Sourdough Pumpkin Bread (Vegan)

sourdough pumpkin bread sliced with a cup of tea

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!!

a loaf of vegan sourdough pumpkin bread with tea being poured and winter squash

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!!

a sliced sourdough pumpkin loaf on a plate with a cup of tea

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 Pumpkin Bread (Vegan)

A warmly spiced vegan pumpkin bread which uses sourdough discard!
5 from 7 votes
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Course: Quick Breads (Non-Yeasted) & Scones, Sourdough
Cuisine: American
Keywords: dairy free, egg free, pumpkin bread, sourdough, sourdough discard, vegan
Servings: 1 loaf (serves 12)

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.

Notes

Adapted from my Sourdough Banana Bread (vegan)
Amount of sugar: use 150g for a slightly less sweet loaf or 200g if you prefer things sweeter
If you don’t have sourdough starter/discard:  just replace the discard with an extra 75g (2/3 cup) plain white flour and 75g (1/3 cup) water, mixed together until smooth.
If using homemade pumpkin puree: it is essential that your pumpkin puree is drained before weighing & using in this recipe. To do this, line a sieve (mesh strainer) set over a bowl with 2 layers of cheesecloth. Fill with your homemade pumpkin puree and leave to drain for 2-3 hours. After this time, gather up the edges of the cheesecloth and twist together at the top. Gently squeeze the bundle of puree to remove any last bit of water – don’t squeeze too hard or the puree may start to seep through the cheesecloth! The texture should be very thick just like canned pumpkin puree. You can now measure it out and use it in the recipe.
To make homemade pumpkin puree: cut your pumpkin in half. Place cut side down on a baking tray and roast at 180C fan (350F) for 1-2 hours until completely soft. Remove from the oven, flip over and scoop out the seeds then discard them. Scoop the flesh into a blender/food processor/bowl with sitck blender, discard the skin. Blitz the flesh until smooth then drain as instructed above.
What is 100% hydration sourdough starter? This means that when feeding your starter, you’re using an equal weight of flour & water (e.g. feeding it with 50g flour & 50g water each time).
Non-Vegan option: use 100g butter, melted, in place of the oil.
Tried this recipe?Let me know how it went! Mention @izyhossack or tag #topwithcinnamon!

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7 thoughts on “Sourdough Pumpkin Bread (Vegan)”

  1. 5 stars
    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!

  2. 5 stars
    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!

  3. 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!

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