Wool blankets, cozy slippers, candles, and pumpkin all walk hand in hand when autumn rolls around up here in the north.
Days might be labeled gray, cold, and miserable by some, but when you have a long winter season fast approaching, we think it’s best to take a cue from the leaves and keep our speech beautiful. A rainy and dreary day becomes a cozy candle kind of day perfect for warm drinks and pumpkin muffins.
Sourdough Pumpkin Bread/Muffins
Isn't so much of life colored by our perspective? Keep things cozy this fall and winter with creative colorful words and tasty nourishing pumpkins treats! Enjoy! Makes 1 standard size loaf or 16 to 18 muffins.
Ingredients
Souring
- 2 cups whole grain flour of choice, more as needed
- 1 cup pureed pumpkin
- 1/4 cup sourdough starter
- 1/4 cup raw whole milk or milk of choice or fermented dairy
Baking
- 1/2 cup grass-fed butter or coconut oil
- 2/3 cup Rapadura or coconut sugar*
- 2 organic or pastured eggs
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon cloves
- 1 teaspoon sea salt scant
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- optional add-ins **
Instructions
Souring
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Combine flour, pumpkin, sourdough starter, and milk in a medium sized bowl.
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The dough will be think.
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Cover with a towel and a plate and allow to sit at room temperature for 6 to 8 hours (or overnight for a morning bake).
Baking
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When the souring time is complete, preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and grease the bottom of your baking vessel of choice.
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In a small bowl combine melted butter, sucanat, eggs, spices and sea salt.
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Mix well.
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Pour on top of your soured dough and thoroughly combine. I like using my hands for this task. I feel it keeps the batter from becoming overly mixed and gives me a chance to break up any thicker portions of dough with my fingers.
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Sprinkle baking soda and baking powder onto the dough.
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Stir to incorporate.
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Add any optional ingredients you desire.
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Pour the batter into your greased loaf pan.***
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Bake loaves for about 70 minutes, but check after 55 minutes to see how things are coming along and to cover if needed. Adding fresh fruit may increase your baking time.
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Bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
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Allow to rest for 15 minutes before tipping out onto a cooling rack.
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Once completely cool store in a covered container on the counter, in the refrigerator, or in the freezer.
Recipe Notes
Delicious on its own or served with butter, homemade jam, or my favorite, a slice of cheese! Enjoy!
*Add sweetener to taste. 2/3 cup makes an only slightly sweet loaf.
**Optional add ins: dried cranberries, crispy nuts, unsweetened coconut, carob/chocolate chips (or these no-sugar, stevia-sweetened chocolate chips), 1/3 cup cocoa powder.
***Wonderful as muffins!
Sour as instructed for bread.
When the souring time is complete, preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare muffin tins.
Mix and combine as instructed for bread.
Add any optional ingredients you desire.
Pour the batter into greased muffin cups or lined muffin tins.
Bake muffins for 20 to 25 minutes.
Bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow to rest for a few minutes before tipping out onto a cooling rack.
What are you making with pumpkin lately?
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How much pumpkin purée?
Melinda — 1 cup. Recipe fixed. 🙂
I think the pumpkin is missing in this recipe. Could you please tell me how much it is? Thanks
Amber — 1 cup. Recipe fixed. 🙂
So glad to see you post again Erin! I knew it would be another one of your sourdough creations!
Yes, winter is fast approaching here in PA. Thanks for sharing!
Also, how much pumpkin do we need?
You need 1 cup — sorry that was left off. 🙂
Awwww, thanks Karen! Enjoy your cozy fall/approaching winter days!
So great to see a post from you, Erin. Been making your sour dough pizza crust like crazy! Hope my family enjoys this too.
Thanks Cindy! So glad you’ve been enjoying the pizza crust. We love it, too! Let me know how you like the pumpkin bread/muffins. Tasty, tasty! 🙂
great bread. Winner with the boys (who are usually picky about their quick breads). It didn’t come out as light and airy as the picture. It was very dense and wet, more like a brownie in texture. What can i do to adjust it?
Hi Cindy- I’m glad to hear you tried the bread and enjoyed the taste. The texture I was able to achieve was one reason why I chose to post this bread. So often, it seems sourdough quick breads are dense and wet. Let’s see, what could you try… You could add a little more flour next time to the souring process. If your sourdough or pumpkin is very wet, you could probably leave out the milk (adding a bit more flour would do the same thing). Make sure your baking soda and baking powder are fresh. Try making the loaf without any wet add-ins to start. You could always give the muffins a try. They are less tricky than the loaf. Let me know how your second rounds goes. Thanks for your comment!
Erin, our family loves this tasty treat and I just wanted to say thank you for sharing your recipe. Quick breads have been… slower… since transitioning to real food, and not always worth the time and effort. This one is definitely worth the souring time! Thanks again!
This recipe has become a regular in my household. I make a double batch and add in nuts and dried cranberries. I freeze the extras for a healthy go to-breakfast. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe
I’m fairly new to sourdough, and was excited to stumble upon your recipe! I used white whole wheat flour, and added chocolate chips to my pumpkin bread. I have 5 kids, so needless to say….my loaf only lasted about 5 minutes. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
This was delicious – my family really enjoyed it! It had such depth of taste and such a delightful texture! We adapted it to make it gluten-free.
We also made this with banana in place of the pumpkin. I reduced the amount of sweetener to compensate for the sweetness of the banana. It was a hit, also!
Can I sub milk for water ?