Having recently revived my sourdough starter, my collection of sourdough discard has started up again. Since it’s the spooky season (a.k.a October), it only felt appropriate to make a vegan pumpkin bread version of my sourdough banana bread!!
Using homemade pumpkin puree
I had planned on doing this a few weeks ago but found I there was NO CANNED PUMPKIN PUREE in stock anywhere near me & ordering it online would’ve cost £3 a tin! Who’s buying up all the canned pumpkin!? Anywho, I’m no stranger to making my own purees so I went ahead and bought a cooking pumpkin, cut it in half & roasted for an hour then scooped the flesh out & blended it up to make some puree. However I found that this homemade puree was much more watery than the canned puree so the loaf turned out gummy and crumbly.
An intense few weeks of shoots got in the way but this week I got round to retesting it with homemade pumpkin puree which I strained in a cheesecloth-lined strainer set over a bowl for 3 hours. I also gathered up the edges of the cheesecloth after this time and gently squeezed until no more water was coming out. This resulted in a texture which was much more like the canned pumpkin puree I buy. I tried it in a loaf and it worked a treat!!
Luckily, I’d had a conversation with someone on my IG DMs about converting my banana bread into a a pumpkin bread (shout out to Kelsey!!). She actually tested the recipe too – telling me her changes of increasing the sugar slightly & lowering the pumpkin slightly – and declared it a success 🙂 I’ve made it both with 150g sugar and 200g sugar and they both work out so it’s up to you and your preferred level of sweetness.
As well as these changes, I made a custom pumpkin spice blend for the cake with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves & ginger for that Autumnal flavour. As I had some oranges to hand, I grated in some zest too as I always find it helps to round out the spices in things like carrot cakes & pumpkin breads. This is such a delicious, soft loaf and is VERY moreish. Perfect for a cuppa as an afternoon snack!
How to make sourdough starter
If you haven’t got a sourdough starter yet, I have a comprehensive guide on starting and maintaining a sourdough starter right here.
Other sourdough discard recipes
- Sourdough Banana Bread (vegan)
- Sourdough Brownies
- Sourdough Brownies (vegan version)
- Sourdough Crumpets (vegan)
Sourdough Pumpkin Bread (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 200 g (3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp) pumpkin puree* (SEE NOTES if using homemade)
- 150 g (3/4 cup) light brown sugar*
- 90 g (1/3 cup + 2 tsp) neutral oil or light olive oil
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- zest of 1 orange , finely grated
- 1/4 tsp fine table salt
- 150 g (3/4 cup) sourdough starter/discard (100% hydration)
- 120 g (1 cup) plain white (all-purpose) flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
Topping (optional):
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- 3 tbsp pumpkin seeds/pepitas
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C fan (350°F). Grease a 2lb loaf tin with some oil and line with a sling of baking paper.
- In a large bowl, mix the pumpkin puree, sugar, oil, spices, orange zest and salt until smooth.200 g (3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp) pumpkin puree*, 150 g (3/4 cup) light brown sugar*, 90 g (1/3 cup + 2 tsp) neutral oil or light olive oil, 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/8 tsp ground cloves, zest of 1 orange, 1/4 tsp fine table salt
- Stir in the sourdough starter. Lastly, add the flour and bicarbonate of soda. Fold together until just combined.150 g (3/4 cup) sourdough starter/discard, 120 g (1 cup) plain white (all-purpose) flour, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- Pour the batter into your lined loaf tin. Sprinkle with the topping of light brown sugar and pumpkin seeds, if using.2 tbsp light brown sugar, 3 tbsp pumpkin seeds/pepitas
- Bake for 55-70 minutes– a toothpick inserted into the centre should come out clean. If the loaf looks like it's browning too much but is not cooked through yet, tent the top with foil for the last 20 minutes of baking.
- Allow to cool before removing from the tin, slicing & serving.
Can you mix everything together and let it ferment overnight, similar to your banana bread recipe?
I haven’t tried it with this recipe but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work!
I make this regularly, and it is just delicious! I sprinkle pumpkin and sunflower seeds on top – and then devour it with some serious quantities of butter. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!
really pleased you like it so much!! Sounds like it must be even more delicious with all that butter – YUM
wow, this turned out so good!! Very tender & flakey. I made a couple changes: I halved the brown sugar & omitted the orange zest just because I didn’t have it. I think I also used more like 1/2 tbs of salt. I made muffins instead of the loaf as I didn’t have a big enough pan. It made exactly 12 muffins which I baked at 350 for I think 25(+?) minutes. adding to my rotation. I hate discarding all that sourdough!
oh and THANK YOU for including not only the weight in grams but including it in the actual instructions so you don’t have to flip back & forth- I’ve never seen that on a recipe before and it is so so so helpful!
I made muffins like someone else in the comments and I also made this GF (used my GF sourdough discard and used half AP GF flour, half almond flour) and they came out SO good! Will definitely make again!
ooh lovely! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
Really good – I followed the recipe as written but omitted the orange zest and used allspice instead of clove. I made muffins and baked for 22 mins, which was perfect for my oven. Very light and tender, and not too sweet. Will make again, thanks for sharing this recipe!