Sourdough Discard Pumpkin Loaf

This Sourdough Discard Pumpkin Loaf is a great way to use up some of your sourdough discard, make an incredible-tasting loaf, and you can make it even more Fall-festive by making it in the shape of a pumpkin! It's a savory loaf that is delicious on its own with a swipe of butter, dipped into a warm soup, or used for a sandwich.

If you're looking for other sourdough discard recipes, check out my recipes for Sourdough Discard Cinnamon Rolls, Sourdough Discard Bagels, and Sourdough Discard Naan.

And if you're really in the pumpkin mood, check out my recipes for Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Bread, Curried Pumpkin Carrot Soup, and Pumpkin Sage Soft Pretzels.

Ingredients

As with most bread recipes, this one comes together with just a few key ingredients.

• Active dry yeast: Even though there is sourdough starter in the recipe, you'll still want some additional active yeast to make sure the dough rises appropriately. To note, when you add the yeast to the warm water, it should start foaming (give it about 5 minutes). If it doesn't foam, that means your yeast is dead and you'll need to start over with fresh yeast.
• Sourdough discard: You'll use 1 cup of sourdough discard, unfed at room temperature. This recipe is written for sourdough discard with a 1:1 ratio (1 part water, 1 part flour). If you're using a sourdough starter that has a different ratio, you may need to adjust ingredient measurements slightly.
• Pumpkin purée: You can use canned pumpkin purée or you can also make your own! If you're using homemade pumpkin purée, it may have a slightly higher water content than the canned version, so you may need to make slight adjustments.
• Bread flour: Using bread flour will help this bread to have a nice, crisp exterior.
• Raw pepitas: You'll coat the top of the loaf in raw pepitas for some added flavor and crunch. You do not need to toast these beforehand, as they'll bake in the oven while the bread is baking.

See the full recipe below for detailed directions.

How to make a Sourdough Discard Pumpkin Loaf

Tackling a bread recipe can seem daunting, but with a few key steps, you'll be enjoying a beautiful loaf in no time.

Mix all dough ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer until a dough forms. Set in a large, greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap to let rise.

After the first rise, the dough will be doubled in size.

Pull and fold each side of the dough into the middle to make a folded ball. The side with the folds (the seam) will become the bottom of the loaf.

Place the dough top-down onto a clean kitchen towel sprinkled with raw pepita seeds. Gently rock the dough side to side to pick up as many pepita seeds as possible.

Lift the towel including all the seeds and the dough, and place it in a large bowl. Cover with a second, clean kitchen towel and let rise a second time.

After the second rise, the dough will again have expanded to fill the bowl.

Use the towel to remove the dough from the bowl, and create a star pattern with 4 strings crossing in the center. This is will become the bottom of the loaf.

Place your parchment paper on top of the loaf and strings, then carefully flip the dough over so it's top-side up (the towel will help you do this). Tie the opposite ends of each string together in the center of the top of the loaf. They do not need to be tight as the dough will expand.

Lift the parchment paper and transfer the loaf into your Dutch Oven. Cover and bake, as directed.

Remove from the Dutch oven and let cool briefly before cutting off the strings. Cool fully before slicing.

You may lose a few pepitas throughout this process, but you can always add a few once the loaf is tied and in the pan. The dough should be sticky enough to hold the seeds to it. If you have extra seeds that have fallen down the side, that's ok, too! They don't need to be perfect.

Hint: Shaping the loaf like a pumpkin is optional! If you'd rather create a regular round loaf, after the second rise, cover the dough with parchment paper, carefully turn over so the loaf is right-side up, and then place it in the Dutch Oven. You can skip the steps with the strings.

What is sourdough discard?

Sourdough discard comes from working with sourdough starter. When you "feed" the sourdough starter, you typically cut the starter in half, then add water and flour to feed half the discard (check out this in-depth post for more on how to feed sourdough starter). The remainder becomes discard and can either be thrown away, or you can use it in sourdough discard recipes! Check out this post for more on how to use sourdough discard.

Sourdough discard has some of the signature tangy flavor that sourdough bread has, and it is an active yeast, so will help dough and dough-based recipes rise. Discard, though, isn't a full starter, so you typically still need to use additional yeast in the recipe.

You can either make a sourdough starter (this process takes a few weeks), or you can purchase sourdough starter pre-made. You might also be able to get some from a friend or neighbor that has a sourdough starter! It is not something you can whip up just before starting a recipe - it takes time!

Working with sourdough discard

For this recipe, you will want the sourdough discard to be unfed, and at room temperature. The temperature is important as that will help the dough to rise more easily.

This recipe was created using a sourdough starter with a 1:1 ratio (1 part flour, 1 part water). If you are working with a sourdough starter that uses a different ratio, you may need to make some small modifications to the recipe.

Equipment

I like to use a KitchenAid 5-Quart Stand Mixer fitted with a dough hook to mix my dough, but this is not essential. You can also make this dough in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon. You'll need a large mixing bowl where the dough will rise, kitchen twine to make the pumpkin shape, and a few clean kitchen towels to use with the rising.

This recipe uses a Dutch Oven (with a lid) to bake the loaf. I like to use a Staub 5.5-Quart Cocotte. You will also need parchment paper to line the pan during baking, and help transfer the dough.

How to shape the parchment paper

Parchment paper is essential to help transfer the dough into and out of the Dutch Oven. That said, there are a few tricks here:

• Full sheet: If you use the full sheet of parchment paper, this will work, but you will likely end up with a slight edge to your bread where the dough has pushed against the wrinkles of the paper. Again, this will still be delicious, so it's certainly an option!
• Cutting: You can cut the parchment paper to be just slightly larger than the base of your Dutch Oven. This way, there is no excess paper to press into the edges of the dough during baking. While cutting, you can leave two "handles" to make transferring the dough an easier process. For me, I find these handles are not very strong and tend to tear easily.
• Folding: I like to cut a circle that is slightly larger than the base of the Dutch oven, then use a second full piece of parchment paper folded to create one long (and strong) strip. Place this strip underneath the parchment round and your dough, and use that strip as the handle to move your dough. From a layering perspective, it should be (from the countertop): parchment strip, parchment circle, dough.

Storage

Room Temperature Storage: Homemade bread is best fresh, but you can store it in an airtight container or bag for up to 2-2 days. It's important to limit the bread's exposure to the air, as this is what causes it to dry out and harden.

You can reheat the bread for a few seconds in the microwave to make it warm and soft again, if it does start to harden. This trick will only work in the first few days.

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