Pumpkin Cinnamon Swirl Sourdough Bread

Whole loaf of pumpkin sourdough bread with a crisp scored crust on a wooden board

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Pumpkin Cinnamon Swirl Sourdough Bread

This pumpkin cinnamon swirl sourdough bread has a crisp golden crust, a soft pumpkin crumb, and a ribbon of brown sugar cinnamon folded through the middle. Cold proofed overnight for deep flavor and a swirl that holds its shape.

Prep Time8

Cook Time45

Chill Time12

Total Time20 45

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Servings: slices

Calories: 200kcal

Author: Bailey Campbell

Ingredients

Dough

110 g active sourdough starter
240 g warm water
25 g honey
200 g pumpkin puree
500 g bread flour
10 g salt

Cinnamon Swirl

85 g brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cinnamon stick for the stem (optional)
cotton baker's twine the string for creating the pumpkin aesthetic

Instructions

Feed your starter (4 to 8 hours before mixing) — Feed at a 1:2:2 ratio and let it double. Drop a spoonful in water, and if it floats it is ready.
Mix the dough — Whisk the starter, warm water, and honey together until milky. Stir in the pumpkin puree. Add the bread flour and salt and mix with a dough whisk or wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms with no dry flour left.
Rest & Hydrate – Cover with a kitchen towel and let it rest for 1 hour—this allows the flour to absorb the water, making the dough easier to handle.
Stretch and fold — Perform 4 sets of stretch and folds about 30 minutes apart. Use a damp hand, pull one side up and over, rotate the bowl a quarter turn, and repeat all the way around.
Bulk ferment — Cover and leave at room temperature until the dough has risen 50 to 75%, is domed and bubbly at the sides, and feels jiggly. At 75°F this takes around 5 hours.
Mix the filling — Stir the brown sugar, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice together until evenly combined.
Shape and add the swirl — Turn the dough onto a lightly floured counter and stretch into a rectangle. Sprinkle half the filling down the middle third, leaving a clean border on all sides. Fold one long side into the center, sprinkle the remaining filling on top, then fold the other long side over. Roll up tightly from one short end and pinch the seam closed. Build tension by cupping and pulling the loaf toward you a few times.
Cold proof — Place seam side up in a floured banneton. Rest at room temperature 30 to 60 minutes, then refrigerate 12 to 24 hours, covered.
Cut 4 lengths of cotton baker's twine, each about 40 inches long. It has to be food-grade cotton twine rated for oven heat, not craft string and not anything synthetic, because synthetic melts. Drop the strings in a small bowl and drizzle olive oil over them. Work the oil through with your fingers until every inch is coated. Skip this and the twine bakes into the crust and takes the top of your loaf with it when you pull.
Take the banneton out of the fridge and lay the strings across the top of it. Two go straight across in a cross, one vertical and one horizontal. The other two go diagonally to make an X between them. Spread out, that gives you 8 even sections, and it should look like a sliced pizza from above.
Lay a sheet of parchment paper over the strings, put a plate or a flat baking sheet on top of that, and flip the whole stack over in one motion. Lift the banneton off. Your dough is now sitting on parchment with the strings underneath it.
Slide the strings around until the 8 sections are even. Dust the top with rice flour and spread it gently with your hand, which helps the twine release later and makes the scoring stand out. Then take two opposite ends, bring them up over the top, and tie them in a loose knot near the center. Repeat with the other three pairs, keeping all four knots in the same small spot.
Loose is the whole game. The string should sit against the dough without denting it. Tie it tight and it will bake down into the loaf and you will not get it out cleanly. The pumpkin ridges deepen on their own as the loaf expands in the oven.
Snip the excess string just above the knots.
Preheat your oven to 450°F with a Dutch oven inside for at least 30 minutes. Score into each of the 8 sections with a bread lame, following the line of the string. Lower the loaf into the Dutch oven on its parchment, strings and all.
Bake covered for 30 minutes, then uncovered for 15 minutes until the crust is deep golden and the internal temperature hits 205°F.
Snip the knots and pull the twine off while the loaf is still warm, because warm crust releases the string and cold crust grips it. Work the top strings out first, then tilt the loaf to get the ones underneath. If a piece is stuck, slide a knife tip under it and lift rather than yanking.
Cut a small X in the center of the top with your lame, then press a cinnamon stick into it for the stem. Cutting first stops the crust from cracking across your ridges.
Cool on a wire rack for at least 2 hours before slicing. Cutting a swirl loaf warm drags the melted sugar through the crumb and makes the middle look gummy even when it baked through fine.

Notes

Use cotton baker's twine rated for oven heat. Synthetic string melts.
Tie the strings loosely. Twine tied tight bakes into the loaf and tears the crust when you pull it out.
Remove the twine while the loaf is warm. It grips once the crust cools.

Nutrition