Sourdough Pumpkin Pretzels with Cinnamon Sugar
Soft and chewy sourdough pumpkin pretzels with a cinnamon-sugar coating. They’re fun to make and even better to eat!
You can totally make these as savory sourdough pretzels, and top them with flaky salt before baking but I love the addition of cinnamon-sugar with the pumpkin dough. I make these over a period of two days. The slow ferment lets all the flavors really develop and I think it improves the texture. This is the same dough as my sourdough pumpkin bagels, just shaped and poached differently.
You can use homemade or canned pumpkin puree in this recipe. Pumpkin purees can vary—some are a bit wetter than others. If your dough feels too sticky, add an extra tablespoon of flour, or leave it as. A stickeir dough makes a softer pretzel. Alternatively, you could start by holding back about a tablespoon of water, then adjust as needed based on the dough’s feel.
A few notes
The pretzels can sometimes darken too much on the bottom, especially on dark oven trays or parchment paper. Lining your pan with a silicone mat adds a bit of insulation, which helps keep the bottoms from over-browning.
Cut individual squares of parchment paper to proof each pretzel. When it’s time to boil, you can lift each pretzel by the paper and drop it into the water. The parchment will slide off after a second or two, and you don’t have to squash them while trying to pick them up!
Shaping Pretzels
There are many ways to shape a pretzel but here are some pictures of the process I used for this recipe.
- Roll the dough into a 24 inch rope. If it pulls back, let the dough rest a bit longer before continuing rolling. I like to half roll them all, and then by the time that’s done, the first one has rested enough to easily roll into a rope!
- Take the two ends of the rope and bring them together at the top and twist the ends together. Fold the twisted ends down.
Baker’s Schedule
Day 1
- Feed your starter in the morning, or the evening before
- Mix the dough in the afternoon and knead until smooth.
- Proof at room temp until nearly doubled, then refrigerate overnight.
Day 2
- Shape the pretzels in the morning and let rise until puffed.
- Boil each pretzel briefly and bake.
- Coat in cinnamon-sugar after baking.
Enjoy!
More sourdough recipes
Sourdough Pumpkin Pretzels
Equipment
Ingredients
Starter
- 25 g sourdough starter
- 50 g bread flour
- 50 g water
Pretzel Dough
- 120 g water lukewarm
- 32 g soft brown sugar
- 180 g pure pumpkin puree
- 440 g bread flour
- all the sourdough starter 100g (around 1/2 cup)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
Poaching
- 2 litres water
- 60 g baking soda
Cinnamon-Sugar topping
- 40 Tbsp butter melted
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In the morning or the evening before, feed your sourdough starter.
- Once the starter is ready to go, add it to a large mixing bowl along with the rest of the dough ingredients and use a fork to combine it into a thick and rough dough.
- Tip the dough onto a clean work surface and knead it until it is smooth and strong. For optimal gluten development, the dough should be worked and kneaded for around 8 minutes. Take a break if you need it, it will get easier to knead if you let it rest for a bit. Alternatively, mix the dough in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment on low speed.
- Once kneaded, place the dough ball in a bowl and cover it. Let the dough rise in a warm spot until it has almost doubled.
- Once the dough has risen, place it in the refrigerator overnight or for up to 24 hours.
The next day
- Pull it from the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface and shape it into a ball.
- Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces (a kitchen scale works well to ensure even pretzels) and shape each dough into a smooth ball. Let these dough balls rest for 5 minutes.
- Take a piece of dough and roll it out into a 24inch/60cm long rope. If the dough resists, let it rest a little longer. Take the two ends of the rope and bring them together at the top and twist the ends together.Fold the twisted ends down.
- Place the shaped pretzels onto individual pieces of parchment paper. Let them rest at room temperature for around 1-3 hours until puffy. When they have nearly finished puffing, preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C.
Poaching and baking
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and once the water is boiling, stir in the baking soda. Take care as it will foam.
- Line a baking pan with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
- Carefully drop the pretzels on their parchment paper squares in the boiling water, in batches one at a time. Remove the paper once the pretzels are in the water.
- Let them poach in the water for 1 minute, flipping them after 30 seconds. Remove from the water using a slotted spoon and place them on the baking sheet.
- Bake in the oven for around 18-20 minutes until deep brown. If they are baking unevenly or your oven has hot spots, turn the oven tray around after 15 minutes of baking.
- Mix together the cinnamon and sugar for the topping.
- When the pretzels come from the oven, let them cool slightly, then brush with melted butter while they're still warm, and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.