6 Fall Sourdough Recipes for Pumpkin, Apple, Cranberry, Maple and More!

These fall sourdough recipes bring pumpkin, apples, cinnamon, herbs, and hearty grains into crusty loaves, tender rolls, and seasonal bakes.

Once cooler days arrive, my sourdough starter somehow ends up working overtime!

These fall sourdough recipes take everything I love about seasonal baking and tuck it into crackly, golden loaves filled with pumpkin, cinnamon, apples, toasted nuts, maple, roasted garlic, herbs, and sweet potato.

Some lean sweet enough for a slow weekend breakfast, while others belong beside soup, roast chicken, Thanksgiving dinner, or a generous swipe of salted butter.

Better yet, none requires professional bread-baking skills, just an active starter, a little patience, and enough restraint not to cut into a hot loaf five minutes after it leaves your oven!

A Few Things to Know Before You Start

These recipes use a 100% hydration sourdough starter, meaning your starter is fed with equal weights flour and water. Use it when it has doubled in volume, smells pleasantly tangy, and looks bubbly throughout.

A starter that has already risen and collapsed can still ferment dough, but timing becomes much less predictable.

I strongly recommend weighing flour, water, starter, and salt in grams. Sourdough is wonderfully forgiving in many ways, but flour packed into a measuring cup can vary enough to turn soft dough into something better suited for repairing drywall!

Room temperature matters, too. Most fermentation times below assume a kitchen around 72 to 76°F. If your kitchen is cooler, dough may need another hour or two. If it is warmer, start checking earlier. Watch your dough more closely than your clock.

Fall Sourdough Recipes

1. Pumpkin Cinnamon Swirl Sourdough Bread

Pumpkin sourdough deserves far more attention than pumpkin quick bread! This loaf has a burnished crust, soft orange-gold crumb, gentle pumpkin flavor, and ribbons of cinnamon brown sugar running through each slice.

Pumpkin puree keeps crumb tender without making it cake-like, while maple syrup adds just enough sweetness to make toasted slices smell almost unfairly good.

I especially like this loaf for breakfast because it still eats like proper sourdough bread. Toast it until edges crisp, add salted butter, and suddenly getting out of bed seems like a much more reasonable request!

Servings: 1 large loaf, about 10 to 12 slices

Ingredients

450 g bread flour
50 g whole wheat flour
100 g active sourdough starter
220 g lukewarm water
150 g pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling
20 g pure maple syrup
10 g fine sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For cinnamon swirl:

30 g packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

How to Make It

Whisk water, pumpkin puree, maple syrup, and active starter together in a large bowl until mixture looks mostly smooth, then add bread flour, whole wheat flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix with your hand or a sturdy spoon until no dry pockets remain.

Dough will feel softer and slightly tackier than plain sourdough because pumpkin carries plenty of moisture, so resist tossing in extra flour right away! Cover bowl and leave it for 30 minutes.

Sprinkle salt over dough, wet your fingers, and pinch and fold salt through dough until it begins feeling smoother.

Cover again and rest for another 30 minutes, then perform a set of stretch-and-folds by lifting one edge upward until you feel resistance and folding it across itself, rotating bowl and repeating four times.

Do three more sets at 30-minute intervals. By final round, dough should hold itself together much more confidently and feel elastic rather than sloppy.

Leave dough covered to finish bulk fermentation. Depending on room temperature and starter strength, expect roughly 5 to 7 hours from when starter first went into dough. Do not wait for it to double completely.

Pumpkin dough can become delicate when pushed too far. I look for roughly a 50 to 60 percent increase in volume, bubbles along sides, a slightly domed surface, and a dough that gives a gentle jiggle when bowl moves.

Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour in a small bowl. Turn fermented dough onto a lightly floured counter and gently stretch it into a rectangle roughly 10 by 14 inches.

Sprinkle cinnamon mixture evenly across surface while leaving about 1 inch uncovered around edges, then roll dough up firmly but gently from one short side, making sure you are not squeezing all those beautiful fermentation bubbles out.

Pinch seam closed, shape loaf into a taut round or oval, and transfer seam-side up into a well-floured banneton.

Cover and refrigerate for 8 to 16 hours. When ready to bake, place Dutch oven inside your oven and preheat to 475°F for 45 minutes so pot becomes thoroughly hot.

Turn cold dough onto parchment, score top about 1/2 inch deep, carefully lower it into hot Dutch oven, cover, and bake at 450°F for 22 minutes.

Remove lid, reduce temperature to 425°F, and bake another 23 to 28 minutes until crust is a rich copper brown and center reaches roughly 205 to 210°F.

Let loaf cool for at least 90 minutes before slicing. Yes, waiting is irritating. Yes, cutting it immediately is tempting.

But slicing hot sourdough can compress still-setting crumb, and after spending half your day raising bread like a tiny flour-based child, it deserves those final 90 minutes!

Serving Suggestions

Toast thick slices and spread with salted butter, maple butter, almond butter, or cream cheese. It is also fantastic alongside scrambled eggs, a breakfast casserole, or strong coffee.

2. Apple Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough Bread

This loaf smells like someone combined an apple orchard with a bakery and decided not to tell anyone until you opened your oven!

Tender little pieces of apple, cinnamon, and juicy raisins are folded through a chewy sourdough crumb, giving you sweet pockets without turning your bread wet or heavy.

Fresh apple can be troublesome in sourdough because raw pieces release water as they bake.

I cook mine briefly first, which concentrates apple flavor and keeps crumb around each piece from becoming gummy. Do not skip this step, especially if you are using a particularly juicy apple.

Servings: 1 loaf, about 10 to 12 slices

Ingredients

500 g bread flour
100 g active sourdough starter
300 g lukewarm water
20 g honey
10 g fine sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

For apple mixture:

1 large firm apple, about 150 g after coring
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
70 g raisins

How to Make It

Core apple and cut it into small 1/4-inch cubes so every piece can nestle into dough rather than tearing through it.

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat, add apple, brown sugar, and cinnamon, and cook for about 4 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until edges soften but pieces still hold their shape.

Spread them on a plate and let them cool completely. Warm fruit added to sourdough is a very efficient way to make fermentation behave like it has somewhere urgent to be!

Combine water, honey, and starter in a large bowl, stir until starter loosens, then add flour and cinnamon and mix until flour is hydrated. Cover for 30 minutes. Add salt, pinch it into dough with damp fingers, and work dough gently until it becomes more cohesive.

After another 30-minute rest, perform your first stretch-and-fold. Thirty minutes later, gently stretch dough into a broad rectangle inside bowl and scatter roughly one-third of cooled apples and raisins over it, fold dough over itself, add another portion, fold again, and finish with remaining fruit.

Work gently because you want inclusions distributed through dough without shredding gluten strands.

Continue with two additional sets of gentle coil folds or stretch-and-folds at 30-minute intervals, then leave dough covered until it has risen by around 50 to 60 percent.

Look for bubbles under surface, rounded edges where dough meets bowl, and a soft, aerated feel. Depending on your room and starter, this can take 5 to 7 hours in total.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured counter and shape it gently, tucking escaping apples back inside rather than trying to force them through surface. Place seam-side up in a floured banneton, cover, and refrigerate for 8 to 16 hours.

Preheat a Dutch oven at 475°F for 45 minutes. Turn chilled loaf onto parchment, score it, place it carefully in Dutch oven, and bake covered at 450°F for 22 minutes.

Remove lid, reduce heat to 425°F, and continue baking 23 to 28 minutes until crust looks dark golden and fruit visible around surface has caramelized at its edges.

Cool at least 90 minutes before slicing.

Serving Suggestions

This one begs to be toasted! Try it with salted butter, cinnamon cream cheese, peanut butter, apple butter, or a thin drizzle of honey. Slightly stale slices also make excellent French toast.

3. Cranberry Orange Walnut Sourdough Bread

Tart cranberries, toasted walnuts, and fragrant orange zest make this loaf look and taste like it belongs right in center of a fall brunch spread.

Cranberries bring bright little sweet-tart bites, walnuts add buttery crunch, and orange lifts everything so loaf tastes vibrant rather than overly sweet.

Toast walnuts before adding them. Raw walnuts work, but 7 or 8 minutes in a hot oven transforms their flavor and gives bread a nuttier aroma that reaches you before you even slice it.

Servings: 1 loaf, about 12 slices

Ingredients

450 g bread flour
50 g whole wheat flour
350 g lukewarm water
100 g active sourdough starter
10 g fine sea salt
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
100 g dried cranberries
90 g walnut halves or pieces

How to Make It

Spread walnuts on a baking sheet and toast at 350°F for 7 to 9 minutes, watching closely near end because walnuts can go from fragrant to scorched faster than you expect. Cool completely, then roughly chop them.

Combine water and starter in a large bowl, stir until milky, then add both flours and orange zest. Mix until no dry flour remains, cover, and rest 30 minutes. Add salt with damp fingers, pinching and folding until evenly incorporated, then let dough rest another 30 minutes.

Perform one set of stretch-and-folds, cover for 30 minutes, then gently stretch dough outward and scatter part of cranberries and walnuts across surface. Fold dough, add more inclusions, fold again, and repeat until everything is distributed.

If a few cranberries escape, simply press them back into dough. Those exposed on surface tend to darken quickly during baking, so keeping most tucked inside gives you a prettier loaf.

Give dough two more fold sets spaced 30 minutes apart. Continue bulk fermentation until dough rises approximately 50 to 60 percent and feels light, smooth, and aerated.

Because nuts and dried fruit add weight, this dough sometimes looks less dramatic than a plain loaf, so judge it by bubbles and texture as well as volume.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface, preshape gently into a round, rest uncovered for 15 minutes, then complete final shaping and place seam-side up in a floured banneton.

Refrigerate covered for 10 to 16 hours.

Heat Dutch oven at 475°F for 45 minutes. Score cold loaf, transfer it to hot pot, cover, and bake at 450°F for 22 minutes.

Uncover, lower oven to 425°F, and continue for 23 to 28 minutes. If exposed cranberries begin getting too dark, loosely place a small piece of foil over loaf during final 10 minutes.

Cool completely before slicing.

Serving Suggestions

Serve with salted butter, whipped cream cheese, Brie, goat cheese, or a cheese board. It also makes an excellent turkey sandwich with a little Dijon and leftover cranberry sauce.

4. Maple Pecan Sourdough Bread

Maple and toasted pecans give this loaf a gently sweet, nutty personality without pushing it into dessert territory. Crust becomes deeply browned, pecans toast further as bread bakes, and maple gives crumb a subtle caramel-like finish that makes kitchen smell incredible!

Use pure maple syrup here rather than pancake syrup. You want maple flavor, not just additional sweetness.

Servings: 1 loaf, about 10 to 12 slices

Ingredients

500 g bread flour
100 g active sourdough starter
310 g lukewarm water
40 g pure maple syrup
10 g fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
100 g pecans
20 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

How to Make It

Toast pecans at 350°F for 7 to 9 minutes, cool them completely, and chop them into generous pieces. Do not chop them into crumbs because those bigger pecan pieces give every slice much better texture.

Stir water, starter, and maple syrup together until mostly smooth, add bread flour and cinnamon, and mix until you have a shaggy dough with no dry flour remaining.

Cover for 30 minutes, then work in salt and cooled melted butter by squeezing dough gently through your fingers and folding it repeatedly until butter disappears into dough. It may feel slippery for a minute, but keep going rather than adding flour.

After 30 minutes, perform a strong set of stretch-and-folds. Rest 30 minutes, then laminate or gently stretch dough enough to scatter pecans over surface before folding it back onto itself. Continue with another two fold sets at 30-minute intervals.

Allow dough to ferment until it looks puffier, has gained roughly 50 percent in volume, and shows bubbles around sides. Maple syrup gives microorganisms additional available sugars, so keep an eye on dough during warmer weather and do not assume it needs every minute listed in recipe.

Turn dough out, shape it into a taut round or oval, and place it seam-side up in your floured banneton. Cover and refrigerate for 8 to 16 hours.

Preheat Dutch oven to 475°F for 45 minutes. Turn cold dough onto parchment, score it about 1/2 inch deep, then bake covered at 450°F for 22 minutes.

Remove lid, lower heat to 425°F, and bake another 23 to 28 minutes until crust becomes a dark caramel brown. Maple can encourage faster browning, so check loaf during final 10 minutes and cover loosely with foil if needed.

Wait at least 90 minutes before slicing.

Serving Suggestions

Toast slices and add salted butter plus a tiny drizzle of maple syrup, or spread them with cream cheese, pecan butter, or almond butter. This loaf also works beautifully beside eggs, bacon, baked ham, or a brunch casserole.

5. Roasted Garlic and Sage Sourdough Bread

If your kitchen smells like roasted garlic, fresh sage, and baking sourdough at once, people tend to wander toward it suspiciously quickly!

This savory loaf has soft, sweet roasted garlic folded through an open, chewy crumb, while sage brings an earthy herbal flavor that fits beautifully beside soups, roasted vegetables, turkey, chicken, and rich pasta sauces.

Garlic becomes mellow and almost buttery after roasting, so you get plenty of flavor without harsh raw-garlic bite.

Servings: 1 loaf, about 12 slices

Ingredients

500 g bread flour
340 g lukewarm water
100 g active sourdough starter
10 g fine sea salt
1 large head garlic
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

How to Make It

Heat oven to 400°F. Slice top 1/4 inch from garlic head so cloves are exposed, drizzle with olive oil, wrap loosely in foil, and roast for 35 to 45 minutes until cloves turn golden, soft, and easily mash beneath a fork.

Let garlic cool completely, squeeze cloves from skins, and lightly mash them. You want little pieces remaining rather than a perfectly smooth paste because those small pockets become especially tasty once baked into bread.

Mix water and starter in a large bowl, add flour, and stir until no dry areas remain. Cover for 30 minutes, add salt and pepper, and work both into dough with damp fingers. Rest another 30 minutes and perform one set of stretch-and-folds.

After another 30 minutes, gently spread dough outward and dot roasted garlic across surface, sprinkle over sage, fold dough into thirds, rotate it, and fold again.

Garlic makes dough feel softer around inclusions, so treat it gently. Trying to wrestle this dough into submission only pushes garlic straight through its surface.

Complete another two fold sets at 30-minute intervals, then allow bulk fermentation to continue until dough gains roughly 50 to 60 percent in volume, looks slightly domed, and develops visible bubbles along sides and underneath surface.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured counter, shape it carefully into a firm round or batard, then place seam-side up in a floured banneton. Cover and refrigerate for 8 to 16 hours.

Preheat Dutch oven at 475°F for 45 minutes. Turn dough onto parchment and score it. Bake covered at 450°F for 22 minutes, then uncover, reduce heat to 425°F, and bake another 23 to 28 minutes until crust becomes dark golden brown.

Let it cool for at least 90 minutes. Garlic aroma makes this waiting period particularly rude, but your crumb will slice much more cleanly once properly cooled!

Serving Suggestions

Serve warm slices with salted butter, olive oil, tomato soup, butternut squash soup, roasted chicken, turkey, beef stew, pasta, or a fall dinner salad. It also makes excellent grilled cheese.

6. Sweet Potato Rosemary Sourdough Bread

Sweet potato makes sourdough incredibly tender while giving crumb a beautiful golden-orange color and subtle earthy sweetness. Add fresh rosemary and you get a loaf that smells like it was designed specifically to sit next to roast chicken and mashed potatoes!

Use plain cooked sweet potato with no milk or butter mixed into it. I prefer roasting because it concentrates flavor and avoids adding unnecessary water, but steaming works if you let potato drain and cool well before mashing.

Servings: 1 large loaf, about 10 to 12 slices

Ingredients

450 g bread flour
50 g whole wheat flour
100 g active sourdough starter
220 g lukewarm water, plus up to 20 g more if needed
180 g cooked, cooled, mashed sweet potato
15 g honey
10 g fine sea salt
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

How to Make It

Whisk water, starter, honey, and mashed sweet potato together until mixture is mostly uniform, although a few tiny sweet potato pieces are completely fine. Add both flours and mix thoroughly. Dough should feel soft and tacky but not pourable.

Sweet potatoes vary in moisture, so this is one recipe where I hold back extra water at first. If dough feels firm after mixing, work in another 10 to 20 g water during next stage rather than guessing upfront.

Cover dough for 30 minutes, add salt and pepper, and pinch them through dough until evenly distributed. Let it rest another 30 minutes, perform a stretch-and-fold, then wait another 30 minutes.

Sprinkle rosemary over dough during your second folding session, folding repeatedly until green flecks are spread throughout. Complete two more gentle fold sets at 30-minute intervals. Dough should become smoother, stronger, and noticeably more elastic each time.

Leave it covered until volume increases by around 50 to 60 percent. Sweet potato can make dough look less airy on top even while fermentation is moving nicely underneath, so pay attention to bubbles around container walls and a soft jiggle when you move bowl. If dough feels airy and releases easily from sides, you are probably ready to shape.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface, preshape into a round, rest for 15 minutes, and complete final shaping. Place seam-side up in a well-floured banneton, cover, and refrigerate for 8 to 16 hours.

Preheat Dutch oven at 475°F for 45 minutes. Turn cold dough onto parchment, score it, and place it inside hot Dutch oven.

Cover and bake at 450°F for 22 minutes, uncover, lower temperature to 425°F, and bake another 23 to 28 minutes until crust is richly browned and center registers about 205 to 210°F.

Cool for at least 90 minutes before slicing so moist sweet potato crumb has enough time to set.

Serving Suggestions

Serve with salted butter, honey butter, roasted poultry, pork, vegetable soup, chili, or holiday dinner dishes.

Toasted leftovers are fantastic under fried eggs, and thick slices make a very good turkey sandwich with sharp cheddar and mustard.

These fall sourdough recipes are exactly what I want baking when pumpkin, apples, cranberries, maple, toasted nuts, garlic, sweet potatoes, and fragrant herbs start finding their way back into my kitchen.

Pick one loaf, feed your starter, clear a little space on your counter, and enjoy that first crackly slice while it is fresh. Just remember to let your bread cool before cutting it, because patience may not be a listed ingredient, but sourdough somehow manages to demand it every single time!

Hungry for more feel-good meals? Explore these 21 Anti-Inflammatory Breakfast Recipes for a nourishing start and 10 Anti-Inflammatory Dinner Recipes for delicious evenings that make healthy eating easy!