A classic pumpkin quick bread made using sourdough starter discard!
This is adapted from the lovely smitten kitchen. Her pumpkin bread is one of my all time favorites that I must make every year, so it only felt right to try and get some sourdough discard in it! Deb makes hers into a single loaf, which makes a gargantuan loaf (that I love!!). Since mine has added volume in the form of sourdough starter, I've opted to make it into two loaves for peace of mind and less potential oven cleaning. If you're really daring, you can always try it in one.
Sourdough Discard in Pumpkin Bread
Sourdough starter discard sneaks in here to give this classic pumpkin bread a bit more robust flavor. It's subtle, and if you didn't know it was there, I don't really think you would be able to tell. What you definitely CAN tell, though, is that it's loaded with fall spices. Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves.
The MVP's of the season. I really cannot get enough.
The Cinnamon Sugar Topping
A feature that I love from the original SK recipe is the cinnamon sugar topping. It's such a simple addition that takes it to dimensions I didn't know pumpkin bread could go... Don't skip it!
This also is the reason I recommend cooling the loaves in the pans, then prying out with a plastic spatula, rather than inverting. This gives the cinnamon sugar more of a chance to stick to the bread, and you won't be dumping the excess cinnamon sugar off by tipping it upside down.
(You want that excess, trust me!)
Canned or homemade puree
Okay this is maybe an unpopular opinion, but I think store bought pumpkin puree is superior to the homemade variety. It is one of the very few products I hold that opinion about!
That said, if you do want to use homemade here, you'll use 1 ¾ cups. Or, just buy a 15 ounce can and use that 🙂
Sourdough Pumpkin Bread (with Discard!)
Ingredients
- 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
- ½ cup vegetable oil (or ½ cup of butter, melted)
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup sourdough starter discard
- 1 ⅔ cup sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
- 2 cups flour
For the Topping
- 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8 x 4-inch loaf pans.In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, oil, eggs, discard, and sugar until smooth. Add in the baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves and mix to combine. Stir in the flour just until combined. Divide between the two prepared pans and smooth out the tops. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over tops of the loaves. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into a few places in the loaves comes out clean (be sure to test it a few times - uncooked dough pockets like to hide here!). Cool loaves in the pans completely on a metal rack. Lift the loaves out with a plastic spatula rather than inverting to keep as much cinnamon sugar on as possible.Can be stored for up to 5 days at room temperature in an airtight container or wrapped tightly.
Lulu V says
Thank you!!! I’ve already made this twice in the last couple of weeks, the loafs don’t last more than 3 days in our house. And the fact that I can use the entire can of pumpkin pure instead of having to save half for later or double the recipe, perfection!!!
Michelle says
Agreed! I love that it just takes a whole can. I was looking for a recipe that did so!
Stephanie M says
This is without a doubt, the BEST quick bread I have ever made! I get so many compliments on it and everyone always requests the recipe. So so good. Thank you!
Michelle says
Very delicious and I just mixed it up in my KitchenAid. I took some into work and got lots of compliments!