This Butternut Squash Sourdough Bread is made with 100% freshly milled flour and roasted butternut squash puree. Golden in color with a soft crumb, the flavor of this bread is amazing! There is a hint of sweetness from the honey, but it pairs well with savory dishes. With the whole grains and squash, this bread is a hearty side to any meal, making it a great from-scratch convenience food for busy days.
A Simple, No Mixer Method
The process for making this bread is straightforward – no mixer needed, just autolyse, mix, stretch & fold, shape, and bake. The sourdough does most of the work as it sits and develops flavor. This is the same method I use for all of my bread recipes.
Homemade or Store-Bought Squash Puree
I make the puree by roasting a butternut squash and then pureeing it in a food processor. But, if you don’t have time for this, you can certainly use store bought canned puree as well. This same recipe would work with pumpkin puree too.
More Fresh-Milled Sourdough Recipes to Try
If you enjoy this type of recipe using a vegetable puree, be sure to check out my Sourdough Beet Bread. It is another fall favorite at my house. It has a wonderful earthy flavor that is like no other. If you are new to fresh-milled sourdough, check out my Fresh-Milled Sourdough Bread , it is a great place to start.
Grain Combination
This recipe uses a combination of whole grains, including hard red wheat, spelt, and khorasan. This is my favorite combination for fresh-milled bread. Hard red wheat gives the bread its gluten structure while spelt and khorasan play supporting roles for flavor and texture. Hard red wheat can easily be replaced with hard white wheat and you can play around with only using spelt or khorasan for the added grains.
I hope you enjoy this recipe! If you do, please be sure to rate it and leave a comment.
Butternut Squash Sourdough Bread with Fresh-Milled Flour
Equipment
- 1 Food Processor or High Speed Blender
- 1 Grain Mill
- 1 Kitchen Scale
- 3 9×5 inch loaf pans
Ingredients
Butternut Squash Puree
- 1 large butternut squash peeled and cubed
Bread
- 400 g hard red wheat berries
- 100 g spelt
- 50 g khorasan
- 275 g butternut squash puree
- 259 g water
- 11 g salt
- 100 g active sourdough starter
- 15 g honey
Instructions
Butternut Squash Puree
- Preheat your oven to 400℉ and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the butternut squash to the baking sheet and roast for about 35 minutes, until lightly browned and soft.1 large butternut squash
- Add the roasted squash to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until a puree forms.
- Reserve 275g for the bread recipe and store the rest in the fridge or freezer for later use.
Bread
- Weigh your grains and stir to combine. Then mill them on the finest setting of your grain mill.
- To a large measuring cup, add the butternut squash puree and water. Whisk to combine.
- Add the butternut squash puree and water combination to the flour. Use your hand or a dough whisk to combine until no dry flour remains in the bowl and a ball forms. Add additional water if it is still dry after mixing for several minutes. Cover the bowl and let autolyse at room temperature for 1 hour.
- Add the salt and sourdough starter. Combine with your hand until fully incorporated and a smooth ball forms. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour.
- Perform the first stretch and fold by lifting the dough up and over itself 4 times around the bowl. Cover and repeat every 20 minutes for a total of 4 stretch and fold sessions.
- After the last stretch and fold, cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature for 2 1/2 – 9 hours. The amount of time depends on the temperature of your house. It takes about 2 1/2 – 3 hours when my house is warm. Watch for signs such as many small bubbles around the sides of the dough. It should jiggle when you shake the bowl. An easy hands off approach is to make this in the evening before you go to bed and let it sit at 65℉ for 8-9 hours.
- Once the dough is fully fermented, line a 9×5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Then turn the dough out onto a lightly wet surface and pat it into a rectangle. Roll the dough up and into a loaf shape, pinching the seams. Place seam side down in the prepared loaf pan. Place in a 2 gallon zip top bag and place in the refrigerator. Leave in the fridge 3 – 16 hours.
- Once ready to bake, preheat your oven to 500℉ and set a timer for 1 hour.
- Remove the dough from the zip top bag and lift it using the parchment paper and place it into a room temp loaf pan. Score the loaf using a lame or razor blade. Then cover with the third loaf pan.
- Place in the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 450℉. Bake the bread 45 minutes covered and an additional 4-5 minutes uncovered.
- Cool completely on a wire rack.
Notes
- Hard red wheat can be substituted with hard white wheat
- If you don’t have spelt or khorasan, use all hard red wheat
- If you don’t have khorasan, substitute with more spelt
- Canned butternut squash can be used to replace the homemade puree
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