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I have said this time and time again, but I love my sourdough starter (his name is Henry)! My flatmate and I eat a lot of bread, so I use it about once or twice a week! The most recent addition to my go-to sourdough bread recipes is this Pumpkin Seed Sourdough Loaf. It’s great for making sandwiches or dipping into a hot bowl of soup, for example, this Red Lentil Soup or Tomato and Basil Soup.
The dough for this Pumpkin Seed Sourdough Loaf is prepared the evening before. After an initial prove, the bread is shaped and then left for it’s second prove overnight. In the morning, you can then bake the bread and enjoy! It’s best to use a proving basket for the second step, this oval one is the one I used! To score the bread, I would recommend simply investing in a few razor blades or craft knifes like this.
Pumpkin Seed Sourdough Loaf Ingredients
You only need a few ingredients to make this Pumpkin Seed Sourdough loaf recipe! Obviously, it is made with some sourdough starter which helps this bread rise and gives it an amazing flavour! If you haven’t already started your own, check out my baking basics post on How to make a Sourdough Starter to find out how to start, store and maintain a sourdough starter!
I use a blend of wholemeal and white bread flour in a 1:2 ratio in this Pumpkin Seed Sourdough Loaf recipe. This is a good ratio to give the bread a darker colour and adds more “sustenance” to the end result. Wholemeal flour absorbs more water than white flour, so you will need to add a little more water than if you were making this White Crusty Sourdough Bread.
Finally, the bread is topped with pumpkin seeds just before baking. To avoid the seeds from burning in the oven, you need to soak them in water over night. This will plump up the seeds and make them go “hollow” and crispy in the oven, as well as help them stick to the bread. You could also add pumpkin seeds to the dough if you wanted to or use any different type of seed if you prefer. Sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and linseeds are also a great choice!
More (Sourdough) Bread Recipes
I am a very keen bread baker and there are loads of other bread recipes on this blog already! Some are made with my lovely sourdough starter, some are made with conventional yeast, and soda bread uses an entirely different rising agent! Bread is fascinating, and I’d urge to you to go and give some of the other recipes below a try!
- Crusty Sourdough Loaf
- Wholemeal Sourdough Baton
- Seeded Sourdough Bread
- Rye Sourdough Loaf
- German “Laugenbrezeln” (Pretzels) | German Baking Classic
- “Muntermacher” | Mixed Seed and Carrot Bread
- 3-day Crusty French Baguettes (totally worth it!)
- Italian Rosemary Focaccia Bread
- Pesto Star Bread
- German “Bauernbrot” | German Baking Classic
- Cheddar Cheese and Chive Soda Bread
- Twist Bread – 3 Ways (plain/seeded, black olive, rosemary & sundried tomato)
- Pumpkin Seed Sourdough
- Olive Ciabatta Bread Sticks (with homemade Tzatziki) | Bake Off Technical Challenge
Pumpkin Seed Sourdough Loaf
Recipe
Ingredients:
FOR THE DOUGH:
- 250g of sourdough starter (fed and active, check out my Sourdough Starter Baking Basics for more info)
- 125g wholemeal bread (strong) flour, plus a little extra for dusting
- 250g white bread (strong) flour
- 10g fine sea salt
- 150-175ml of water
- A little olive oil, for kneading and greasing
TO FINISH:
- 50g pumpkin seeds
YOU WILL ALSO NEED:
- Oval proofing basket
- Bread lame, razor blade or craft knife (I use this)
- Roasting tin
Method:
- Start preparing the dough the night before (around 5-6pm). Put the sourdough starter, flours, and salt into a bowl, then add about 150g of water. Start mixing the ingredients together with your hand to bring them into a dough, gradually adding a little more water at a time if you need it. The dough should not be dry but also not too sticky.
- Tip the dough onto a lightly oiled surface and knead for 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and stretchy. You should be able to stretch a small piece of dough between your fingers without it tearing. If you hold it up to the light and you can almost see through it and see the strands of gluten, then that means you have kneaded it for long enough and developed the gluten (also known as the windowpane test).
- Lightly grease the bowl with some olive oil (no need to wash beforehand). Bring the bread dough together into a ball and return it to the bowl. Toss it in the bowl to ensure that the surface is coated in olive oil to prevent it from drying out.
- Leave the bread to prove for 4-6 hours at room temperature.
- Liberally dust the proofing basket with some of the wholemeal bread flour.
- To shape the bread, tip the dough onto the worksurface and use your knuckles to push down on it to knock out the air. Roughly shape the dough into a rectangle, with the longer edges facing towards you. Tuck the shorter ends of the dough into the middle, the fold the long edge furthest away from you over the middle, pushing it down. Continue to roll the dough towards you to create a sausage shape. Gently roll and shape, seam facing down until it is roughly the length of the proofing basket. Leave to rest on the surface for 2-3 minutes to relax the dough and help close the seam.
- In the meantime, put the pumpkin seeds into a small bowl. Pour some water over the seeds until fully covered, then set aside and leave to soak overnight.
- Place the bread, seam side up, into the prepared proofing basket. Leave it to prove – uncovered – overnight, either in a cool kitchen or even in the fridge.
- The next morning, place a roasting tray at the bottom of your oven and preheat it to 220°C. Meanwhile, line a baking tray with some baking paper and drain any excess water from the pumpkin seeds.
- Once the oven is preheated, carefully turn the bread out onto the baking tray. Dampen your hands with a little water to lightly wet the top of the bread, then distribute the soaked pumpkin seeds across the top.
- Use a bread lame, razor blade or craft knife to create a few diagonal slashes across the top of the loaf and then put it in the oven immediately. Pour some cold water into the hot baking tray at the bottom of the oven to create some steam and close the oven door.
- Bake the bread for 30 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 200°C and bake for a further 20-30 minutes until the bread sounds hollow when tapped from below.
- Transfer the Pumpkin Seed Sourdough Loaf to a wire rack and leave to cool completely before slicing.
