How To Make Perfect Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Sourdough Bread

Fall is arguably the best time of year to bake and this Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Sourdough Bread needs to be on your baking list! It is a soft pumpkin sourdough bread, studded with buttery brown sugar cinnamon bites all throughout. Absolute perfection!

If you bake sourdough, then there is a good chance you are wanting to make a pumpkin loaf this Fall. While there are a million different recipes out there, I have included a special technique to getting buttery cinnamon sugar goodness in every bite and you need to try it!

This sourdough starts with a simple bread dough full of pumpkin puree. You then fold in little frozen bits of butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. These little bits of goodness add the perfect touch of sweetness and make the bread extra soft. I promise, once you try this method you will be hooked!

You can bake this Pumpkin Sourdough Bread in any shape you like and could even turn it into mini loaves for the holidays. Enjoy it toasted, and slathered in maple butter or fry it up into the most incredible French toast topped with whipped cream and maple syrup. No matter how you choose to enjoy this bread, it will be a delicious slice of Fall goodness.

Tips for Making Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Sourdough Bread

1. Use a healthy and active sourdough starter. I recommend feeding your sourdough starter around a 1:4:4 ratio to make it nice and strong. Ideally you will use your starter to make the bread about 8-10 hours after you feed it.
2. Make sure to prep the butter, cinnamon and sugar bites ahead of time so they can get nice and set in the freezer. You want to add them to your dough straight out of the freezer so that they don’t full melt into the dough and stay in little chunks. This will give you delicious buttery bites all throughout your bread.
3. When shaping your dough, try to handle it as little as possible. Shape it, then do a couple turns for the surface tension then place into a floured banneton. The warms of your hands can warm up the dough and melt the sugar bits if you handle it too long.

Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Sourdough Bread Ingredients

Flour– Unbleached all purpose flour or bread flour are best. Use whichever you typically use when making sourdough.

Sourdough Starter– As mentioned above, use a nice strong and active sourdough starter.

Pumpkin Puree– Be sure to use pure pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling.

Butter– Salted or unsalted butter are fine, but I always prefer using salted butter.

Brown Sugar– Light or dark brown sugar are fine.

Cinnamon– Don’t skimp on the cinnamon! You want to taste it throughout the bread.

Salt– Almost any fine salt works!

The Steps

Make The Butter Bits

1. Start by making the cinnamon sugar bits. Stir together the softened butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl until smooth.
2. Then, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the butter mixture into a large rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick. Place the baking sheet in the freezer for at least an hour.
3. Once nice and firm, use a sharp knife or pizza cutter and cut the sheet of butter into small squares. About 1/3 inch in size. Then place back in the freezer.

Make The Pumpkin Dough

1. For the dough, mix together the water, pumpkin and sourdough starter in a large bowl with a dough whisk.
2. Once mixed, add in the flour and salt. Stir everything together until you have a shaggy dough. Cover with a tea towel and let rest for 45 minutes.
3. Next, perform a set of stretch and folds. Cover the bowl back up and let rest another 45 minutes.
4. For the second set of stretch and folds, fold in half of the butter bits. Cover the bowl and let rest another 45 minutes.
5. Repeat step 8 one more time, folding in the second half of the butter bits.
6. Cover the bowl and let the dough bulk ferment in a cool place for 8-10 hours. You want to keep it in a spot that isn’t too warm so that the butter bits don’t melt.

Shape The Pumpkin Dough

1. After the dough has bulk fermented and about doubled in size, dump it out onto a dry counter.
2. Gently stretch the dough into a rectangle. Then fold the top third of the dough into the middle, then the bottom third over top of that first fold.
3. Start at one end of the folded dough and roll the dough up into a ball. Pinch the sides of the dough to seal it.
4. Then, using the heel of your hand push the dough away from you on the counter, then pull it towards you. Imagine you are making the shape of a candy cane with the dough. Repeat this a couple times to get the dough nice and smooth.
5. Lightly flour a banneton, then flip the dough upside down and place in the banneton.
6. Next, you are going to stitch the bread. This is where you pinch the dough and pull it into the center. Continue this around the whole loaf of bread. This creates more surface tension on the top of your bread.
7. Cover the loaf loosely with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at leat 8 hours or up to 36 hours.

Bake The Pumpkin Sourdough Bread

1. Whenever you are ready to bake your bread, preheat your oven and dutch oven to 450F.
2. Dump the bread onto a lightly floured piece of parchment or a bread sling, then score the top.
3. Place the loaf of bread into your preheated dutch oven, cover with the lid, then bake for 20 minutes.
4. Then, reduce the heat to 410F, remove the lid and bake for another 20 minutes.
5. Once the bread is baked, remove from the dutch oven and allow to coole for at least 1 hours before slicing. Enjoy!

If you give this bread a try, leave a comment or review below!

Looking for more Fall sourdough recipes to try? Check these ones out.

https://cmbarndominium.com/salted-caramel-apple-pie-sourdough-focaccia-bread/

https://cmbarndominium.com/how-to-make-soft-fluffy-pumpkin-pie-sourdough-pancakes/

https://cmbarndominium.com/fall-pumpkin-sourdough-coffee-cake/