It’s officially Fall, and I want to make ALL the pumpkin recipes! This pumpkin artisan loaf made with fresh milled flour is one of my favorite ways to infuse pumpkin into my kitchen. It’s a crowd pleaser with the pumpkin shape, and makes a great gift as well!
I love to cut a slice and slather it in butter and honey, and enjoy with my morning coffee. It also is delicious alone, and I will not judge you if you eat the whole thing in 2 days.
Disclaimer: This is a recipe written assuming you already have a general concept of baking with sourdough. If you are a newbie, please feel free to message me on Instagram and I will do my best to help you!
Ingredients you’ll need:
- Hard white and Hard red wheat (I really enjoy the Central Milling berries – I order them on Amazon!)
- A healthy, strong sourdough starter. See notes for the ratios I use to feed a healthy FMF starter.
- Organic pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie, just plain pumpkin!)
- Organic Maple or Raw Honey
- Organic Pumpkin Pie Spice
- Salt (Redmond’s Real Salt is the GOAT)
- Filtered water
Tools you’ll need:
- Mill for your wheat (I love my Nutrimill mill! – this link will give you $20 off)
- Stand mixer (optional, but I prefer using this over stretch and folds)
- Stainless steel bowl
- Tea towel
- Banneton for proofing
- Kitchen scale
- Cookie sheet
- Unbleached parchment paper
- Organic Bakers Twine
- Scissors for cutting twine
- Digital thermometer
Tips for success:
- Autolyse your dough for a good hour before adding in starter and salt! This will allow the water to fully absorb into the flour. Most people struggle with difficult dough with FMF because they do not autolyse long enough.
- If using your mixer, mix low and slow so you can develop gluten but not break it down by getting the dough too hot.
- Your dough should be pliable but not firm. Squishy but not wet!
Why bake with fresh milled flour?
Fresh milled flour offers several health advantages over store bought, shelf stable flour. When wheat berries are freshly milled, they retain their nutrient rich bran and germ, which contain fiber, B vitamins, vitamin E, healthy fats, and minerals like iron and magnesium. Commercial flour has these components removed during processing and sits on shelves for months, losing nutritional value as the oils in the germ oxidize and vitamins degrade. Shelf stable flour also has many harmful ingredients added to it, like bromine, synthetic folic acid and preservatives.
Because fresh milled flour is whole grain by nature, it provides more sustained energy and better blood sugar stability compared to refined white flour. The natural oils and enzymes are also intact, which can make baked goods more flavorful and aromatic. It’s healthy AND delicious!
Pumpkin Sourdough Artisan Loaf made with Fresh Milled Flour
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Feed your sourdough starter 9-10 hours before bake. This time will vary based on your home's temperature, but I like to feed mine before I go to bed, around 10pm. When I wake up my starter is nearly ready to use and hasn't started falling yet. See recipe notes for starter feeding info.
- In the morning, weigh your wheat and mill it.
- In a large bowl (or in your mixer) add your all ingredients but the salt and starter to your flour. This will make a shaggy dough. Let your dough autolyse for 45mins-1 hour so the water can absorb into the flour.
- After autolysing, add in your starter and salt. – If you are using your mixer, mix on level 2 until you reach windowpane. In my mixer, this takes 5-7 minutes. If you're doing stretch and folds:– Mix salt and starter in well so they're fully mixed in.– Do a stretch and fold every 30 minutes for a total of 3 S&F.
- Let your dough bulk ferment. The time for bulk fermentation can vary widely depending on the temperature of your home. With fresh milled flour, you do not want to go by the 'let the dough double in size' rule of thumb. I have found observing the dough and it's feel is a better indicator if the dough is ready. This usually looks like +25-50% of the original dough size. FMF easily overproofs and cause a sticky, messy dough that is hard to keep shape. This will result in flat loaves.
- Cut four long strips of bakers twine, about 18" long. In a small bowl, add about 1 Tbsp olive oil and make sure the twine is fully coated in the oil. Let the twine absorb the oil for a few hours before you bake.
- After your dough is bulk fermented:Line your banneton with a tea towel. Using a round or oval (batard) banneton, shape your loaf for the shape you're using. (there are a ton of tutorials for shaping on youtube!). After shaping, put into the fridge to cold proof. I always cold proof my banneton loaves because they're likely to keep their shape better when it's time to bake. I cold proof for at least 4 hours – this tends to be enough time to bring down the dough temperature enough to bake.
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Fill a stainless pan (I use one of my sandwich loaf pans) with very hot or boiling water. Put the water at the bottom of your oven to create a steamy oven.
- On a parchment lined cookie sheet, take your twine and make two + signs to make 8 even sections.
- Put loaf centered on the strings, and tie in a knot on the center. You want the twine to be taught but not pulling on the loaf.
- Trim the strings to leave 2" at the top.
- Sprinkle your loaf with rice flour. Score each section vertically with a 1/4" score. This will make sure none of your sections expands unevenly. Then you can go around and add detailed scoring if you'd like!
- Bake your loaf at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Turn it down to 350 for another 40 minutes. Check your loaf's temperature and remove from the oven when the center temperature is 205 degrees.
- Let your loaf cool on a wire rack. After about 10 minutes, cut your strings carefully and remove from your loaf. If you wait too long the string will begin to adhere to your bread.
- Let fully cool before enjoying your delicious loaf! Enjoy with butter and honey, or alone.
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