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The perfect fall sourdough loaf is right here. Maple pecan sourdough is nutty and delicious dotted with pecans and a mild maple flavor. This is the perfect bread to toast for your morning breakfast or to bring to a small holiday gathering. Add a drizzle of maple butter or enjoy the subtle sweetness of this recipe plain. I know you’re going to love it.
This recipe is also featured in my new cookbook, “Our Sourdough Table.” Grab your copy here.
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Why You’ll Love Maple Pecan Sourdough Bread
- Texture: The nutty pecans in this loaf give it a wonderful texture that you’ll love.
- Flavor: The combination of maple and pecans go so well together in this artisan loaf and if you love the flavor you’ll also love the flavor of my maple pecan sourdough muffins!
- Sourdough Loaf: This Maple Pecan Sourdough Bread has a crispy crust, and is based on my traditional sourdough bread recipe with easy to follow instructions.
Sourdough Baker’s Timeline
A sample baking schedule helps me when baking with sourdough. Sourdough takes much longer to rise than commercial yeast bread. This schedule helps me plan my bake. This recipe is loosely based off my recipe for my traditional sourdough bread.
A few notes: This schedule assumes the dough temperature is 78-80°F throughout the process. If you’d like to make the bread all on the same day, skip the cold fermentation and let the dough rise for a few hours in a banneton before baking.
| Day 1 | Levain/Mixing/Bulk Fermentation/Shaping/Cold Fermentation |
| 8:00 AM – 11:30 AM | Mix Levain. Let sit at 78°F for about 3-4 hours until doubled/bubbly and ripe. |
| 11:30 AM | Begin Bulk Fermentation Mix Dough. Let sit for 30 minutes before first set of stretch and folds. |
| 12:00 PM 12:30 PM 1:00 PM 1:30 PM | Stretch and Fold #1 Stretch and Fold #2 Add chopped pecans Stretch and Fold #3 Stretch and Fold #4 |
| 1:30 PM – 3:30 PM | Bulk Fermentation Continued |
| 3:30 PM | Pre-Shape |
| 4:00 PM | Shape and begin cold fermentation |
| Day 2 | Score and Bake |
| 9:00 AM | Preheat Dutch oven |
| 9:30 AM | Score and Bake |
Important Ingredients
- Sourdough Starter – Use an active/ripe sourdough starter (doubled in size/bubbly/mild sour aroma) to mix the levain.
- Bread Flour – I almost always use a 12.5% protein bread flour for my breads. If you don’t have bread flour and substitute all-purpose, you will need to reduce some of the water in the recipe.
- Whole Wheat Flour – This recipe uses a small amount of whole wheat flour. Use a hard whole wheat flour.
- Water – I use tap water in my baking and usually warm it up to help keep the dough warm during the fermentation process. If the dough is cold, the fermentation will move more slowly.
- Maple Syrup – Pure maple syrup sweetens this loaf. Make sure you are using pure maple syrup, not pancake syrup.
- Maple Extract – This is optional, but enhances the maple flavor in a beautiful way.
- Salt – Salt enhances the flavor and helps temper the fermentation – don’t leave it out!
- Pecans – Chopped pecans give this loaf of sourdough great texture and flavor.
How to Make Maple Pecan Sourdough Bread
Mix the Levain
1:1:1 Levain (ready in 3-4 hours/same day): This recipe calls for a levain mixed the same day you mix the dough. It should take 3-4 hours until it’s ready to be mixed with the dough, if you keep the levain temperature at 78-80°F. Levain is ready when it has doubled in size, has lots of bubbles, a slightly sour aroma and is just about to start going down from its peak height. Mix together:
- 35 grams of ripe/mature starter
- 35 grams of warm water
- 35 grams of bread flour
If you prefer to mix the levain the night before, you can mix a 1:10:10 levain that is ready in 10-12 hours or overnight. Mix together:
- 55 grams bread flour
- 5 grams of ripe/mature sourdough starter
- 55 grams water
Do you have to use a levain in this recipe? No. I prefer it, but if you have a well-maintained and frequently refreshed starter, you can substitute that in place of the levain in the recipe.
Mix the Dough and Begin Bulk Fermentation
Once your levain is ready, mix together ripe levain with water, maple syrup and optional maple extract. Then add whole wheat flour, bread flour and salt. Mix together using a dough whisk or spoon until a wet and sticky dough forms and the ingredients are fully combined. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
Stretch and Folds – Add the Pecans
Maple Pecan Sourdough Bread is an artisan style bread, which means we don’t use traditional kneading methods, instead we use a series of gentle folds to help strengthen the gluten strands in the dough. This dough usually gets about 3-4 sets of stretch and folds over a 2 hour period, if the dough is kept right around 78°F.
To stretch and fold, wet your hand (so it doesn’t stick to the dough). Reach down to the bottom of the bowl of dough and pull the dough up and over the top of the dough. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat the stretch and fold. Turn another quarter turn and repeat. Perform one more quarter turn with stretching and folding the dough. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.
Right before your second set of stretch and folds, add chopped pecans on top of the dough. As you stretch and fold the dough, the nuts will incorporate. Repeat the stretch and fold process every 30 minutes for a total of 3-4 times.
After you have completed 4 stretch and folds, let the dough rise in a warm place for 2 more hours. At the end of this phase of the bulk fermentation, your maple pecan dough should have risen about 30-40% and have a few scattered bubbles around the top/edges. If you don’t see these signs, continue rising in a warm environment until it is ready to shape.
Shaping Dough
After letting the dough rest and rise, tip the bowl upside down, allowing the dough to fall onto a clean counter surface. Be gentle to avoid disturbing bubbles in the dough as much as possible. Wet your hands and the bench knife if needed and push the bench knife under the dough on one side and your free hand on the other side to tuck the dough under itself. The goal is to introduce some tension into the dough. Repeat this process, going around in a circle until you have a ball of dough.
Perform a bench rest by letting the dough rest uncovered for about 30 minutes at room temperature. The dough will flatten a little as it sits. This allows the gluten in the dough to relax and prepares the dough to be shaped.
Prepare a bowl or banneton. Place a kitchen towel or hair net in the bowl and liberally flour as needed. Sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough. Using a bench knife, lift the dough up off the counter and place it on top of the countertop – floured side down. This ensures that the flour is staying mainly on the outside of the dough. Going around in a circle, pull the dough sideways towards you and then fold up to the top of the round. Move 90 degrees and repeat the same process pulling the dough sideways and then folding up to the top. As you continue this process around the dough, increase the tension as you pull. Gather the bread into a circle and place into a lined bowl or banneton.
Cold Ferment and Proofing
Cover the dough to your Maple Pecan Sourdough Bread with a tea towel or shower cap and refrigerate overnight, or for up to 14-20 hours. Alternatively, you can let the dough rise for about 3-4 more hours and bake the same day.
Baking
Classic artisan sourdough gets its beautiful oven rise from steam that has been built up in the oven. To do this, preheat a Dutch oven (top and all) in the oven at 500ºF. Allow the Dutch oven to heat for about 30 minutes at 500ºF.
Once the oven is preheated, pull the loaf out of the refrigerator. Remove the plastic wrap or shower cap (this is easy to do straight out of the refrigerator if the dough is chilled – not easy if the dough warms up) and place a piece of parchment paper on top of the bread dough. Flip the dough over so that the dough is now sitting on the parchment paper. Take off the bowl banneton and liner.
Smooth flour over the top of the dough (add a little extra for more contrast if desired) or leave the flour off completely for no contrast. Use a bread lame or very sharp knife to score the dough. Bread with inclusions typically does not score quite as well as bread without. This is not a loaf for intricate scoring. One large slash, about 1 inch deep is sufficient.
Carefully take out the Dutch oven from the preheated oven with hot pads. Take the top off and place your bread into the Dutch oven (including parchment paper – this helps with the transfer). Put your hot pads back on before you pick up the lid of the Dutch oven and place it on top of the bread. Put the whole Dutch oven back into the oven. Lower the temperature to 450ºF and bake for 25 minutes. Once 25 minutes are up, take the top off the Dutch oven and lower the temperature again to 400ºF. Continue baking for 20 more minutes until the bread is fully baked with an internal temperature of 205ºF.
Once you remove your bread from the oven, make sure Maple Pecan Sourdough Bread cools completely before slicing and enjoying.
Amy’s Recipe Tip
I love finely chopping the pecans in this recipe so you get a beautiful color and ripple to your loaf. Give them a quick whirl in the blender and enjoy a little bit of nutty texture in every bite.
Substitutions
- Whole Wheat Flour: You can use all white bread flour instead of including 50 grams of whole wheat flour in this recipe.
- Maple Extract: You can leave the maple extract out of this recipe, but including it enhances the wonderful maple flavor in this loaf.
- Levain: If you have a ripe, active sourdough starter that is fed equal weights of flour and water you can substitute that for the levain in this recipe.
- Pecans: You can leave out the pecans or substitute for another nut if you prefer.
How to Store Leftovers
I like to let my loaf cool completely. Then slice, stick in an airtight bag and freeze. You can also freeze the whole loaf and then let it thaw or warm back up in the oven for a few minutes before enjoying.
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Frequently Asked Questions
This loaf can be baked in a loaf pan or baked using an open bake method instead of using a dutch oven.
Yes. If you have ripe, bubbly, active sourdough starter, you can use that in place of the levain for this recipe. Substitute the same amount of starter as levain.
This is not a very sweet loaf. The maple gives it a slight maple flavor – adding in some maple extract helps give even more maple flavor. But this is a very mild, sweet flavor where the pecans really shine through.
Maple Pecan Sourdough Bread
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Ingredients
Levain (1:1:1 ratio, 3-4 hours peak at 78-80ºF)
- 35 grams sourdough starter, ripe and active, about 2 Tablespoons
- 35 grams all-purpose flour, about 1/4 cup
- 35 grams water, about 2 Tablespoons
Maple Pecan Sourdough Bread
- 100 grams levain, ripe, bubbly and active, scant 1/2 cup
- 300 grams water, about 1 1/4 cup
- 100 grams maple syrup, about 1/3 cup
- 4 grams maple extract, optional, about 1 teaspoon – see recipe notes
- 50 grams whole wheat flour, about 1/3 cup
- 450 grams bread flour, about 3 1/4 cups
- 10 grams salt, about 1.5 teaspoons
- 150 grams chopped pecans, about 1 1/3 cups
Instructions
Levain (1:1:1 ratio, 3-4 hours peak at 78-80ºF)
- Mix together ripe/active sourdough starter with all-purpose or bread flour and water. Cover loosely and let sit 3-4 hours at 78-80°F until doubled, bubbly & peaked.Note: If you have a ripe, bubbly, active sourdough starter that is fed equal parts flour and water – it can be substituted for the levain in this recipe.
Maple Pecan Sourdough Bread (Dough temperature 78-80ºF – if your dough is colder, this process will take longer. If it's warmer, it will move faster)
- Mix Dough: To a large bowl, mix together ripe levain with water, maple syrup and maple extract (optional). Whisk together. Then add whole wheat flour, bread flour and salt. Mix together using a dough whisk or spoon until a wet and sticky dough forms and the ingredients are fully combined. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Stretch and Folds: After the dough has rested, you will perform a series of “stretch and folds” over the next 1 1/2 hours. The goal is to strengthen the dough through a gentle kneading process. You will also add the pecans into the dough during this process which will evenly disperse them throughout the dough. To “stretch and fold,” wet your hand (so it doesn’t stick to the dough). Reach around the dough down to the bottom of the bowl, pull the dough up and over and place it on top of the dough. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat the stretch and fold. Turn another quarter turn and repeat. Perform one more quarter turn, stretching and folding the dough. Cover and set aside. Take note of how the dough feels through this process. It will go from feeling a little shaggy to smooth and elastic. Cover the bowl and wait about 30 minutes in between stretch and folds.
- Stretch and fold #1: 30 minutes into bulk fermentationStretch and fold #2: 30 minutes later, the dough will spread out. Add the chopped pecans. Stretch and fold again, beginning to incorporate the pecans into the dough.Stretch and fold #3: 30 minutes later, stretch and fold again. The pecans will continue dispersing throughout the dough.Stretch and fold #4: 30 minutes later, stretch and fold again. You should notice the dough feeling more cohesive and strong during this stretch and fold and not needing very much folding to come together. If your dough still feels loose, add in another couple stretch and folds to help strengthen and tighten the gluten strands.
- Rest: Cover the dough and let rise for 1.5-2 more hours. You’ll know the dough is ready to shape when the dough is puffed up, jiggles when you shake the bowl and has scattered bubbles visible on the sides and top.
- Pre-shape: Tip the bowl upside down, allowing the dough to fall onto a clean counter surface. Be gentle to avoid degassing the dough as much as possible. Wet your hands and the bench knife if needed and push the bench knife under the dough on one side and your free hand on the other side to tuck the dough under itself. The goal is to introduce some tension into the dough. Repeat this process, going around in a circle until you have a ball of dough.
- Bench Rest: Let the dough rest uncovered for about 30 minutes at room temperature. The dough will flatten a little as it sits. This allows the gluten in the dough to relax and prepares the dough to be shaped.
- Shaping: Prepare a bowl or banneton. Place a kitchen towel or hair net in the bowl and liberally flour as needed. Sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough. Using a bench knife, lift the dough up off the counter and place it on top of the countertop – floured side down. This ensures that the flour is staying mainly on the outside of the dough. Going around in a circle, pull the dough sideways towards you and then fold up to the top of the round. Move 90 degrees and repeat the same process pulling the dough sideways and then folding up to the top. As you continue this process around the dough, increase the tension as you pull. Gather the bread into a circle and place into a lined bowl. If any of the pecans pop out of the bread, remove them or stick them on the bottom side of the bread dough.Note: It is possible to shape the dough without any extra flour. The dough can stick to the kitchen towel but doesn't stick to the hair nets if cold proofed.
- Cold Fermentation: Cover the dough with the tea towel/shower cap/plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 14-20 hours. If you want to bake the same day, you can let the dough rise for about 3-4 hours until puffed up and risen. Then bake according to recipe directions.
- Preheat the oven: Put a Dutch oven (top and all) into the oven and preheat to 500°F for 30 minutes. You are working with very high temperatures, so make sure you have some good hot pads. Once preheated for 30 minutes, pull the loaf out of the refrigerator. Remove the covering. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the dough. Flip the dough over so it is now sitting on the parchment paper. Take off the bowl/banneton and the kitchen towel.
- Scoring: Use a very sharp knife or bread lame to score the dough. Take the bread lame and score on one side of the dough, at a shallow angle about 30º and 1 inch deep. Score straight from the refrigerator on the cold dough for best results.
- Baking: Carefully remove the Dutch oven from the 500°F oven. Take the lid off and place your bread into the Dutch oven (including parchment paper – this helps with the transfer). Put the lid on and put back in the oven. Lower the temperature to 450°F and bake for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, take the lid off the Dutch oven and continue baking for 20 minutes until the bread is a crackly deep brown. Remove the Dutch oven and let bread cool. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Amazing! One of our favorite “sweet” breads!
I’m glad it’s a favorite. Thanks for the review!
Do you have to use whole wheat flour? Could I use freshly milled flour for that portion?
That should work!
The most INCREDIBLE bread! A huge success with the whole family. I highly recommend topping with a maple butter
Maple butter with this is definitely delicious! Enjoy!
“ripe and active” does this mean that your starter should be used when it is at it’s peak bubbling? So just preparing your starter and making the levain could potentially take 6 to 8 hours to be ready to make the bread? Am I understanding this correctly? I’m new and I just want to make sure that I do this correctly.
Yes, that is what it means!
Any thoughts on how I could make this sweeter? Obvious answer seems like add more maple syrup but wondering if this would throw off the rest of the ingredients? Thanks for any help
You can add a little more maple syrup, but keep it modest and be ready to add a touch more flour if the dough feels too soft. I would pair the baked bread with a sweet spread. I paired it with a cinnamon bun spread from Trader Joe’s and it was delicious!
My thoughts are that this bread would be really good to make a breakfast sandwich similar to a McD mc griddle. I’m going to try this and I am thinking about brushing it with maple syrup like a condiment and a sandwich.
That would be yummy! Happy baking!
I started adding golden raisins and it makes a huge difference!
Yum! Thanks for the idea.
This bread is sooooooo incredible!! I made it in a Dutch oven per the recipe, but would like to make it in a 9×5 loaf pan. Could you help me with baking temps/times for this? I truly thank you in advance.
I’d follow the steps in this guide for how to bake sourdough in a loaf pan. Happy baking!
Love the texture and crunchy crust along with toasted pecans, maple syrup and maple flavoring.
Going to make French Toast in the morning. Would love to know other ways people are serving and eating it. Ham sandwich?
Amy, being new to baking with sourdough, I really appreciate the videos you attached to your recipes!
This would make yummy French toast. You could definitely use it as sandwich bread. It’s also great toasted with some maple butter or cream cheese. Enjoy!
Amy, first of all let me say Thank You for all your fantastic recipes. I have a question, that I asked to another sourdough baker and never got an answer. If a sourdough round loaf does not have an internal doneness temp in their directions, should I use the 205 to 210 degrees? Right now I only use recipes that have the internal doneness temp. When I give a loaf to someone, it needs to be baked to a proper temp and not gummy. Thanks
Yes, 205 to 210 degrees is a good standard for all artisan sourdough loaves. I suppose that could change depending on the inclusions in the loaf, but for most loaves that is a good rule of thumb. Happy baking!
Thank you for your response!
Yep!
Delicious recipe, turned out perfectly! Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the review!
This bread is heaven on earth to me! Two of my favorite flavors combined, the maple and pecan are well balanced and pair so beautifully together in this loaf. It has just enough sweetness too. I definitely think the maple extract is a must! My favorite way to eat this bread is toasted with a schmear of maple butter and a sprinkle of Maldon flaky salt. The process of making this loaf was flawless also. I really enjoy your recipes!!
Yum! That sounds delicious – thanks!