Repeat the process with the second loaf of bread.
- Allow the loaves to cool slightly on a wire rack. While the bread is still warm but not piping hot, gently remove the string by cutting it off with scissors. Add a cinnamon stick in the middle to create the pumpkin “stem.”
- Allow to cool completely before slicing and serving. This will help the bread to hold its shape. Enjoy!
Quick Tips for Success
- I recommend using food-grade cotton string for shaping the bread. Twine will work okay in a pinch, but it will leave behind tiny little strings in your bread (…speaking from experience here).
- Make sure the sourdough starter is super active and bubbly before starting this recipe.
- I love to add extra detail to the loaves by scoring the tiny sections, but this is optional.
- If you don’t have any cinnamon sticks on hand, pretzel sticks will also work! Heck, grab a stick from the yard if you’d like.
FAQs and Storage
Although not foolproof, the float test is a fairly consistent way to tell whether or not your starter is ready for baking. Gently drop of a spoonful of starter into a glass of water. You will find that either the starter floats or settles to the bottom. This indicates whether your starter is holding enough gas bubbles to bring about rise. If it floats, it contains lots of bubbles of carbon dioxide, the result of happy yeast that is ready to bake. If it sinks to the bottom, the starter is presumably not ready, requiring further time and feedings before it is ready for baking.
Yes! Bulk fermentation refers to the time after you complete gluten development (through stretch and folds) until the time when you begin shaping your dough. It is essential to a delicious and nutritious loaf of sourdough.
Active starter has been fed (generally within the last 12 hours) and is at its peak. It can be used in bread recipes to achieve a good rise. Discard has not been fed and will not rise baked goods, although you can still use it in many delicious recipes!
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Pumpkin Shaped Sourdough Bread Loaves
Utilizing a beginner friendly recipe for sourdough artisan loaf, this pumpkin shaped sourdough bread recipe puts a fun fall twist on a classic recipe! These pumpkin shaped sourdough bread loaves are soft and fluffy, with that signature sourdough tang that we all know and love. This recipe yields two small loaves, making it perfect for sharing with family and friends.
Ingredients
- 475 grams all purpose flour
- 100 grams active sourdough starter
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cups filtered water
Instructions
- Make the sourdough: In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, combine 100 grams of active starter, 1 1/4 cup water, 2 tbsp honey, 1 1/4 tsp salt, and 475 grams of all purpose flour. I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to measure the ingredients.
- Mix until combined and then allow to rest for 20-30 minutes. This process is called autolyse. Basically, you are allowing your dough to rest and hydrate properly. It will also be much easier to work with.
- Once the dough has rested, begin completing your first stretch and fold. To do this, grab one edge of the dough and pull up, gently stretching it out as you pull upwards. Place this dough that is in your hand back into the center, and then give the bowl a quarter turn. Then grab another edge of dough, and complete another stretch and fold. Repeat two more times. This is considered one set of stretch and folds. You will do two more rounds of stretch and folds, waiting about 20 minutes in between each set.
- Bulk fermentation: Once you have completed the stretch and fold process, cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and allow it to bulk ferment for 6-8 hours until it has doubled in size. You can choose to leave the dough out at room temperature to complete the bulk ferment, or place it in the fridge overnight. I have had success both ways.
- Shape, Rise, and Bake: Once the dough has doubled in size, pull it out of the bowl and place it onto a lightly floured surface. Using a bench scraper or a sharp knife, cut the dough into two equal portions.
- Begin shaping each loaf by folding the sides of the dough onto itself, and roll up. Shape into a tight smooth ball by gently spinning it toward you.
- Allow to rest one final time while you preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place a Dutch oven into the oven while it preheats.
- While the oven preheats, prepare the pumpkin shape by cutting 4 strings about 10" in length. I used twine because that's all I had on hand, but I would recommend using food-safe cotton string instead.
- Arrange the strings in a crisscross pattern on top of a piece of parchment paper.
- Right before baking, transfer the cold bread dough upside down onto the strings. Tie each string around the bread dough until you have 8 equal sections, cutting off any remaining excess string as you go.
- Lightly flour the surface of the dough and score a pattern into it with a razor blade or lame, if you prefer.
- Take the preheated Dutch oven out of the oven. Carefully lower the dough, parchment paper and all, into the Dutch oven.
- Place the lid back on and bake for 20 minutes with the lid on. Remove from oven and then bake another 5-10 minutes with the lid off until the dough is golden brown. I usually start checking for the dough to be done around the 5 minute mark. Repeat the process with the second loaf of bread.
- Allow the loaves to cool slightly on a wire rack. While the bread is still warm but not piping hot, gently remove the string by cutting it off with scissors. Add a cinnamon stick in the middle to create the pumpkin "stem."
- Allow to cool completely before slicing and serving. This will help the bread to hold its shape. Enjoy!
Notes
If you loved this recipe for the cutest pumpkin shaped sourdough bread, be sure to come back and give it a 5 star recipe rating and a comment! I would love to know how it turned out for you. Tag me on Instagram @ourhandcraftedhomeblog.
