Pumpkin Pie Focaccia is not just a bread; it’s a whole experience. A taste of the fall season that captures the essence of pumpkin pie in a delicious, shareable format. Perfect for cozy gatherings, holiday get togethers, or simply enjoying the nostalgic flavors of fall. I can’t wait for you to try this simple but special bread this season!
❤️ Why You’ll Love Pumpkin Pie Focaccia
This focaccia can be enjoyed in various ways: serve it as an impressive centerpiece for an autumn party, use it as a base for sandwiches, or simply enjoy it warm with a pat of butter. It also pairs beautifully with soups and salads, making it a versatile addition to any fall meal! Plus, it’s naturally fermented by your sourdough starter, so it’s both delicious and easier on the gut 🙂
🍲 Ingredients
Sourdough Starter – bubbly, active sourdough starter that has been previously fed and used at its peak.
Flour – Unbleached organic all-purpose flour. Organic isn’t always necessary, but I highly recommend always using unbleached flour.
Water – Filtered room temperature is best.
Pumpkin Puree – Any kind of pumpkin puree is fine to use, my personal favorite is the one from Trader Joes 🙂
Honey – Honey replaces the olive oil you find in a traditional focaccia dough.
Salt – I like Pink Himalayan salt but use whatever you have on hand!
Cinnamon – Is it even a fall recipe without ground cinnamon? I don’t think so.
Pecans – These can be substituted for your favorite nut, but I think the pecans make it more nostalgic of a pumpkin pie.
Brown Sugar – for the crumble topping.
👩🍳 How to Make Pumpkin Pie Focaccia
- In the morning, feed your sourdough starter.
- In the afternoon when it’s active and bubbly, assemble your dough.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your bubbly starter, water, honey, and pumpkin puree until the starter has dissolved and everything is liquified together.
- Add your flour, salt, cinnamon, and mix together until a shaggy dough forms.
- Cover and let rest for one hour.
- After resting, perform your first set of stretch and folds by pulling one side of the dough up and towards the middle, repeating and rotating the bowl each time until a semi – smooth dough forms.
- Cover and let rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- After resting, perform one more set of stretch and folds to strengthen the dough. Pulling the sides up and towards the middle, rotating the bowl each time. Cover with a damp towel and let rest overnight for 12 hours.
- The next morning, drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil into your baking dish. Transfer your dough directly from the bowl into the dish. Fold the top of the dough up and in the middle, repeat the same with the bottom. Flip the dough seam side down so the dough is covered in olive oil.
- Cover and let rest for 1 – 2 hours until the dough has doubled in size and puffy.
- While your dough is resting, make your pecan crumble.
- In a small saucepan on the stove, melt your butter. Add chopped pecans and brown sugar, and cinnamon. Mix together until the mixture is thick and the ingredients are incorporated.
- When your focaccia doubled and puffy, spoon your pecan crumble all over the top of the dough. Oil your fingers and begin dimpling the surface of your focaccia to create bubbles.
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
- Bake your focaccia at 450 degrees for 28 – 30 minutes.
- Serve warm and enjoy!
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- Because there are sugar and nuts on the top of this focaccia, it will appear brown quickly. If you need to, cover the top with aluminum foil for the last 5 – 10 minutes so that the brown sugar doesn’t get burned.
- This doesn’t use an entire can of pumpkin puree, so save what you have left by placing the can in a Ziplock bag or transfer it into a Tupperware and store it in the fridge for 3 -4 days, or in the freezer.
🗒 Variations
Focaccia is such a fun and simple bread to make it a ton of different variations! I think this pumpkin focaccia would be delicious as a cinnamon roll focaccia. Here is that, and some other focaccia recipes you should try!
🗒 Substitutions
You can make the crumble topping with any nut you like; I think the pecans resemble the nostalgic flavors of pumpkin pie but use what you prefer and what you have on hand!
- Pecans – favorite nuts
🗒 Best served with
- Autumn brunch
- Holiday Party Food
- Appetizers
- Pumpkin Spice Lattes
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Cool Completely: Allow the focaccia bread to cool completely on a wire rack after baking. This prevents moisture from condensing in the storage container.
Wrap: Once cooled, wrap the focaccia tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil. This will help keep it from drying out.
Storage: Place the wrapped focaccia in a bread box or an airtight container at room temperature for 1 – 3 days. Avoid storing it in the refrigerator, as this can cause the bread to dry out more quickly.
FREEZING: For longer storage, you can freeze focaccia.
Wrap: Slice the focaccia into individual portions or leave it whole. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil. This double wrapping helps prevent freezer burn.
🤔 Common Questions
If you use sourdough discard, you will also need to yeast to make your bread rise and cut the rest time down to 4-6 hours depending on how much commercial yeast you use.
Yes! Just start the dough assembly in the morning. Feed your starter at night, assemble your dough in the morning when your starter is at peak, perform your stretch and folds, let rest for 4-6 hours and then place in the fridge overnight.
Pumpkin Pie Focaccia
Equipment
- food scale
- Large Cast Iron or 9×13 baking dish
- Sauce pan
Ingredients
- 150 grams bubbly, active sourdough starter
- 100 grams pumpkin puree
- 25 grams honey
- 350 grams filtered water
- 550 grams all purpose flour
- 10 grams salt
Pecan Crumble
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 4 tbs melted butter
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- In the morning, feed your sourdough starter.
- In the afternoon when it's active and bubbly, assemble your dough.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your bubbly starter, water, honey, and pumpkin puree until the starter has dissolved and everything is liquified together.
- Add your flour, salt, cinnamon, and mix together until a shaggy dough forms.
- Cover and let rest for one hour.
- After resting, perform your first set of stretch and folds by pulling one side of the dough up and towards the middle, repeating and rotating the bowl each time until a semi – smooth dough forms.
- Cover and let rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- After resting, perform one more set of stretch and folds to strengthen the dough. Pulling the sides up and towards the middle, rotating the bowl each time. Cover with a damp towel and let rest overnight for 12 hours.
- The next morning, drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil into your baking dish. Transfer your dough directly from the bowl into the dish. Fold the top of the dough up and in the middle, repeat the same with the bottom. Flip the dough seam side down so the dough is covered in olive oil.
- Cover and let rest for 1 – 2 hours until the dough has doubled in size and puffy.
- While your dough is resting, make your pecan crumble.
- In a small saucepan on the stove, melt your butter. Add chopped pecans and brown sugar, and cinnamon. Mix together until the mixture is thick and the ingredients are incorporated.
- When your focaccia doubled and puffy, spoon your pecan crumble all over the top of the dough. Oil your fingers and begin dimpling the surface of your focaccia to create bubbles.
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
- Bake your focaccia at 450 degrees for 28 – 30 minutes.
- Serve warm and enjoy!
Is there supposed to be cinnamon listed with the “Ingredients” section or is step 4 referring to the cinnamon in the pecan crumble? Thanks, can’t wait to try this!!
How much cinnamon do we add to the dough? It’s in the pecan crumble ingredients but not the dough.