It’s been a week and a half since we’ve been grocery shopping. Sick kids happened. And last night the baby had a fever. And today it poured rain and hail. That meant I was going no where and if I wanted something other than the meager variety of food in the cabinets and fridge I’d have to get creative. My inspirational items included sourdough starter (which there is an overabundance of) and a can of pumpkin I found.
I love to revisit Fall at odd times throughout the year by baking and cooking some of the yummiest Fall treats. With the last weeks full of rain and more rain, now seems like a lovely time to escape Spring and remember Fall with much fondness. So with my sick baby in arms I did something I’ve never done before. I looked up guidelines for converting baking recipes to include sourdough, and white to whole wheat flour ratios (I didn’t have a ton of white flour either), and oil to butter conversions… and I made up a recipe. I wrote it down and went and made it. I probably did it all wrong and if you are a baker you probably know something I should have done that I didn’t. But in the end I had incredible smelling, delicious looking, yummy tasting sourdough pumpkin muffins and bread. Maybe they are muffins. Maybe they are a tad cupcake-ish though not too sweet at all. I don’t know what they are. But they are GOOD. And the kids agree. And Israel, who doesn’t even like muffins, gobbled his muffin right up and asked for more. My only problem is making them last until the yogurt cheese I’m making is done. Because that will be a ridiculously good combination! And there’s no way the bread is making it into my freezer which was the plan. Too good. In case you’d like to test my creation… I’m including the recipe. If you have suggestions or experiences with it leave me a comment and let me know.
Pumpkin Sourdough Bread
Recipe1/2 c. canola oil
1 cup sugar (Next time I’ll add more than this. I used rapadura but any sugar will do. I’d probably try 1 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup white next time)
2 eggs
2 cups pureed pumpkin (about 15 oz)
2 cups sourdough starter (mine is not very old so not very sour)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups white flour
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp ginger
nuts, raisins, or chocolate chips would be delightful in this as well!
1. Preheat oven to 350° F and grease muffin tins or bread pans, whatever you want to use. Recipe makes 12 muffins plus 1 9″x5″x2 3/4″ bread loaf. Probably works for 2 bread loaves too.
2. Mix together oil, sugar, and eggs in a large bowl.
3. Add in pumpkin, sourdough starter, and vanilla and stir well.
4. Mix together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in a separate bowl.
5. Pour flour mixture into wet ingredients and mix until combined.
6. Pour into greased bread pans or muffin tins and bake muffins for about 20 minutes and bread for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
And good news, the sun just came out and the husband (not getting his morning eggs today because I used up the last for the pumpkin bread) has volunteered to shop. Yay! There will soon be fresh fruit in the house again and I can stop pretending it’s fall. Though it was fun while it lasted.
And I’ll leave you with a tip. As if you need a tip! I’m sure you’re awesome and do very well in everything in life. But I like to be a helpful sort of person. I love to make bread. And I dislike bread crumbs… especially in pictures of my awesome bread. So I slide a cloth napkin under the bread for when I slice it. If I’m taking a picture I remove it for the picture.
See? No crumbs (almost.) Not even I am perfect and I left a couple crumbs for you. It’s always easier to take tips from people that are obviously not quite perfect.
that looks so yummy! now i want to try it!
my recent post: a little bit of real life (and my 37.5 week maternity pics!)