Made with silky pumpkin purée, tangy sourdough starter, and warm fall spices, this super-moist sourdough discard pumpkin bread can be made same-day, or chilled overnight for deeper flavor. The interior crumb will melt in your mouth! Makes (1) 9x-5-inch loaf.
Initially, I thought swapping the banana in my top-rated sourdough banana bread for pumpkin purée would be an easy, fool-proof variation. Not even close. The disasters that came out of my kitchen were too soggy, not sweet enough, and oddly chewy?
Naturally, I spun into an analytical spiral, Googling things at 3 AM that could possibly “help” and long story short: it was too much pumpkin purée.
Why Most Pumpkin Breads Fail
Canned pumpkin purée contains a lot of moisture. So does sourdough starter (it’s part water).
When combined in a recipe that calls for 1 full can of pumpkin (standard), the batter becomes too runny. Runny batter without enough flour = sunken center. More flour is needed to fix the runny batter, but then you need a bigger pan to compensate! I turned gray over this.
Eventually, after muffling my internal chatter with long walks and shower talks it clicked: scale back the pumpkin purée. I settled on using only 1/2 can, with enough leftover to make a second loaf (or my pumpkin sourdough scones). The texture is super moist, velvety-soft, and warmly spiced with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.
Good To Know Tips:
- I use this 9×5-inch loaf pan.
- Baked loaves freeze beautifully.
- One-bowl recipe: batter can be mixed by hand or in a stand mixer.
- Bake on the same day, or ferment overnight to deepen the flavor.
How To Make Sourdough Pumpkin Bread {Step-By-Step Recipe}
To Start: Whisk your wet ingredients together: eggs, sugars (light brown & granulated) and vanilla extract. Then add the pumpkin purée, oil, and sourdough starter.
Sift the dry ingredients, then gradually add to your wet ingredients. Pour the batter into a parchment-lined loaf pan.
If baking right away, do so for 60-70 minutes @ 350 F. A toothpick should come out clean when inserted (you know the drill). To ferment overnight, cover the pan with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator. Bake from cold the next day in a preheated oven.
Note: This loaf tastes completely different warm vs. room temperature. Personally, I prefer it at room temperature (e.g. cooled for a few hours). The flavor gets better as it sits!
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Same-Day Sourdough Discard Pumpkin Bread
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 70 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf 1x
- Category: Sourdough Discard Recipes
- Method: Oven-Baked
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Made with silky pumpkin puree, tangy sourdough starter and warm fall spices, this super-moist sourdough pumpkin bread can be made on the same-day, or chilled overnight to maximize flavor. Use leftover pumpkin purée to make my pumpkin sourdough scones.
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients:
- 2 large eggs
- 120 g (1/2 cup) light brown sugar
- 170 g (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 225 g (1 cup) canned pumpkin puree
- 100 g (1/2 cup) mild oil, such as expeller pressed canola oil or vegetable oil
- 75 g (1/3 cup) sourdough starter (active starter or sourdough discard)
Dry Ingredients:
- 215 g (1 3/4 cups) all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 F. Line a 9×5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper; set aside.
- In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment: beat the eggs, light brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract together. Add the pumpkin purée, followed by the oil and sourdough starter. Mix well to combine.
- In a separate small bowl: sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.
- With the machine running, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix gently until incorporated. Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. At this point you can bake immediately (see next step). Or ferment overnight (see Overnight Option below).
- Bake on the center rack for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted.
- Cool for 1-2 hours before slicing. I prefer this cake at room temperature; the flavor and texture improves as it sits.
Overnight Option: Prepare the batter as indicated above; pour into your prepared loaf pan. Cover with a few layers of plastic wrap and chill overnight in the refrigerator. In the morning, discard the plastic wrap. Bake @ 350 (from cold) for 60-70+ minutes or until done.
Comments
Lori says
This recipe is amazing! Everything about this pumpkin bread awesome-the crumb, the texture, the taste! My family loved it and I will definitely make it again. Your recipes have never failed me. Thank you!!!
Danielle says
I made this and it was amazing. I subbed the oil for butter and I used 200g of active starter (not discarded). Absolutely delicious. Family loved it.
Michelle says
Absolutely delicious! Just sad I didn’t make more and now have to wait until the weekend to bake again :/
Joy says
My dad, who doesn’t like pumpkin foods, was so excited I was making this a second time this week. My mom, who adores all things pumpkin, said we no longer need Starbucks. What a fantastic recipe as written!
PJ says
Looking forward to this because at just brought in our pumpkins. Volunteer plants are my favorite!
Thank you-
I’ll try muffins with homemade chunky applesauce to replace half oil, roasted walnuts, freshly grated nutmeg, and dark chocolate chips. So how much oil/butter?
Mary Kay says
Your recipes always result in delicious breads and more. I’m looking forward to trying the pumpkin bread but have a question. What is the difference between packed canned pumpkin and pumpkin puree? My first thought was the consistency having the puree being smoother. What would change if packed pumpkin is used?
Lori Davis says
Can I use something instead of eggs? My daughter can’t have dairy or eggs. Thank you.
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Lori! I haven’t tested this recipe without eggs. However, many bakers who baked an egg-less version of my sourdough banana bread (similar to this one) have used flax eggs or Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer with great results.
Mary says
This bread is absolutely delicious following the recipe as written. I will be making it again and again!
Melanie says
Hi-if I do the overnight option, do I preheat the oven to 350 before baking or do I do a cold start?
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Melanie! No cold start. You’ll preheat the oven first, then bake.
Kristen says
My family looooves this recipe but I haven’t been keeping up with my sourdough starter lately. Is there a solution for omitting the discard? Thank you!
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Kristen! Great question. I haven’t tested this myself. Normally, I’d have you add more flour and liquid to compensate for omitting the starter (flour + water), but it doesn’t always work out that way. I’ve written this recipe with a bit of wiggle room, so if I were to test it, I’d start with omitting the starter altogether with no additional adjustments just to keep things simple and easy to memorize. Hope this helps!
Kristin H says
I made this last weekend along with my regular sourdough and it was perfect. I happy I’ve found a recipe that I csn use up my leftover starter and pumpkin. No more waste. I’m making it again now and I forgot to buy oil so I subbed butter. Can’t wait to eat it. It is a great recipe.
Kristin says
This was wonderful!
Eva Turner says
Fantastic recipe, I followed overnight option, super soft and great flavour.
Added chopped crystallised ginger for a bit of a kick.
Bethany says
Loved this! I used coconut oil and added cardamom and some dark chocolate chips.
My husband said he would have preferred it without the chocolate chips so I probably should have just followed the recipe as written lol.
But it was delicious
Mary Ann Chanes says
I made dozens of small loaves of this pumpkin bread for Christmas presents this year and everyone is raving about how delicious and moist it is! One girl from work came to me to say she didn’t get her loaf…lol…and another texted me pictures of her 3 year old devouring the bread. Thanks Emilie!!