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You’re going to love this show-stopper sourdough focaccia bread made super soft with canned pumpkin, filled with a cinnamon sugar filling and topped with a cream cheese icing. It’s the perfect sweet treat for sweater weather! I love the ribbons of cinnamon sugar and the sweet pumpkin dough that’s soft on the side and crispy on the outside. Try this unique take on a sweet sourdough pumpkin focaccia this season. I think you’re going to love it!
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Table of Contents
- Why You’ll Love Sweet Sourdough Pumpkin Focaccia Bread
- Sample Sourdough Baker’s Timeline
- Important Ingredients in Pumpkin Sourdough Focaccia
- How to Make Sweet Sourdough Pumpkin Focaccia Bread
- Substitutions
- How to Store Leftovers
- If you liked this, you’ll also like…
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Sweet Pumpkin Sourdough Focaccia Recipe
Why You’ll Love Sweet Sourdough Pumpkin Focaccia Bread
- Texture: You’ll love how this pumpkin sourdough focaccia is so soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. Yum!
- Easy: This is an easy twist on a classic sourdough focaccia.
- Flavor: With pumpkin in the dough and a cream cheese glaze on top, you’ll love the fall flavors in this sweet sourdough pumpkin focaccia bread!
- Showstopper: Just like my Sourdough Pumpkin Roll, this pumpkin focaccia is a showstopper at any family gathering.
Sample Sourdough Baker’s Timeline
A sample baking schedule helps me when baking with sourdough. I’ve been baking sourdough for over a decade and this schedule helps me plan my bake. Please Note: This schedule assumes the dough temperature is 78-80ºF throughout the process.
| Day 1 | Mix Levain |
| 8:00 PM- 8:00 AM | Mix Levain. Let sit at 78º F for about 10-12 hours until doubled/bubbly and ripe. |
| Day 2 | Mixing/Bulk Fermentation/Shaping/Baking |
| 8:00 AM | Mix together dough Begin Bulk Fermentation |
| 8:30 AM | Coil Fold #1 |
| 9:00 AM | Coil Fold #2 |
| 9:30 AM | Coil Fold #3 |
| 10:00 AM | Coil Fold #4 |
| 10:00 AM –1:00 or 2:00 PM | Finish Bulk Fermentation |
| 1:00 PM | Place dough in pan, add cinnamon sugar and cover Optional Overnight Refrigeration |
| 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Let dough rise in a warm 78-80º F place until the dough is doubled, airy, light and jiggly. Do not bake unless the dough is puffed up and aerated. |
| 5:00 PM | Bake |
Important Ingredients in Pumpkin Sourdough Focaccia
- Sourdough Starter: Use an active/ripe sourdough starter (doubled in size/bubbly/mild sour aroma) to mix the levain.
- Granulated Sugar: A little sugar in the focaccia dough keeps this focaccia light and sweet.
- Bread Flour: Use a bread flour with 12.5% protein content. The amount of water in this recipe necessitates a flour high in protein content. If you don’t have bread flour and substitute all purpose, you will need to reduce some of the water in the recipe.
- Salt: Salt helps temper fermentation and enhances the flavor of the focaccia.
- Olive Oil & Butter: A combination of the two are used to get the delicious crispy crust on this focaccia. You will also reserve some butter for the cream cheese icing.
- Pumpkin Puree: Make sure you are using pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling in the dough of this recipe.
- Spices: A mix of pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon makes for a delicious filling.
- Cream Cheese: This is essential for your cream cheese icing. You will want to make sure it is softened a little before using.
- Powdered Sugar: powdered sugar sweetens the cream cheese icing.
- Milk: I prefer using whole milk to help with the consistency of the icing.
- Vanilla Extract: I love the finishing touch vanilla extract gives to the flavor of the cream cheese icing.
How to Make Sweet Sourdough Pumpkin Focaccia Bread
Mix Levain
1:10:10 levain (ready in 10-12 hours/overnight): This recipe calls for levain mixed the night before you want to mix your dough. Prepare the levain and keep it overnight at 78-80ºF. It will be ready in approximately 10-12 hours (overnight). Mix together:
- 5 grams of ripe/mature sourdough starter
- 55 grams water
- 55 grams all purpose or bread flour
Note: To make it a true 1:10:10 ratio, it would be 5.5 grams of ripe/mature starter and 55 grams bread flour, 55 grams water. Chances are you are going to be somewhere in the ballpark of 5-6 grams of starter, and it will work out just fine. Sourdough doesn’t have to be exact – it’s a method of learning to read your dough and its readiness.
If you prefer to mix the levain the morning you mix the dough, you can mix a 1:1:1 Levain (ready in 3-4 hours/same day): It should take 3-4 hours to rise and peak if kept at 78-80ºF. Levain is ready when it has at least 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 ripe/mature starter
- 35 grams warm water
- 35 grams all purpose or bread flour
Bulk Fermentation
Once the levain is ripe, bubbly and at least doubled in size, it’s time to mix the dough. Add the ripe levain, water, canned pumpkin, salt and bread flour to a bowl. Mix together with a dough whisk or your fingers until a sticky dough forms. Remember, this is a higher hydration recipe, so it’s going to be fairly sticky. It is also a dough that rises in a pan and doesn’t need a whole lot of extra strengthening. A quick mix is really all it needs as we let the gluten strands form through the long fermentation process. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
Coil Folds: Over the course of the next 2 hours, perform sets of “coil folds”. Coil folds are a way of aligning gluten stands in high hydration dough instead of kneading it. To perform a coil fold, wet your hands with water. Place your hands under the middle of the dough and pull up. The dough will stretch up (but should not tear) and release from the bottom of the bowl. Once the dough releases, let the dough fall back under itself. Repeat the process for both sides of dough. Then turn the container and repeat the coil fold. Watch a video of the coil fold process here. Perform 4-6 coil folds. The dough will be very sticky for the first set of coil folds, but will strengthen over time. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. You will repeat this process a total of 4 times over a 2 hour period.
After you have completed 4 sets of coil folds over a 2 hour period, cover and let sourdough pumpkin focaccia dough rest at 78ºF for 2.5-3 more hours until the dough has risen about 50-60% in the bowl.
Shaping Sourdough Pumpkin Focaccia Dough
While your pumpkin sourdough focaccia dough is resting, prepare the filling by mixing together granulated sugar, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon until combined.
When your focaccia dough is done resting, prepare a pan by lining a 12 inch round or 9 by 13 metal baking pan with parchment paper. Pour 20 grams light-flavored olive oil in the pan along with 25 grams unsalted butter. Tip the pan around to coat the entire bottom of the parchment paper.
Turn the dough out into the pan and stretch slowly to fill the edges of the pan. Pour half of the focaccia filling mixture on top of the focaccia dough. Fold the dough in half and sprinkle with the remainder of the filling mixture. Fold again. At this point the dough will be all together in the middle of the pan. Don’t worry about spreading it out yet.
At this point you can cover the dough and refrigerate it for up to 48 hours before proceeding with a second proof and baking. The cold fermentation brings flavor, color and helps you plan your bake. I’ve also found it makes the texture even more soft and fluffy.
Cold Ferment and Proofing
Place the dough in a warm spot (78-mid 80ºF) and let the dough rise until puffed up, aerated and jiggly. After about 2-3 hours, the dough should have doubled in size. The key to a light, airy and bubbly focaccia is letting the dough rise long enough to have large air bubbles in it. This will take more or less time depending on the temperature of your dough as it’s rising. If the dough doesn’t look like this, warm it up a little more and let it rise longer.
After the dough is puffed up, jiggly and aerated with air bubbles, gently spread the dough to reach the edges of the pan. Pour 25 grams of melted butter on top of the dough. Take your fingers and gently dimple the dough. Start at the top and work your way down the dough until the entire focaccia is dimpled and bubbly.
Baking Sweet Pumpkin Sourdough Focaccia
Pre-heat the oven to 425ºF. Once the oven is pre-heated, bake the sourdough pumpkin focaccia for 25-30 minutes until bubbly, crispy and light golden brown on top and the baked focaccia registers 200ºF. Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.
Prepare the cream cheese icing while the focaccia is baking by mixing softened cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract and salt together. Pipe or spread over the warm pumpkin focaccia. Enjoy!
Amy’s Recipe Tip
This recipe calls for canned pumpkin. Homemade pumpkin puree tends to be more liquidy than canned pumpkin from the store. If you choose to use homemade pumpkin puree instead of canned pumpkin in this recipe, but you will need to decrease the amount of water in the recipe to account for the extra liquid – or add a little more flour if the dough is difficult to handle.
Substitutions
- Cream Cheese Icing: You can substitute a simple glaze for the icing if desired – like this one in my apple pie focaccia bread.
- Levain: Ripe, bubbly, active sourdough starter can be substituted for levain in this recipe.
- Bread Flour: Bread flour should not be substituted for all-purpose flour in this recipe. This is a high-hydration dough meaning it has lots of water in it and all-purpose flour doesn’t have the strength to absorb all the liquid. If you don’t have bread flour, you can add 15 grams vital wheat gluten to all-purpose flour to increase the protein content of the flour making it similar to bread flour.
How to Store Leftovers
If you add the glaze to the focaccia, it shouldn’t be left out longer than 2 hours – thanks to the cream cheese in the icing. Any leftovers can be frozen in an air-tight container or plastic bag. You can also stick in the refrigerator for a couple of days (the longer it’s left in there the more the focaccia will dry out). Warm up in the microwave or oven for a few minutes before serving and enjoy!
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Frequently Asked Questions
Make sure you’re use a good quality non-stick metal pan. I’ve been using the same USA pans for years and love them. If your pan is not non-stick, try adding some parchment paper to the bottom of your pan. Top the parchment with the olive oil/butter. Then put the focaccia dough on top.
Focaccia is a wet dough. It’s made that way so that it can fill with air bubbles and get nice and puffy when risen. If your dough is too wet for you to handle, add a little flour. Add in a few more strengthening folds if needed to help strengthen those gluten strands. Focaccia doesn’t need to be shaped much, just rise in a pan so it’s okay if it’s a very wet dough. If you use homemade pumpkin – make sure to reduce some of the water in the recipe and blot your homemade pumpkin. This helps keep the dough from having too much water.
The pumpkin in this dough gives a mild pumpkin flavor to the focaccia but it also makes the inside of the dough soft and tender. It’s not as forward as pumpkin pie. I think it’s closer in flavor profile to my sourdough pumpkin bars with cream cheese icing.
Sweet Pumpkin Sourdough Focaccia
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Equipment
- 12 inch round or 9 by 13 pan
Ingredients
Levain (1:10:10 ratio, ready in 10-12 hours at 78ºF)
- 5 grams ripe, active sourdough starter, about 1 teaspoon
- 55 grams all-purpose flour, scant 1/2 cup
- 55 grams water, about 4 Tablespoons
Pumpkin Sourdough Focaccia Dough
- 100 grams levain, scant 1/2 cup
- 300 grams water, about 1 1/4 cups
- 150 grams pumpkin puree, canned, not pumpkin pie filling, see recipe notes for homemade puree, about 2/3 cup
- 10 grams salt, about 1 1/2 teaspoons
- 500 grams bread flour, about 3 1/2 cups
- 20 grams olive oil, reserved for pan, about 1.5 Tablespoons
- 55 grams unsalted butter, melted, reserved for baking, about 4 Tablespoons total
Focaccia Filling
- 100 grams granulated sugar, reserved for shaping
- 6 grams pumpkin pie spice, about 1 Tablespoon
- 2 grams ground cinnamon, about 1/2 teaspoon
Cream Cheese Icing
- 75 grams cream cheese, softened, about 6 Tablespoons
- 45 grams unsalted butter, softened, about 3 Tablespoons
- 60 grams powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup
- 30 grams whole milk, about 2 Tablespoons
- 3 grams vanilla extract, about 3/4 teaspoon
- pinch of salt, to taste
Instructions
Levain (1:10:10 ratio, ready in 10-12 hours at 78ºF)
- Mix together 5 grams ripe sourdough starter with 55 grams water and 55 grams flour. Cover and let sit overnight at 78ºF until doubled in size, bubbly and active. You can also substitute 100 grams of bubbly sourdough starter if you prefer.
Sweet Pumpkin Sourdough Focaccia
- Mix: Mix together ripe, bubbly, active levain with water, canned pumpkin, salt and bread flour. Mix together with a dough whisk or spoon until a sticky dough forms. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Coil Fold # 1: Take the cover off the dough and perform 4-6 coil folds. The dough will be very sticky for this first set of coil folds but will strengthen over time. Wet your hands with water. Place your hands under the middle of the dough and pull up. The dough will stretch up (but should not tear) and release from the bottom of the bowl. Once the dough releases, let the dough fall back under itself. Repeat the process for both sides of dough. Then turn the container and repeat the coil fold. Watch a video of the coil fold process here. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Coil Fold #2: Wet your hands. You will notice the dough is stronger than your first set of folds. Repeat the coil folds, noticing how the dough is changing and strengthening over time. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
- Coil Fold #3: Wet your hands. Perform 3-4 coil folds. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
- Coil Fold #4: Repeat the last set of coil folds.
- Finish Bulk Fermentation: Cover and rest the dough at 78ºF for 2.5-3 hours until the dough has risen about 50-60% in the bowl.
- Prepare Filling: Mix together granulated sugar, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon until combined.
- Prepare the Pan: After the long bulk rest, line a 12 inch round or 9 by 13 metal baking pan with parchment paper. Pour 20 grams light-flavored olive oil in the pan and 25 grams of melted butter. Tip the pan around to coat the entire bottom of the parchment paper.
- Shape the Dough: Dump the focaccia dough into the pan and spread out with your fingers. Pour half of the focaccia filling on top of the focaccia dough. Fold the dough in half and sprinkle the rest of the mixture on the dough. Fold again. At this point the dough will be all together in the middle of the pan. Don't worry about spreading it out yet.Optional: Cover the dough and refrigerate it for up to 48 hours before proceeding with a second proof and baking.
- Proof the Dough: Cover the dough and let it sit in a warm 78-80ºF place for 2-3 hours until doubled in size, puffed up and very airy. If the dough doesn't look like this, warm it up a little more and let it rise longer.
- Dimple the Dough: After the dough is puffed up, jiggly and aerated with air bubbles, gently spread the dough out to fill the edges of the pan. Pour 25 grams of melted butter on top of the dough. Take your fingers and gently dimple the dough. Start at the top and work your way down the dough until the entire focaccia is dimpled and bubbly.
- Bake Focaccia: Pre-heat the oven to 425ºF. Once the oven is pre-heated, bake the focaccia for 25-30 minutes until bubbly, crispy and light golden brown on top and the baked focaccia registers 200ºF. Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.
- Cream Cheese Icing: While the focaccia bakes, whisk together softened cream cheese, softened butter, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract and salt until it forms an icing. Spread over warm focaccia and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I can’t wait to try this, but I have a question, what if your house is not that hot? Where do you put it to warm up?
You can either use a proofing box or a dough warming mat. If you don’t have either of those, then I’d recommend letting your dough proof in the oven with the oven OFF and the oven light on. Hope that helps!
Made this recipe yesterday and everyone loved it! I have one piece left for me 🙂 I used the regular glaze (thanks for offering that alternative in the recipe) since I didn’t want to go out and buy cream cheese.
Glad it turned out great – thanks for your feedback and review!
Hi Amy. How long does the dough need to be out of the fridge prior to baking? I’m assuming 2-4 hours to get that final rise & them dimple it?
Thanks,
Tracy
Yep! We recommend 2-3 hours for that final rise before you dimple the dough. Happy baking!
Delicious!
So glad you loved it! Thanks for the review.
Making this one again because it turned out perfectly the first time.
So glad you love this one! Thanks for sharing your review.
You are right. It should be 55 grams total butter. Thanks for catching that. I updated the recipe.
My family DEVOURED this. It was delicious! My first time ever making a sweet focaccia.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Yum! Great fall sweet treat with a perfect blend of pumpkin spice and pumpkin. Could taste the sour in the dough which I liked too, it balanced everything. I didn’t have time to make the frosting before my family jumped in to eat it so I improvised and found an amazing topping – seasonal organic maple butter from Trader Joe’s. A small spoonful of that (it’s only whipped maple syrup) on top was incredible. Might not try the frosting after all (mainly because it might be gone by the time I get to it)
That maple butter sounds amazing! So glad you enjoyed this recipe.
This was soooo yummy! We didn’t put the icing on top because it was perfectly sweet for us BUT I can see how the icing would make it next level. This bread is perfect with morning tea or coffee! Can’t wait to make it again
So glad you loved this recipe! Thanks for the review.
Yesterday I made this. It was only Ok. I would have preferred more of a pumpkin taste. It was too oily for my preference as it was swimming in oil/butter after baking. I’ve never had focaccia bread come out of the oven that oily before. I’d suggest reducing the olive oil and butter. Also, I only used half of the icing recipe on the bread. It’s already sweet enough with the cinnamon sugar on it, so it only needs a touch of icing. Thanks but I’ll try a different recipe next time.
Sorry it didn’t work for you! Adding spices into the dough doesn’t work well for sourdough because of the anti-microbial properties in many of the traditional pumpkin pie spices. If you’re looking for more flavor, I would increase it in the cinnamon sugar mixture with more pumpkin pie spice.