Sourdough Pumpkin Bread

What is Sourdough Discard?

Sourdough discard is the portion of your sourdough starter that you are not feeding. When you are "feeding" your starter to make bread with, you add equal parts flour, water, and starter to a mason jar and let it rise.

You can't feed your entire starter, as it doubles and sometimes triples in size, and that's a lot of starter to have on hand! If you are new to sourdough, be sure to check out this post all about how to keep your sourdough starter happy.

You can make the classic sourdough bread with your sourdough starter, or you can make baked sourdough donuts,  chocolate chip sourdough muffins, and even sourdough crackers with herbs and olive oil!

Make sure to join our Sourdough Facebook group with other Sourdough fanatics sharing their favorite recipes as well as tips and tricks!

Pumpkin Sourdough Ingredients

You only need a few simple ingredients for this recipe!

• All Purpose Flour. A combination of all purpose flour and whole wheat flour can be used.
• Baking powder. This will do the heavy lifting when it comes to making the bread rise.
• Salt. To counteract the sweetness of the sugars.
• Pumpkin spice. If you have your own that will work or you can use your favorite store bought brand.
• Melted butter. To add necessary fat to the bread.
• Sugar. Both brown sugar and granulated sugar.
• Eggs. To hold the bread together.
• Sourdough discard. This is sourdough starter that is not active and bubbly. I like to keep mine in a mason jar in the refrigerator for when I want to make things like this. If you are new to sourdough, you can make your own sourdough starter from scratch, buy one, or get one from a sourdough friend.

Pumpkin Puree vs Pumpkin Pie Filling

This recipe has canned pumpkin puree, which is just pureed real pumpkins. Canned pumpkin pie is essentially the inside of a pumpkin pie. It has all the spices already in it. When making this recipe, make sure it's pure canned pumpkin. Canned pumpkin pie will double the spices, which would overpower this bread with cinnamon and pumpkin spice.

How to Make Pumpkin Sourdough Bread

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper making sure the parchment paper overhangs the sides of the loaf pan. Set that aside.

2. In a small bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin spice. Mix to combine and set that aside.

3. In a large bowl, add the brown sugar, sugar, and melted butter. Mix well until all the ingredients are fully combined.

4. Add the sourdough starter, eggs, and vanilla to the mixture. Mix well again. Add the pumpkin puree and mix until all the ingredients are well combined.

5. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Fold them together until they are just combined, do not overmix.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick is inserted into the center and comes out clean. Remove the parchment paper from the loaf pan and allow the bread to cool on a wire rack before serving.

Pumpkin Sourdough Variations

• Add some texture! One cup of your favorite chopped nuts will add delicious flavor and texture to this bread. You can use chopped walnuts or chopped pecans.
• Add pumpkin seeds! To really up the pumpkin flavor, add a cup of toasted pumpkin seeds to the batter.
• Make it chocolatey! Who doesn't love chocolate! Add a cup of chocolate chips to the batter for a more dessert style bread.
• Change up the chips! If you don't like chocolate chips you can add white chocolate chips or cinnamon chips instead.

How To Store Sourdough Pumpkin Bread

• To make the batter ahead of time. You can make the batter ahead of time and cover it with plastic wrap and keep it in the refrigerator. This will also cause the batter to ferment and get a bit more of that classic sourdough flavor.
• Storing the bread. Store the bread on the counter in an airtight container or in a gallon sized Ziploc bag. Do not store the bread in the refrigerator. That will promote mold growth and make the bread go stale quickly.
• Freezing the bread. To freeze the bread, allow the bread to cool to room temperature. Then wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in a gallon sized Ziploc bag. Freeze the loaf up to 3 months. To defrost, place it on the counter and let it come to room temperature.

Pumpkin Sourdough Bread FAQs