Autumn Pumpkin Sourdough Bread with Walnuts and Sage

Step-by-step method

At a glance

This autumn sourdough takes a bit of planning—your starter needs a 12-hour head start before you mix the dough, then you'll knead it by hand and let it proof (either at room temperature for 2 hours or in the fridge overnight for deeper flavor). The real magic happens in the oven with a quick steam-blast at high heat followed by a longer bake, which gives you that gorgeous golden crust and light, airy crumb studded with walnuts and sage.

1/10

Starter

First, prepare the starter in the bowl you'll use for mixing the dough. It needs to ferment for 12 hours in a warm spot. Mix all three ingredients together into a smooth mixture. Wrap the bowl in a plastic bag or cover it with a lid.

For this step
0/3

50 gram
Rye Sourdough Starter

150 gram
Whole Grain Rye Flour

150 milliliter
Water
2/10

Sticky dough

After twelve hours (ideally start the starter in the evening and bake in the morning), add the remaining ingredients. Mix into a non-sticky dough and let it rest in the bowl for an hour.

For this step
0/5

500 gram
Bread Flour

10 gram
Salt

50 gram
Walnuts (unsalted)

60 milliliter
Water

5 gram
Sage
3/10

Kneading

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Stretch and knead it thoroughly with your hands. This works your warmth into the dough, releases excess air, and develops it beautifully. Once you feel the dough is well worked, shape it and place it into a proofing basket.

4/10

Proofing in the basket

Dust the whole loaf lightly with potato starch or flour so the dough doesn't stick to the basket. Turn the loaf into the basket. Enclose the basket in the same bag you used earlier for the starter - I use a medium-sized bin liner for this.
5/10

Room temperature vs. fridge

You can now let the bread proof at room temperature for about two hours. I personally rely almost exclusively on cold proofing in the fridge these days. I let the basket proof in the fridge for several hours.
6/10

Preheat the oven

Preheat the oven to the highest temperature possible, ideally 230-250°C. Place a tray on the bottom of the oven, and another tray in the middle of the oven - this is the one you'll bake the bread on.
7/10

Loading the bread into the oven

Once the oven is fully preheated, turn the risen loaf out onto a wooden board or another surface you'll use to slide the bread into the oven. Place baking paper on this surface, then place the loaf on top.
8/10

Bake

Quickly open the preheated oven, pour a cup of water onto the tray at the bottom, then carefully slide the bread on its baking paper onto the hot tray in the middle of the oven. Close the door and bake with steam at this temperature for 10 minutes.
9/10

Finish baking

After this time, open the oven, let the steam out, and lower the temperature to 180°C. Continue baking at this temperature for 40 minutes. You can occasionally spritz the bread with water using a spray bottle.
10/10

Let it cool

Remove the baked bread from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack. Ideally for several hours, until completely cold.

Autumn Pumpkin Sourdough Bread with Walnuts and Sage

Name: Fluffy Pumpkin Sourdough with Walnuts & Sage
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 80 min
Total time: 1305 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: 5 gram Sage; 210 milliliter Water; 10 gram Salt; 50 gram Rye Sourdough Starter; 150 gram Whole Grain Rye Flour; 500 gram Bread Flour; 50 gram Walnuts (unsalted)

bohynekuchyne

Prep 10 min Cook 1 h 20 min

Plus overnight of resting (not counted in active time)

7 Ingredients

10 Steps

Hard Difficulty

Ingredients — what you'll need

You only need 7 ingredients

Adjust servings

About this recipe

This autumn loaf turned out really well for me. It's beautifully light and airy, and the flavour of walnuts and sage pairs wonderfully with the pumpkin. Pumpkin also gives the bread a gorgeous colour. And in my kitchen, pumpkin is the favourite autumn ingredient of all.

Lactose-free Vegan Vegetarian Bread & Rolls

Step-by-step method

At a glance

Starter

For this step

Sticky dough

For this step

Kneading

Autumn Pumpkin Sourdough Bread with Walnuts and Sage

Ingredients — what you'll need

About this recipe